How Does Mary Shelley Present The Monster In Frankenstein

“Many people who’ve never read Frankenstein know of Victor Frankenstein’s creature as one of the most famous monsters in literary history. Adaptations of the novel have contributed to this misinterpretation by portraying the monster as a horrifying character who provokes fear. However, part of what makes Mary Shelley’s novel such an impressive accomplishment is her ability to portray the monster as multi-dimensional and complex. The monster is responsible for many violent actions throughout the novel. He is also legitimately frightening and grotesque because of his enormous size and composition from parts taken from corpses. At the same time, the monster encounters persistent rejection and loneliness. He struggles to find a sense of family

When the monster encounters Felix, Safie, and Agatha, all three characters are immediately terrified, even though the monster is simply talking peacefully with Mr. De Lacey. These characters are not entirely wrong in being fearful: the monster’s size and supernatural strength makes him easily capable of harming others. As he says when describing his reaction to Felix striking him, “I could have torn him limb from limb.” Over the course of the novel, the monster kills first little William, then Henry Clerval, and finally Elizabeth. The murders are particularly heinous because all three characters are positioned as extremely sweet and kind, and both William and Elizabeth are relatively

Frankenstein is Victor’s story; he has countless opportunities to argue his case and cast himself as the tragic hero of the tale. Despite his earnest—and long-winded—attempts to put himself in the right, however, Victor’s words only alienate us as they pile up. He feels little besides relief when the monster escapes; he lets Justine go to her death rather than risk his reputation by telling the truth; he whines and prevaricates; he heartlessly abandons and scorns his own creation. Ironically, Victor would be more appealing were he to lose the power of speech. Unlike his monster, he is no murderer. By themselves, his actions might seem reasonable. But because he bares his soul by communicating verbally to us, the readers, he reveals the unappealing motivations behind those reasonable actions and loses our trust and