The emotional responses to the Creature’s condition that the novel evokes are illuminated when cast in psychoanalytical light. This article traces how shame and disgust, as theorized by Silvan Tomkins, operate in the novel, and how these responses disrupt or undermine the function of sympathy, as described by Adam Smith. In doing so, the article attempts to show that ethical readings of the novel – readings which participate in both Enlightenment ideas of sympathy and Romantic ideas of the “Other” – remain problematic because of the enduring presence of shame and disgust throughout the novel. The novel remains as powerful as it is partly because of the irreconcilability of the affects of shame and disgust with the ethical operation of sympathyhttp://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10509580701844967 Works Cited Sympathy In Frankenstein. "
Companionship is the closeness or familiarity, a true fellowship among people who for some reason have a connection. “I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me, whose eyes would reply to mine.” The quote is from Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Robert Walton longs for a friend. The creature wanted a female companion.
For people without these special individuals they search vigorously to obtain them. In Frankenstein, the monster looks at the cottagers as his protectors and friends, even though they did not know of his existence. The feelings The Monster felt were clearly expressed in this passage which says “ I looked upon them as superior beings… I formed in my imagination… pictures of presenting myself… I imagined that they would be be disgusted, until, by my gentle demeanour… I should win their favour and afterwards their love” (Shelley, 103). This text exemplifies the fact that although the family does not acknowledge the Monster, he still looks up to them and hopes that one day they will become acquainted. The novel Misery shares resemblance in their situations.
Throughout human existence, parents have endured the immediate responsibility to protect, care, and love for their children. In order for a child to attain a good life, parents need to provide the required care and by not doing so, their kids often feel neglected and obtain a loneliness state full of psychopathic behaviors. A prevailing instance where a child is neglected and begins to act in psychopathic ways occurs in the book Frankenstein. Frankenstein’s loneliness is developed by his parent’s lack of care and guidance. With a lack of guidance and support from family, Frankenstein becomes isolated from society and eventually develops an inner monster, which takes over him and leads to catastrophic events.
Throughout the novel of Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein’s creation has many similarities of a human being. To start, the creature wants someone to care for him and to be accepted. For example, the creature states, “ you must create a femal for me with whom i can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being.” (Shelly 104) In short, the creature needs attention and compassion.
(277). Throughout The Monster’s existence he spent all his time trying to find someone compatible, and all along he had one, Victor Frankenstein. For The Monster when that lone relationship disappears it didn’t have anything to pursue or anything to look forward to. In
The gothic fiction novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley centralizes on humanity and the qualifications that make someone human. The content of the novel Frankenstein depicts a monster displaying human traits that his creator Victor does not possess: empathy, a need for companionship, and a will to learn and fit in. Throughout the novel Shelley emphasizes empathy as a critical humanistic trait. The monster displays his ability to empathize with people even though they are strangers. On the other hand Victor, fails to show empathy throughout the novel even when it relates to his own family and friends.
„I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me; whose eyes would reply to mine. You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend” (Shelley 163-164). This is the wish of the scientist Robert Walton whose letters start Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Unlike the first thoughts coming to mind when hearing the title, friendship is one of the main topics in the story and the wish Walton expresses in the beginning stands for the desires of all the main characters. Not only Walton feels to be in need of companionship, the central character Victor Frankenstein does so too and even the Creature he brings into being expresses its strong wish to belong to someone.
Selfish Desires Selfishness has caused the downfall of countless characters throughout a multitude of literary works. This selfishness is also what usually precedes a character’s isolation due to the consequences of their actions. One example of this can be found in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein when Victor Frankenstein defies the natural order to accomplish his personal goals. Likewise, in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the Mariner makes a fatal mistake of performing a selfish action without thinking of the consequences. These works use the character’s actions and the main characters to explore how selfish decisions leads to one’s own isolation and the destruction of those around them.
Whereas Frankenstein does not properly value the domestic affection he is given until it is violently taken from him, his creation learns that this is what values most in life and yet is not able to gain this affection from others. Francis Bacon says in his essay Of Friendship “I have given the rule, where a man cannot fitly play his own part; if he have not a friend, he may quit the stage”. Shelley highlights the need for a sense of belonging and companionship by letting both her main figures suffer the pain of not having this need fulfilled and, in consequence, they both “quit the stage” (Bacon) and turn their backs on humanity. Social isolation, although through different circumstances, was the predominant cause for both Frankenstein and his creature’s demise. Even Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley’s husband, wrote in his preface to Frankenstein about the “amiableness of domestic affection” (Shelley 9).
The most shared emotion in Frankenstein is loneliness. Robert, the seafarer, writes in letters to his sister Margret: "You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend". This feeling of loneliness despite
Throughout the 19th century, a great deal of men emerged themselves in the sudy of nature and the discovery of unknown land. Focusing on transformation in scientific idea across a variety of subjects, those scientists raised the period of great advance in science, known as the Scientific Revolution. Even if much of scientific products expanded the knowledge and encouraged of different thinking, but some of scientific products were too power to destroy the nature resulting in posing a threat the community. In the novel Frankenstein Mary Shelley demonstrated that the creature transformed himself from longing for love to seeking revenge on humanity as whole. Humanity, knowledge and loneliness all lead to his corruption and tragedy through his emotional distortion.
Isolation and abandonment can cause many different reactions from people. In the words of William A. Sadler Jr., a sociology professor, “We often do not know how to cope. It can make us confused, distraught, depressed, frightened, and even outraged” (Sadler 105). In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, several of these effects are presented in Victor Frankenstein and his creation. They both suffer from being isolated from their creator, society, and family units.
Art is known to have impacted humankind as from time memorial. In many occasions when people wanted to pass the information, they were only using paintings to communicate. Many kingdoms were known to give information about their values and beliefs through paintings made on their walls. Most of the paintings use to speak a lot about the religion of the Kingdom, and sometimes romantic pictures were used to expound more on how such kingdoms were committed to taking care of individuals emotions. Baroque paintings were used especially for matters to do with religion.
There are many themes displayed in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. There are themes such as blind ambition, the dangers of playing God, prejudiceness, revenge, need for love, and many others. Isolation is a major theme that consistently reappears throughout the novel. The aloneness that is displayed in Frankenstein drives the characters to act irrationally. The book Psychology and Personal Growth explains that, solitude or loneliness often refers to our separation from other people.
