Frankenstein Essay, Research Paper
Frankenstein is a novel that was written by Mary Shelley. It was first published in 1818.The story was about a man named Victor Frankenstein who created a monster thatcommitted a series of murders when he was rejected by society. Mary Shelley was the author of the novel Frankenstein. She was born in August of 1797and died in February of 1857, at the age of fifty-four. In the summer of 1816, Mary stayedwith a poet named Byron. Also staying with Byron was his physician Polidori and JaneClarmont, a short story writer. Byron suggested they should all write a horror story. This iswhen the story of Victor Frankenstein occurred to Mary. She said the story was born rightout of a nightmare. At first, it was only meant to be a short story, but at the urging of herhusband, she increased the story to its present length. The novel took place in Geneva, Switzerland in the 1700s. Victor Frankenstein lived in ahouse near Lake Gevena: We possessed a house in Geneva, and a campagne on Belrive, the eastern shore of the lake, at the distance of rather more than a league from the city. The house was near the Jura mountain range. Victor climbed the mountain when he soughtsolitude and consolation. The house itself was big and had an upstairs and downstairs. Muchof the story unfolded in this house. However, Victor Frankenstein had previously attended theUniversity of Ingolstadt for three years and this was where the monster was created. As the plot begins an Arctic explorer named Robert Walton finds a man adrift in the seaoutside his boat. He nursed the man back to health and finds he is Victor Frankenstein whotells the story of his life to Walton. When Victor was young he was fascinated with life. He wanted to bring a creature to life.While attending the University of Ingolstadt, he created the monster and brought it to life.However, he became terrified of the creation and fled from it in horror. He became mentallysick and did not know the whereabouts of the monster. One day Victor received a letter which informed him that his little brother had beenkilled. A maid that was a close friend of the family was accused of the murder. Victor knewthat the monster had killed his brother. However, the maid was found guilty and hung. Victorfelt responsible for both deaths and climbed high into the Jura mountains behind his house,only to find the monster. The monster told Victor that he had learned to read and talk bywatching a poor family. The monster demanded that Victor make him a companion; hepromised to leave and never be seen again if it was made. Victor decided to make a trip to Scotland, but was forced to bring his friend, HenryClevral. As he worked on the project he decided not to make the companion. Eventually, themonster appeared and told Victor he would kill on his wedding night. Soon after, Victor foundHenry Clevral dead. Victor decided to marry Elizabeth, his love since childhood. On the nightof the wedding, Elizabeth was killed by the monster. Victor then pledged to find and destroythe monster. The pursuit led Victor to the Arctic where he died. After his death, the monsterappeared and told Robert Walton he would kill himself. As the story ended, the monsterjumped on a raft and disappeared into the darkness. One of the main characters of the story was the monster. The monster remainedunnamed throughout the novel. He had yellow skin and black hair. His teeth were white andhe had black lips. His eyes were a dull yellow color and were sunk deeply into his head: His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes that almost seemed the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips. The monster was tall and strong. He was created by Victor Frankenstein and was a victim ofmisunderstanding. Mary Shelley wrote the novel Frankenstein in a British dialect. She used verbose phasesthroughout the story. Some of these phrases were superfluous: Besides, in drawing of my early days, I also record those events which led, by insensible steps, to my after tale of misery: for when I would account to myself for the birth of that passion which afterwards ruled my destiny, I find it arise, like a mountain river, from ignoble and almost forgotten sources; but, swelling as it proceeded, it became the torrent which, in its course, has swept away all my hopes and joys. A possible theme of the novel Frankenstein is acceptance. The monster was not acceptedinto society because of his appearance. Even though the monster was calm and gentle thepeople rejected him and attempted to destroy him. Since he was not accepted by society hecommitted a series of murders in search for his creator Victor Frankenstein. The peopleshould not have made judgement based on his appearance, but on the moral content of hischaracter. Frankenstein is one of the greatest horror stories of all time. A great part of the storywas a flashback of Victor’s life. A flashback is when a story is interrupted to portray a pastevent. The irony of the novel is that Victor Frankenstein greatest scientific achievement,which turned out to be a monstrosity, evolved into his arch nemesis.