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Solitude And Isolation In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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Solitude is a double-edged sword that not only destroys one’s self esteem, but causes destruction to those around them. Although it provides a false sense of tranquility, solitude can also unleash a dark and relentless emotional storm that leaves a person feeling lost, hopeless, and hateful. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley illustrates the destructive power solitude holds and how it can shatter even the most resilient of spirits. The theme of solitude and isolation play a significant role in the novel, leading both Victor and his monster to suffer from depression, loneliness, and a desire for love or revenge. The monster's isolation from society fuels his feelings of anger from his abandonment, ultimately leading him to seek revenge against his …show more content…

This is highlighted in the quote, “These bleak skies I hail, for they are kinder to me than your fellow beings. If the multitude of mankind knew of my existence, they would do as you do, and arm themselves for my destruction. Shall I not then hate them who abhor me? I will keep no terms with my enemies. I am miserable, and they shall share my wretchedness.” (Shelly 91). The monster's distaste for the company of humans is clearly illustrated as the creature states that he finds more comfort in “bleak skies” than when he is in the company of people; despite the fact that by referring to the skies as bleak it creates a feeling of despair for the reader. By referring to the sky in a depressing manner, the reader is better able to visualize how awful the monster's experiences have been with humans. The statement "If the multitude of mankind knew of my existence, they would do as you do, and arm themselves for my destruction” supports the idea that the monster's experiences with people have been so horrific that he expects nothing but hostility and aggression from them. Such treatment has forced him into isolation. By being forced to live a life of loneliness time and time again the monster's hatred for humans is fueled, causing him to refuse to make peace with humans. The monster's intense feelings of isolation and rejection …show more content…

When working on the creation of his monster, Victor withdraws himself from all human interaction, disregarding his family's letters and plunging himself into a life of seclusion. This self-imposed isolation triggers Victor's descent into madness. “My cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement… My limbs now tremble, and my eyes swim with the remembrance; but then a resistless, and almost frantic impulse, urged me forward. I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit.” (Shelly 42). As Victor progresses in his study to reanimate life, the reader is able to see the slow progression of madness that Victor undergoes. This madness causes Victor to disregard his needs and allow himself to be engulfed in isolation. This isolation makes him sick physically and mentally. That is what is meant when Victor states, “my cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement”. The isolation has caused him to become fragile and regretful. Victor becomes stuck in a relentless cycle of regret and a desire for success. This idea is proven when he states “My limbs now tremble, and my eyes swim with the remembrance; but then a resistless, and almost frantic impulse, urged me forward”. His obsession of creating life torments Victor every time he considers quitting or simply resting. The danger of solitude is further emphasized in this

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When Victor was being treated for his fever by his friend; Henry Clerval, he “...was in reality very ill; and surely nothing but the unbounded and unremitting attention of [his] friend could have restored [him] to life" (Shelly 33). Victor's sickness is able to excuse him out of his responsibilities and is able to put everything on hold conveniently do what he needs and wants to do. When Victor {can't remember but event as to when} he is then able have an excuse to isolate himself and focus on his studies, in the beginning and then later on, his isolation is utilized to show that due to his isolated, it causes Victors mental health to decline and spiral into an episode. Victor's illness is due to his own isolation and leads himself to his own demise….(more to be

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His intellectual pruist for knowledge and obsession over his creation causes him to fixate on one thing. He was so consumed by his work that he cut off anyone and everyone to achieve his goal. The night following his creations' birth victor begins to show signs of paranoia. He overthinks what he has done and begins questioning what he has brought upon the world. His soul was filled with anxiety of the thought of what he had just done.

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Despite the fact that Victor is isolated in the end and isn’t happy about the outcome, “Winter, spring and summer passed...so deeply was I engrossed in my occupation"(Monster of Mary Shelley), conveys the tragedy of Victor’s creation. By spending most of his time deprived in his experiment, never going out in reality, but focusing on what is making him successful, made him crazier than he’s ever been. In spite of the fact that Victor was the creator of his monster, he had responsibilities which he ignored. “After the fact that he made ambitious mistakes, he could've acknowledged his authorities and save himself from desolation. Out of pride and ambition, his mistakes brought him to the point of unhappiness and devastation to himself and to his loved ones, most importantly his creation.

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He did not realize this however. His passion clouded everything else in his life which drove him into the first steps of the loneliness that led him to make the mistakes he did. After the monster was created and Victor had fled to outrun his problems, the monster drove Victor’s sense of loneliness to new heights. Victor felt he had no one to turn to because he did not want to tell anyone what he had created. Because of this, he became very depressed which took a huge toll on his mental side.

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His family and friends strived to reach out to him, sending him letters, though he barely responded to them. “I, who had ever been surrounded by amiable companions, continually engaged in endeavouring to bestow mutual pleasure, I was now alone. (43)” Victor feels remorseful about becoming so isolated from his loved ones. He becomes so depressed with what he’s done that he starts to forget about things that he once enjoyed, such as nature walks, and the company of friends.

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As a result of his own forced isolation and refusal to alleviate the monster from his isolation by not giving him a wife/companion, Victor essentially loses everything as the monster takes revenge on Victor as well as those he cares about. This just further porves the destructiveness of isolation and those who choose it, as well as those who are forced into it. If Victor had not rejected society in the first place and did not isolate himself in order to make scientific advancements, then everyones lives would have been the better for it, for the

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He’s gone through so much insanity in this book, it’s intriguing. Isolation is so harmful to a human being. It can make you go crazy, like seeing and hearing things. Victor states, “I felt my soul.dissolve itself in sorrow.” He went so crazy after the monster came to life that he felt as if he wasn't even in his body.

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Isolation Demonstrated Through the Mental State of all Kinds In 2020, Covid-19 took over the world causing many people to become separated from the community. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley explores the same theme of separation and isolation. The mental state of both Victor and his creature change drastically as the novel drives forward. The origin of these events begin as Shelley gives a closer look into the emotions of each character.

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Moreover, the monster desires a society that is free of prejudice against him, he is faced with rejection when he attempts to engage with others. One statement by the monster genuinely reveals this theory behind his actions as he stated, “shall I respect man, when he contemns me” (Shelley 136). This demonstrates that the monster held a disdain for humans due to frequently being discriminated against due to his physical

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After losing basically every person who was close to him as a result of something that he created, Victor’s mental health takes a huge toll. He turns into a completely different person than he was before. His misery and loneliness completely takes over him, he drives himself crazy by feeding off this sadness he´s feeling. He expresses when he says “More miserable than man ever was before, why did I not sink into forgetfulness and rest” (Shelley 21). Victor’s depression is a driving force of the way he thinks and behaves in the novel, he sees himself as the most miserable person to have ever existed..

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Victor damages his mindset by allowing himself to go mentally insane. Because the sight of medical tools tortures Victor’s mind, he becomes psychotic and depressed. Secondly, this character devastates himself when he views his monster alive for the first time. Victor becomes ill for several months and eventually recovers; however, this ailment disturbs him for the rest of his life.

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After the abandonment of love and warmth, the monster became filled with rage, anger, and neglect which leads him on page 109 to set the family's house on fire to let them know how it feels to be without. Mary Shelley believed that people will treat others badly when they don't feel that sense of belonging, For example, when Victor created the monster and didn't like the outcome of his creation, then abandoned the monster so the monster killed Victor's little brother so Victor felt somewhat of the same pain as the monster. On page 116 Victor and the monster talked about why the monster killed as much as he did but the monster claimed that it was Victor's fault for abandoning and that if he never did William and Justine would still be alive. The monster stated that if Victor were to create the monster a wife just as hideous as the monster himself so he felt like he belonged to someone and someone belonged to him due to him feeling

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Within the gothic novel, Frankenstein Mary Shelley constantly uses the Romantic trait of solitude. This element of Romanticism is used to help represent failure and consequences that characters make. The characters throughout Frankenstein are consistently in situations of being in solitude, away from friends, family, and other people in pursuit of a goal. In Frankenstein, Shelley used solitude as a way to define the emotions of failure that her character Victor Frankenstein feels in the later parts of the book. This causes Victor so start reflecting on nature and worry about his persecutor watching him.

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The monster feels the opposite about himself. He says, “when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification”(pg. 112). This relates to the theme because it shows that the monster feels inferior compared to the humans because he looks ugly in their eyes and now in his. He knows he won't be accepted.

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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.

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