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Why Is Appearance Important In Frankenstein Essay

1066 Words5 Pages

Throughout Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, we come to realize that the main theme of the story is based on physical appearance, and this is shown through the fact that the issues that the creature faces throughout the story are mostly due to his outer appearance. Similar to today’s society, many people tend to (or believe) that the issues they face in life are because of how they look on the outside. While this is debatable, physical appearance does affect many of us in different ways, for better or for worse.
With or without argument, the reason that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has been read until today is because what the story is based on brings enlightenment to others regarding how physical appearance truly affects oneself. Until today, …show more content…

That’s one way to say that it really does affect us all, and even surrounds us and our thoughts. Not only does appearance affect the way we view others, but it also affects how other people view themselves. Recent studies have shown that “at a very early age, children began to pick whom they would like for playmates by such standards as facial attractiveness and body form.” (Fisher, 1986) One reason for the creature in Frankenstein to have faced issues with forming social relations really is because of his physical appearance, because research has also shown that “in many situations attractive people are more socially competent than those who are less attractive.” Further research claims that “not only are [persons high in physical appearance] assumed to possess more socially desirable personalities than those of lesser [appearance], but it is presumed that their lives will be happier and more successful.”
It is not only in today’s society that these words hold validity, but it is also during the Frankenstein era because the creature faced similar (if not the same) issues. More so, it would only be reasonable to say that if your appearance is not the most attractive, your personality is disregarded for the most part. This is exactly what happened to the creature in Frankenstein. People were not willing to get to know him because they were too distracted and frightened by his

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