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Social Illusion In Frankenstein By Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, is the story of how an irresponsible scientist named Victor Frankenstein brings a creature to life without considering all the repercussions that may occur. Victor was not prepared to face any challenges that came along with creating new life and he failed to meet any of his creatures' needs. Throughout the entire novel, the creature was given a negative connotation, but the reality of the situation was the creature is the victim despite any of the sinister actions that took place. The creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein lacks the social acceptance required to prosper as a functional member of society. Societal standards of beauty create a one-sided opinion in which the creature is viewed. From the …show more content…

Humans are social creatures and for one to be isolated will lead to major developmental delays. Furthermore, isolation greatly impacts one’s mentally and will lead to anxiety, depression as well as psychosis as found in Harry Harlow’s study, which was deemed inhumane due to the extensive damage induced, on the mentality of the primates. Additionally, as found with the case study on Genie Wiley, a girl that was locked in her bedroom for the first thirteen years of her life without contact to the outside world, once a person is isolated the person cannot regain the basic development factors necessary to become a functional member of society. There is also a self-fulfilling prophecy that comes along with identifying oneself. As found in several studies on gang members, a major reason why gang members are so violent is that they feel the need to fill the image in which they are given. Also, Charles Horton Cooley found that people’s identity is shaped based off of how others perceive them. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs highlights the specific developmental factors a person has to go through within their life. According to Abraham Maslow, social acceptance is the third stage of life a person has to reach at least one in their lifetime in order to fully develop. Although one can skip a level on the pyramid of hierarchy they will eventually have to return to the missing step in their lifetime, but if a person is denied

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