Health Research Literature Research Paper

Updated: Jun 8th, 2019

Evaluation of Frankenstein

Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley is an exemplary written piece in English literature. The novel is influenced by many movements that were prominent in the period of romanticism.

This paper evaluates the important motifs of the novel with its cultural roots to the concept of prejudice, character sketch of victor Frankenstein and Justine Moritz with respect to their character usage to deliver the thematic concern of the author. Moreover the paper also describes the concept of education and upbringing of child through the analysis of charter of Frankenstein in the novel.

Character Sketch of Victor Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein is the major character and the most important narrator of the story. His portrayal in the novel is more of a person who had always deserted himself in loneliness which could be considered as a dangerous element of his personality. In the beginning his interest was in poetry but after some time science became his obsession. He wanted to discover the secrets of heaven and earth.

He studies the outlawed sciences and become interested about the secret of life. He studies the secrets of giving birth to an inhuman creature. After researching and all of his experiments he forms a monster to life that kills his brother, best friends, wife and everyone close to Frankenstein just because he refuses to create a mate for the monster (Shelley, Panshin, & Cook, 2009)

Victor Frankenstein continues to gain knowledge which blinds him from the effects it may have. His determination causes him to create a creature that is deformed which he instantly rejected. His main motive of creating such a creature was to become the leader of that race.

He soon realizes that he has made a mistake. The monster even kills two other innocents including Frankenstein’s father. After creating a life he regrets his decision and he himself refuses to admit his one scary truth of creating a life. He gets scared of getting the label of bad man or on the other hand, a mad man (Hitchcock, 2007).

Victor was disturbed with the success of Robert that he wanted to achieve his goals at any price. Victor himself knows the danger of his passion that he is ready to sacrifice everything (Shelley, Panshin, & Cook, 2009). The most dangerous sign is that he creates the creature with the method of interpretations through which he was interfering within God’s matter with the passion of creating life.

The danger fact about the Victor Frankenstein which was found by Shelly in the novel was he short tempered. Shelly highlighted in her novel that a double time live was liven by Victor Frankenstein; he was living half demon and half human life (Shelley, Panshin, & Cook, 2009).

Justine’s Role in the Novel

Justine Moritz is a small character who is of main importance in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Justine Moritz is a servant girl for the Frankenstein’s family. She lives with them after her mother’s death. She was adopted by Frankenstein’s. She was living with them since the age of twelve. Victor and Justine were of the same age. Victor’s mother liked Justine Moritz.

The author had not used the personality of Justine in the context of the novel on a level of prominence but it is rather an imperative role in the novel. The prominence had been given to the character with its relative linkage with Elizabeth.

Everyone loved her but Justine Moritz was accused when William Frankenstein was murdered, Justine Moritz gets arrested because of the locket which was given to William by Elizabeth was found in the pocket of Justine Moritz and getting under pressure she blames herself for not protecting him and later she accepts that it was her mistake, however it was never done by her but the monster.

Victor Frankenstein was well aware of the one who killed William Frankenstein but still he was hiding the truth. Victor knew that Justine Moritz’s life was captured by the monster as well. The creature later killed Justine and than victor blamed himself inside. Justine Moritz was an innocent girl (Shelley, Panshin, & Cook, 2009).

Throughout the character of Justine, Shelley concentrates on the issues of equal treatment for domestic aid and the adjustment of those in need of help. Because of all that she tolerates, Justine is a compassionate character who draws out a sympathetic response and understanding from the reader. The character of Justine Moritz in the novel inspects the way injustice takes place to the innocent.

The character develops the imperativeness of acceptance and the concept of upbringing. The creature is disliked by society, but Justine Moritz is loved and respected by the Frankenstein family. The unloved creature turns out to be a monster. Love from the Frankenstein family banned Justine Moritz from becoming the monster her accusers (Walder, 1995).

Shelley: Disciple of John Locke

The plot by Mary Shelley had been tied with the educational theories of her time. On a closer research about the plot of Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, it comes to our understanding that there is a profound influence of the philosophers such as John Locke. While Mary Shelley writes the plot, it is evident that the character of Frankenstein had been written under an influence of the theory by John Locke.

The theory by John Locke states that the upbringing of a child is the major actor of his behavior in his society. The education had been symbolized with the behavior of a person. The character of Frankenstein makes use of the theory by John Locke (Walder, 1995).

The theory of John lock is widely famous under the term of tabula rase. The character of Frankenstein had been projected by Mary Shelley as a child who had always been left alone. Due to his living way of life as an introvert, the concept of John Locke’s becomes easily to understand.

Mary Shelley had worked as a disciple to the educational theory of liberalist John Locke. It is because Mary supports and affirms the idea of education being affected by the upbringing of an individual (Spellman, 1997).

Prejudice: Thematic Aspect of the Novel

The novel centers on the character of Frankenstein with an approach to highlight three themes namely neglect, prejudice, and judgment. All of these themes have there own meaning. Neglect prejudice, and judgment all knot into each other. Frankenstein was a mastermind, genius and intelligent. In various ways, prejudice is a force impartial to being a Frankenstein’s monster; it is a monster which is formed out of fear.

Prejudice is frequently defined as a view shaped without knowledge, but in reality prejudice is frequently forged from fright of misunderstood knowledge. Prejudice comes about not because of the fright of the unfamiliar, but slightly of a misperception of how the unfamiliar will influence an individual (Hitchcock, 2007).

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein can be read as a story full of tragedies in which the terrible events that take position spring from the prejudice that is borne from the fright of the unfamiliar as in material form by the creature.

Psychologically speaking, the monster is a demonstration of the other, and the refusal of the creature by Frankenstein and the added characters is an example of how the fright of difference works to inspire prejudice in opposition to those who don’t reflect the accepted norm (Shelley, Panshin, & Cook, 2009).

Psychological term actually means the same thing as irregular; more particularly it the demonstration of an irregularity that can be viewed as potentially bullying the very communal fabric. Any time the threat of the other occurs, the existing ideological power structure reacts in one of two ways (Hitchcock, 2007).

Moreover the threat is discarded outright and shattered, or its threatening mechanism are thinned until it is rendered safe and secure enough to be absorbed into the mainstream and turn out to be a reasonable imitation of society.

Categorization of the Plot

When one imagines of a horror story then his mind surely draws the images of monsters, terror, and tragedy. Without a doubt the story Frankenstein has a monster, there is terror throughout the book and it finishes in a tragedy. But this truly cannot be considered as a horror movie.

Frankenstein discovers the way people are professed by society. Mary Shelley advises that the treatment they collect as an outcome of social observations will eventually draw out positive elements of their nature such as how the creature detested the human because they avoided him simply on the basis of his look (Shelley, Panshin, & Cook, 2009).

When Victor forms the creature, he regrets his choice to form life the moment he completes it. It seems very low of Victor Frankenstein, because he throw-outs his creature on look or appearance alone, and does not attempt in any way to complete his responsibilities.

This does not provide the reader to empathize with Victor Frankenstein’s quandary for two reasons; one because he permitted his ambition and desires to override reason and second, that because he failed to take responsibility for measures. The story can be regarded as a dogmatic social allegory by the author.

References

Hitchcock, S. (2007). Frankenstein: a cultural history. New York: W.W. Norton.

Shelley, M., Panshin, A., & Cook, P. (2009). Frankenstein. Phoneix: Arc Manor LLC.

Spellman, W. (1997). John Locke. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Walder, D. (1995). The Realist Novel. London: Routledge.

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