Frankenstein - Commentary free essay sample

‘Frankenstein’ Commentary The extract from ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley is a narrative of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist, who has created life from dead matter. He has made a promise to his creature that he would create another monster – a female – for his companionship. He has been working hard on this task alone in his laboratory. Victor contemplates the ramifications of his work on society. He fears that the new monster may become wicked and treacherous, maybe even worse than his first creation. He looks out the window and sees his monster, who had followed him everywhere to make sure he fulfilled his promise. Seeing the look of malice on the monster’s face and becoming aghast with the fact that he might create a race of monsters, Victor Frankenstein tears up the project he is working on. The extract concludes with a mysterious figure rowing a boat up to Victor’s house and quietly entering though the front door. We will write a custom essay sample on Frankenstein Commentary or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The events of this extract are set in an isolated laboratory, possibly located on an island, in Europe. The laboratory itself is situated by the seaside, which is made clear by the line: ‘A few fishing vessels alone speckled the water’. In this context, the laboratory setting conveys an eerie atmosphere because the narrator is working on an abnormal experiment; his work is for his own purposes rather than for the good of mankind. In fact, his work may very well be the opposite. The setting of the passage provides a cold, gloomy atmosphere which complements the dark and foreboding nature of the story. The title of the novel is worth mentioning: Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus. There is a common misconception in popular culture that the monster’s name is Frankenstein, however in Mary Shelley’s novel Victor Frankenstein is the name of the scientist and his monster is unnamed, a symbol of his lack of human sense and identity. Characterization is especially significant to appreciating this piece. The character of Victor Frankenstein is an intelligent and curious scientist. Most of his time is spent alone and isolated from society, which makes him eel lonely and friendless – ‘none were near me to dissipate the gloom’. He has gone beyond the accepted boundaries within scientific experimentation and because of this, he has created a dangerous monster. Deep down, he does have morals – indicated when he states that his creation ‘had desolated my heart, and filled it for ever with the bitterest remorse. ’ He understands the impact of what he has done, and his guilt makes it impossible for him to create a second monster: ‘I made a solemn vow in my own heart never to resume my labours’. The daemon (monster) is introduced through the narrator reflecting on a past experience. The narrator recalls that he has created a ‘fiend’, a devilish creature who was ‘unparallel [in] barbarity’. This further reinforces the repulsive appearance of the creature. Even the monster himself realizes his physical grotesqueness, and ‘loathed his own deformity’. This indicates that he understands what he is and realizes that he is different from normal humans. He is driven by this loneliness and despair to become treacherous. He forces his creator to produce another monster as a companion to ease his solitude, uttering ‘fiendish threats’ and following Victor Frankenstein in his travels to ensure he did not break his promise. The female version of the monster which the scientist is working on does not yet have life or a personality but the scientist predicts what her characteristics may be. He fears that she may ‘become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate, and delight, for its own sake, in murder and wretchedness’. This indicates the unpredictable nature of Frankenstein’s experiments as the creator himself does not know exactly how the creation will turn out. Frankenstein fears that the female creature might turn away in disgust from her mate to the superior beauty of man; which would mean that she had not fulfilled the purpose of her creation in the first place. Then the scientist’s thoughts turn to the worst. He contemplate what would happen if, due to his creation of a mate for his monster, a ‘race of devils would be propagated upon the earth’. Unable to bear the burden of inflicting this curse on future generations, Victor Frankenstein destroys the female creature in a heat of passion. The first monster sees him do this, and with a howl of ‘devilish despair and revenge’, he disappears. This clever use of alliteration emphasizes the true extent of the monster’s loneliness and his thirst for vengeance. It also serves to quicken the pace of the narrative as the reader is prepared for a climax. The structure of the extract also prepares the reader for a climax. The longest paragraph is the first one; it provides the background information and descriptive details concerning the situation. After that the paragraphs slowly get shorter and shorter. This quickens the pace of the prose and indicates that something dramatic is about to happen. Shelley employs a persona of Victor Frankenstein who relates this story in first person narrative. From this viewpoint, it is clear that the tone of the passage also changes as it progresses. In the first paragraph there is a tone of disgust for his creation and also remorse for creating it in the first place. The second paragraph introduces a tone of fear at the impact of his experimentation. This tone of fear continues as he spots the monster he gave life to; and as he remembers his promise. As the passage reaches the end, this sense of terror and alarm is intensified and the reader is left with an image of someone entering the scientist’s apartment. The second last paragraph in this extract conveys a calm, quiet scene which surrounds a serene atmosphere. The author employs personification to describe the scene: ‘all nature reposed under the eye of the quiet moon’ which emphasizes the peaceful surroundings. The mention of a ‘gentle breeze’ lulls the reader into a relaxing state of mind before exposing the frantic, dramatic events that are to come. By doing this, the author has made sure that the climatic paragraphs that follow have the maximum effect on the reader. The final paragraph leaves the reader with a chilling sense of foreboding. Victor states: ‘I felt a presentiment of who it was †¦ I was overcome by the sensation of helplessness’. This prepares the reader for the encounter with the intruder. The reader may guess that it is Frankenstein’s monster that has broken into his house. The extract from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein reveals the story of a man’s thirst for knowledge which results in a monstrous creation that goes against the laws of nature. Through the use of vivid description and clever narrative style, Shelley brings to light the moral dilemma that a scientist is faced with. He eventually does the right thing but what he has done in the past will not go unpunished. Essentially, Frankenstein teaches us that there are some things that human beings should never attempt. By: Tarannum Laskar