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The Elements Of Solitude In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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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. The Romantic trait of solitude, increasing emotions and deepen feelings of failure is one of the main elements of Frankenstein, in which Shelley uses to cause her main protagonist Victor through hardships as well as building …show more content…

Within these conflicts, Shelley creates moments of tension for Victor as he wants to be with family.Shelley starts to create tension while Victor is in isolation starting near the end of Victor’s tale. When Victor is tasked by the monster to create another like him, Shelley has Victor and Clerval travel around Europe until they stop in Orkneys. Upon arrival, Victor explains, “I had now neglected my promise for some time, and I feared the effects of the daemon’s disappointment” (Shelley 110). Victor explaining his fear of the monster and how tension is building up in his mind beginning to stress him out. Later as days pass, Victor starts to explain that he cannot work on the new creation at days at a time as he feels dread and misery while making this new being. Shelley starts to express more tension in Victor’s work when Victor explains, “Every moment I feared to meet my persecutor. Sometimes I sat with my eyes fixed on the ground, fearing to raise them lest they should encounter the object which I so much dreaded to behold” (Shelley

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In conclusion, Mary Shelly uses her great words and flow of her sentences to show how Victor has changed throughout the book. Victor at first seems happy and has a love of nature. In contrast, when the monster completes his revenge Victor is isolated from society and this causes him to have loneliness. Mary Shelly compares Victor to a romantic hero. He has some specific traits that apply both to the romantic hero and himself.

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Shelley wrote the scene of his discovery in a single sentence that takes up the space of one regular sized paragraph coupled with a rhetorical question to emphasize the lengths that Victor went through to finally reach his glorifying moment of enlightenment and to question what he is striving for. To further elaborate on Victor’s journey to his discovery, Shelley juxtaposes his childhood education to his current endeavors that follow a completely opposite path; “In my education my father had taken the greatest precautions that my mind should be impressed with no supernatural horrors. I do not ever remember to have trembled at a tale of superstition, or to have feared the apparition of a spirit.” The juxtaposition enhances the contrast of the ideas Victor was raised upon, and the ideas he holds deep within himself during the present. Victor’s unconforming ideas and predilection for the mysterious reveal Shelley’s background in Romanticism and the effects that the era holds on her

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Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, shows how a character who is portrayed as a tragic hero, in the beginning, can become the monster in the end. Victor and the Monster in Mary Shelley’s captivating novel showed how rival enemies share striking similarities. The similarities between the two tragic characters are driven by their dreary isolation from the secluded world. A large difference is that they were both raised in two completely different environments but understood the meaning of isolation. Physical differences are more noticeable rather than their personalities.

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Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein is a frame narrative of the life of Victor Frankenstein recorded by Robert Walton. It is circled around his creation of a monster that suffered a lonely life and wanted revenge for being created. In Frankenstein, Shelley portrays many big ideas but, one that continues to show importance is the idea of Human Needs and Desires. so, in the novel Mary Shelley presents the idea that all creatures have a basic need for friendship and love.

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Emotional and physical isolation in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein are the most pertinent and prevailing themes throughout the novel. These themes are so important because everything the monster, Victor, and Robert Walton do or feel directly relates to their poignant seclusion. The effects of this terrible burden have progressively damaging results upon the three.

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In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, both of the main characters undergo physical and emotional isolation. This enforced or chosen solitude causes Frankenstein to become over-ambitious and harbor secrets from his family and friends, leading to his demise. In the monster, isolation turns to misery, which causes him to become vengeful against his creator and all the world. Through these examples of total isolation, Shelley shows that when people have no connection to others in the world, their worst characteristics and flaws are brought out. Victor Frankenstein was the first character to show a major flaw while in isolation.

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It is quite telling that the most severe punishment in our society other than the death penalty or torture is solitary confinement. Although, isolation is in itself a form of torture, it can drive someone to the brink of insanity. Although published nearly 200 years ago, Mary Shelley clearly understood the potential detrimental effects of isolation, as demonstrated in her famous novel, Frankenstein, where both main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his creation, suffer from and cause isolation for the other. Mary Shelley directs the reader to believe that isolation is the true evil, not the monster, Victor or any emotion inside of them. At the beginning of the novel, Victor is isolated from other people, causing to forget his scientific

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Mary Shelley, in her book, Frankenstein, has a reoccurring theme of isolation, in which she isolates the main character, Victor Frankenstein, from the rest of society in order to create a creature. Likewise, the creature that is created is also isolated from the rest of society as he is rejected from his creator as to his appearance. The theme is present throughout the novel as it reinforces Victor’s downfall from a normal boy to a grown man intrigued with creating life as he slowly becomes a madman that everyone soon fears. Isolation causes a loss of humanity as it affects the mind and body. Isolation from society does not teach social interaction, causes regret about oneself, provides one with negative feelings, and causes regretful actions.

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Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, contains and signifies many import Romantic elements throughout the entirety of the novel. Shelley incorporated many gothic and dark romantic elements into her story, but the heart of the novel is pure and true Romanticism. Almost all Romantic novel must haves are presented in the novel, and are attached to the writing so carefully that Frankenstein has earned its stay in the Romantic genre. Among these Romantic principles are the use of nature as a beautiful and powerful force, the Romantic ideal of creating something from nothing, and the Romantic reverence for the bittersweet cycle of life and death. the most associated theme with Romantic works is the power and beauty of nature.

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By denying both main characters the sensation of domestic affection, or any other kind of social belonging, Mary Shelley highlights the importance thereof. The resulting isolation became the driving force behind both Frankenstein and his creation’s abominable actions which, in turn, shows that trying to avoid isolation and seeking the feeling of social belonging is the primary message of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and of

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Mary Shelley 's timeless story seeks to help readers beware of alleviating loneliness through valuing others, and she warns readers that living a life of secrecy drains the joy out of life. The human condition of loneliness triggered many of the events in this book. This creature that Victor Frankenstein forged from cadavers was immediately abandoned. Right after Victor created this innocent monster, he fled from him out of fear.

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Shelley’s novel encompasses the unknown and how ambition drove Victor’s passions, ultimately leading him to the tragic end with many other bumps in the road along the way. As Victor had been in the study of life and its cause, the death of his mother had catalyzed a movement of grief which had started, “…depriv[ing him]self of rest and health. [Which he] had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation…” (Shelley 35). Even though he knew that he had been raiding graveyards, Victor believed that he created the body with the ‘finest body parts’ available.

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Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a gothic novel that tells the story of scientist, Victor Frankenstein, and his obsession with creating human life. This leads him to creating a gruesome monster made of body-parts stolen from grave yards, whom upon discovering his hideousness, the monster seeks revenge against his creator, causing Victor to regret the creation of his monster for the rest of his life. Shelley uses the literary elements of personification, imagery, and similes to give a vivid sense and visualization of Victor Frankenstein’s thoughts and feelings as well as to allow us to delve deeper into the monster’s actions and emotions. Throughout the novel, Shelley uses personification of various forces and objects to reflect the effect in Victor’s actions.

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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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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.

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