Revenge, Nature, And Isolation In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Frankenstein, a work by Mary Shelley, is a story about how man creates life so he can carve a new era of society, but ultimately faces the repercussions from attempting to defy the laws of nature. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses the themes revenge, nature, and isolation from society to create meaning for her readers. For example, Revenge is a powerful force that will consume the minds of those it inhabits. The monster begins its life with a warm, open heart. However, after it is abandoned and mistreated first by Victor and then by the De Lacey family, the monster turns to revenge, it became blinded, and “...feelings of revenge and hatred filled [its] bosom… [and it] bent [its] mind towards injury and death” (Shelley 99). These events caused the monster to devote its sole purpose to enacting revenge on those who wronged it.

Victor becomes lost in his studies and decides to remove himself from human society. He lingered in his basement, where “[his] cheek had grown pale with study, and [his] person had become emaciated with confinement” (Shelley 32), therefore Victor loses sight of his responsibilities and the consequences of his actions. Similarly, the monster was “cast... abroad an object for the scorn and horror of mankind…” (Shelley 100), thrown into the world alone, and despised by all it encountered. Turning to Victor, the monster begged his creator to make another of its kind so he could have another being to relate to. Victor refuses, punishing the monster for his actions by forcing him into isolation. The monster turns vengeful not because it's evil, but because its isolation fills it with overwhelming hate and anger. It quickly becomes clear that Frankenstein sees isolation from family and society as the worst imaginable fate. Altogether, the themes used in Shelley’s work create meaning for the reader and allow a better understanding of the