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Literary Criticism In Frankenstein

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Frankenstein Literary Criticism
Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, is filled with motifs of Nature and companionship. During the Romantic period or movement, when the novel Frankenstein was written, nature was a huge part of romanticism. Nature was perceived as pure, peaceful, and almost motherly. As we read the novel through Victor Frankenstein 's perspective, we the readers can see how romanticized-nature is perceived as by those who find comfort in nature. This novel also contains, in addition to romantic elements, heavy-filled gothic scenes and descriptions. As the creature wanders aimlessly through nature, he comes to find that his version of nature is dark and depressing. The overall feelings and views of Victor Frankenstein and his …show more content…

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). Nature has the “power of bestowing on …show more content…

In contrast to Frankenstein, the creature views nature 's decaying state with a depressing disposition because the creature is alone and in need of affection from a friend. The creature describes nature with a tone of suffering. “Nature decayed around [him], and the sun became heatless; rain and snow poured around [him]; mighty rivers were frozen; the surface of the earth as hard, and chill, and bare, and [he] found no shelter” (120, Chapter 16). He is, in a sense, attacked by nature just as he is attacked by every human being he comes in contact with. He is truly alone in a cruel world. Nature seems to mock the creature, as “the cold stars shone in mockery” because “all, save [him], were at rest or enjoyment”, due to the creature’s loss of his only near-companions (117, Chapter 16). Simple cottage folk that he observed from a great distance were his only source of contact to the world. He wished for their friendship, however, he was only met with their horror and disgust. The creature only desires friends who will show him love and affection but receives only pain and suffering. Because he never gains the love of any person he meets, his depressed demeanor is revealed through his depressing descriptions of dark and decaying nature. ****( he can only travel by dark because of rejection)*** A companion soon becomes the creature’s only desire so that maybe, his misery may end and he would feel less like a monster who scares all who behold his hideousness. His lack of

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In his attempt to assimilate, the Creature begins to learn language and admire the concept of a family and forms the same human desires that people possess: a family, a companion, a home, and an identity. However, as he tries to interact with people, he learns that his ugly appearance prevents him from integrating into society. The elements of the Gothic are present here, as the Creature's isolation is a principal trope of Gothic fiction. According to Ashley Craig Lancaster’s text, “From Frankenstein's Monster to Lester Ballard: The Evolving Gothic Monster,” “…the Monster drifts away from society as a creature driven first by kindness, then by hatred, and finally by desperation, only to continue to live alone” (Lancaster 139).

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