Frankenstein Passage Analysis

Mary Shelley’s purpose in her novel, Frankenstein, is to portray a desolate mood through the use of figurative language. The usage of personification mixed with imagery, “the bare trees waved their branches above me” creates a cold and lonely feel of the woods that emphasizes the creature’s struggle to be accepted in the world. It adds a sense of sorrow towards the creature as he continues to roam about with no life around him, since he is alone with the lifeless bare leafless trees. The creature then goes on to using a simile, “I, like the arch-fiend, bore a hell within me,” which portrays a sense of self-consciousness of the evil lurking within him ready to be unleashed. The creature knew he was capable of creating havoc and destruction,

The first letter in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein reveals a variety of literary devices such as ‘theme’ that accurately foreshadows various elements from the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Victor and Walter begin by setting out for recognition and popularity, these two desires intertwine together as they go in-depth when Victor says "wealthy was an inferior object, but with glory with attend discovery". This quote sheds light on Victor selfish desires.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a gothic novel that tells the story of scientist, Victor Frankenstein, and his obsession with creating human life. This leads him to creating a gruesome monster made of body-parts stolen from grave yards, whom upon discovering his hideousness, the monster seeks revenge against his creator, causing Victor to regret the creation of his monster for the rest of his life. Shelley uses the literary elements of personification, imagery, and similes to give a vivid sense and visualization of Victor Frankenstein’s thoughts and feelings as well as to allow us to delve deeper into the monster’s actions and emotions. Throughout the novel, Shelley uses personification of various forces and objects to reflect the effect in Victor’s actions.

The passage on pages 43-44 in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein describe the events that occurred as Dr. Frankenstein brought his monster to life. She effectively uses her language and imagery to develop her tone, very dark and anguished. Her diction also helps to enforce the overall theme of the passage: don’t mess with the natural order of things. Immediately at the beginning of chapter five (p. 43), Shelley gives the reader an image of the day that the monster was born on: “It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils.” (Shelley 43).

After this passage, Victor then moves to exclaim that he would be alright if “Wandering spirits” would “take me...away from the joys of life.” By connecting the daunting and rainy landscape to the feelings of elation and awe that envelop Victor, the reader can interpret that, unlike the beginning of the novel where Victor is accustomed to the sunny bliss of Geneva, he is instead much more at ease within the dark yet powerful landscapes of the mountains. Using the darkness of the rainy day, Shelley helps to paint a picture of the melancholy that begins to take hold of Victor’s

In Frankenstein, on Victor’s way home after being away for six years, a key moment in the novel that weather sets the mood is when “It echoed from Saleve, the Juras, and the Alps of Savoy; vivid flashes of light dazzled my eyes, illuminating the lake making it appear like a vast sheet of fire; then for an instant, everything seemed of pitchy darkness, until the eye recovered from the preceding flash” (Shelley 50). The author, Shelley uses weather to describe the murder of his young brother, William. The weather conditions effect Victor’s mood and convey his emotional feelings of Victor as being scared, sad, or depressed. The imagery in the quote relates to the thunder thus a way to broadcast the murder of his younger brother across the land and

Throughout Frankenstein, Shelley uses Victor to warn the reader of the dangers of aspiring to godliness, and the consequences one faces in the aftermath doing so, even going as far as to compare Victor to Satan, tempting the crew of Walton’s ship, in the book’s final pages. The Victor Shelley creates is very similar to the Satan created by Milton in his book, Paradise Lost, which explores the biblical tale of Adam and Eve. In Frankenstein, Victor speaks of his desire to create the Creature, saying, “I deemed it criminal to throw away in useless grief those talents that might be useful to my fellow-creatures.” (152). Shelley’s diction choices, such as the word “useless” exemplify Victor’s excessive hubris, portraying him as a man who creates his Creature for, in his mind, the good of society.

Some may argue that the inclusion of the seasons into Frankenstein only serves to contrast with the unnatural acts that Victor commits and has no relation to his psychological state as the thesis indicates. However, the novel specifically addresses that the protagonist interprets nature as a sentient, maternal-like entity when he comments that “I pursued nature to her hiding places” as he works to create the monster and, in doing so, acknowledges the relationship he has with the natural world (Shelley 38). Thus, the rebirth of nature in the spring season allows Victor to better recover from his mental and physical

Nicole Smith praises Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ because she believes that Shelley brilliantly combines aspects of gothic literature and romanticism in order to establish distinct themes and enhance qualities of the romantic movement. By doing so, Mary Shelley separates herself from other romantic writers such as her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Smith identifies three crucial romantic themes in Frankenstein including Shelley’s use of environmental imagery for the purpose of conveying a character’s emotional state. This was seen when Victor Frankenstein contrasted his “...Barren, grey…”(Smith 2) homeland to a “...Colorful and lively. ”(Smith 2) Switzerland.

This is as Shelley frequently looks for beauty and wonder in the sublime throughout her novel, Whereas Ishiguro looks more towards a melancholic setting relying on the British countryside and the bleak gray landscapes. I believe that Shelley uses he sublime setting to mirror the nature of the story, this is Frankenstein is a romantic story about the sublime and the power of nature. An example of this is the power of nature and victor fascination with it from a young age. Therefore it is key that Mary Shelley emphasizes the power of nature with the vast and sublime natural landscapes as a constant reminder to the reader of nature's power and the dangers victor has brought upon himself by opposing the power of nature.

The fictional horror novel of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is driven by the accentuation of humanity’s flaws. Even at the very mention of her work an archetypal monster fills one’s imagination, coupled with visions of a crazed scientist to boot. Opening her novel with Robert Walton, the conduit of the story, he also serves as a character to parallel the protagonist’s in many ways. As the ‘protagonist’ of the story, Victor Frankenstein, takes on the mantle of the deluded scientist, his nameless creation becomes the embodiment of a truly abandoned child – one left to fend for itself against the harsh reality posed by society. On the other hand, Walton also serves as a foil to Victor – he is not compulsive enough to risk what would be almost

Their perspectives of nature, however, are vastly different due to their circumstances regarding companionship and affection from companions. Victor Frankenstein describes nature as calming and it brings him great happiness when he is surrounded by nature because he himself is happy and adored by friends who surround him. Frankenstein has friends whom he holds strong bonds with where “harmony was the soul of [their] companionship, and the diversity and contrast that subsided [their] characters drew [them] nearer together” (29, Chapter 2). He is surrounded by companions that give him plenty of love and affection that in turn, bring him happiness and a favoring outlook on nature. Victor takes pleasure in wandering through various scenes of nature, feeling accepted by it, therefore, he can portray it as full of life and “awful and majestic” (82, Chapter 10).

In Mary Shelley’s iconic gothic novel, Frankenstein, Romantic themes are strongly represented in order to propagandize Romanticism over the elements of knowledge and the Enlightenment. In her novel, Shelley uses gothic nature settings to foreshadow dark events that are about to happen in the novel. She also uses nature to intensify the effect that is brought during significant scenes, a strong example being, when Victor Frankenstein’s monster approaches him after a long period of time. Nature and its use to influence mood is one of the most paramount themes of both Frankenstein and Romanticism.

The novel Frankenstein has a unique way of expressing how the setting functions as a whole. Mary Shelley used an early 1800s setting in Switzerland and London to show how Victor made it through this extraordinary adventure. There were multiple themes that affected how the setting functioned in the novel. Nature, weather, and season all affect the mood of the characters. These things all have a great impact on the setting of the book.

He hopes that this trip can repair his broken soul from the death of Justine and William. For Victor to cope with his feelings and heal from the deaths, he must: Victor goes into solitude so he can relax and focus on nature and forget about his worries. He isolates himself from society and the flaws that are apart of the world. In fact, the use of nature throughout the novel Frankenstein and Nature change the mood drastically.