...Frankenstein exhibits the negative effects of what isolation can do to a person or character. There is three characters who contribute to Frankenstein’s overall theme of depression and isolation. More specifically, the three characters who appear as narrator's experience the greatest distress and isolation. Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and Frankenstein’s creation. Each of the three characters experience their heartache in different ways and for differing reasons, but they can all relate because of the problems they go through in the novel. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, three of the main characters experience isolation, which causes them emotional instability and depression that leads to their awful and distressful lives. Frankenstein’s...
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...Imagine going through a mental break-down in the 1800’s. How would you react to depression and anxiety? How would cope with these emotions? In this paper, I will explore how mental health is portrayed in the Romantic period through Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein. Mary Shelley was known for being a romantic writer with gothic twists. She was married to famous poet Percy Shelly, who was her father’s student. Within her life, she faced tragedy; her mother had died giving birth to her, her sister committed suicide and some of her children died. Her mother was a well-known feminist who encouraged Shelley to be a free thinker. Frankenstein was published anonymously in 1818, which later Shelley was recognized as the author. Frankenstein is a gothic...
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... HUMN-303N-63125-Introduction to Humanities July 2014 Abstract Past experiences and death of and infant either at birth or shortly after is psychologically painful causing fear and depression. The death of the mother after childbirth would also contribute to this fear. Lockiophobia is the result, women fearing the birth process. Fear is a great motivator for humans, and it can push a person to do good or bad things. Mary Shelley chooses to write expressing her fears of childbirth in a uniquely creative way. Psychotherapy for individuals can be different, and she created her own through her writing. Utilizing the fictitious character of Frankenstein created by a male over a nine month time period before being brought to life. By avoiding the use of a female to create Frankenstein, the fearsome birthing process was bypassed. His life, filled with rejection and lack of love, severely depressed he choose to kill. Any further pregnancies for Mary Shelley would be encased with the fear of death, not only for the infant but also herself. Keywords: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, childbirth, depression Introduction The fear of childbirth arises from past experience of the birth process, lockiophobia. Mary Shelley’s book was written about a monster that was brought to life. Childbirth does not always end happily, death of a child or mother is always a possibility and the ability to cope is not the same for every woman or their family...
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...In Mary Shelley's book ¨Frankenstein,¨ Victor creates a monster whose appearance is put off as dangerous. Even though the monster tries so hard to make a friend, he is consecutively being rejected by every human he comes in contact with besides a blind man from the DeLacey family. In society your physical appearance is being judge by someone everyday. Who is too fat, who is too thin? Who wears too much makeup, who doesn't wear any at all? Who is too tall, who is too short? Everyone is not being judged just in our time period but the same thing was happening in the time period of Mary Shelley's book ¨Frankenstein.¨ Throughout the monsters multiple denials of acceptance by society and Victor, Mary Shelley shows that social rejection alters negative...
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...photographed the first three of Whale's quartet of horror films: Frankenstein (1931), The Old Dark House (1932), and The Invisible Man (1933)” (Wikipedia). Edeson’s cinematic technique can be seen elsewhere in film like The Maltese Falcon (1941), Sergeant York (1941), Casablanca (1942), The Mask of Dimitrios (1944), and Three Strangers (1946). The excellent cinematography in Frankenstein evokes a surreal and mysterious quality, perfectly matching the thunder and lightening storm above the gloomy castle in classic black and white imagery, and capturing that German Expressionism completely, from acting to set design, everything is wonderfully filmed, but as film critic Leonard Matlin mentions in his book Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 1994, “It’s creaky at times, and cries for music score, but it’s still impressive” (Maltins 441). Historians will point out,...
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...Victor Frankenstein and his “Monster;” an inspiration to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde When reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, if one pays attention to the gaps and inconsistencies of Victor Frankenstein’s narration of the events, one may begin to question the existence of Frankenstein’s monster, and come to realize Victor Frankenstein is really the monster. This isn’t how most would interpret the events that transpired in the book, but the possibility of Victor Frankenstein being the monster he fears, is entirely plausible. This Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde comparison is not as farfetched as one would initially think; there is enough evidence, contradiction of events, gaps, and inconsistencies in Victor Frankenstein’s narrative for an astute reader to connect the dots to reach such a conclusion. Victor Frankenstein, who is relating his tale to Captain Walton after being rescued in the Arctic, is sure that the creature he created actually existed. However, it is plausible to conclude that Victor never actually brought life to his creature, but had gone mad whilst attempting it. How did Victor become the monster he feared? Perhaps the exposure to hallucinatory chemicals he used while attempting to bring life to his creation, or because of overbearing stress, or his failure to succeed in his experiments. These elements, likely combined with Victor’s own awkward social failings, led Victor to experience a mental breakdown, go mad, or develop a split personality. In this scenario...
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...of the complex and textured manner in which author’s attempt to express what it is to be human. To be human is a diverging experience between the sexes, both biological and socially, and consequently the extent of gender equitability within society has always been a prevalent and contended concern. An engagement with this contention will define gender politics for this essay. Jane Austen and Mary Shelley, writing at the beginning of the nineteenth-century, joined their female contemporaries in a growing generation of authoresses who forged careers in discipline of male authority. In this respect, they are inescapably engaging with gender politics. Margaret Kirkham comments that ‘this burgeoning of the female talent...was bound to have a profound effect upon any young woman beginning to write once it had occurred’, suggesting that, regardless of whether the female intended to represent female concerns within their work; a female, in becoming ‘an author, was, in itself, a feminist act’ (Kirkham 33). With the status of the authoress in mind whilst analysing Northanger Abbey and Frankenstein, this essay will focus how Austen and Shelley engage with gender politics through characterization and narrative form, and the female concerns they address, both implicitly and explicitly, throughout their texts. Austen predominately engages with gender politics through her protagonist Catherine. Catherine is presented as the unlikely heroine; ‘no one...would have supposed her born to be a...
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...In this novel, Victor Frankenstein is the main character. The book starts out with Victor having a great childhood, his mother and father adopts a little girl named Elizabeth and raises her up with Victor. His mother plans for them to get married when they grow older. Victors mother gets very ill from nursing Elizabeth. Catching scarlet fever and dyeing later on. Victor becomes very interested in the human body. How life works, how the body decays, everything about the human body he wanted to know about. When he graduated from college he decided he was going to make his own species. When his creation was finished and at first it didn’t come alive, he was upset that it didn’t work so he went to lay down and when he woke up the monster was hovering...
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...Frankenstein and Blade Runner Although written more than 150 years apart from each other, and with very different mediums of production both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Ridley Scotts Blade Runner reflect upon the societal concerns of their times in order to warn us of the consequences of overstepping our boundaries and unbridled technological advancement. Subsequently, it becomes evident that despite their temporal and contextual differences, both texts are in fact linked through their common concerns and concepts. Frankenstein was written in 1818 at the height of the industrial revolution. Frankenstein is infused with some elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement and is also considered to be one of the earliest examples of science fiction. The story is partially based on Giovanni Aldini's electrical experiments on dead animals and was also a warning against the expansion of modern humans in the Industrial Revolution. Blade Runner, on the other hand was written in 1982 at the beginning of the age of computers. The movie is set in Los Angeles in 2019 inside a post-modern, post-industrial and post-apocalyptic city. The world is devoid not only of nature, but children, sunlight and “real” animals. In the opening scene, film noir characteristics, such as disoriented visual schemes and heavy reliance of shadows and rain are used to show the vast yet dwarfed city. This leads us to believe that this city is a result of past consequences where nature has not just...
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...Introduction Many literary critics consider Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as one of the most impressive and imaginative Gothic horror novels of all times. In the novel, Shelley managed to create one of the most phenomenal creatures in literary history: Frankenstein monster. The epistolary style that the author employs allows the reader to view the circumstances from varied viewpoints and draw conclusions from the plot and the characters. The book The plot has a variety of story-lines rolled into one. The main however is about a Doctor Victor Frankenstein who though born to a well-to-do and loving family, is over- ambitious and thirsts to prove himself. After achieving excelling academically, he designs a technique of creating life from a fusion of inanimate objects, dead bodies an animal parts. The doctor is not satisfied with achieving conventional feats but is determined to create a living being. It is this ambition that leads to the creation after years of painstaking work. It is this creation that leads to Victor's downfall. The creation is 8 feat tall and due to the use of human parts that do not march his massive size, is hideous. He is described as having watery yellow eyes, a withered, yellowish, translucent skin which barely conceals his muscular system and blood vessels. The only good aspects of his appearance are his perfect, white teeth, long black hair and his black lips. The doctor, who had hoped to create a beautiful being is shocked by his creation...
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...Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Key facts full title · Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus author · Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley type of work · Novel genre · Gothic science fiction language · English time and place written · Switzerland, 1816, and London, 1816–1817 date of first publication · January 1, 1818 publisher · Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones narrator · The primary narrator is Robert Walton, who, in his letters, quotes Victor Frankenstein’s first-person narrative at length; Victor, in turn, quotes the monster’s first-person narrative; in addition, the lesser characters Elizabeth Lavenza and Alphonse Frankenstein narrate parts of the story through their letters to Victor. climax · The murder of Elizabeth Lavenza on the night of her wedding to Victor Frankenstein in Chapter 23 protagonist · Victor Frankenstein antagonist · Frankenstein’s monster setting (time) · Eighteenth century setting (place) · Geneva; the Swiss Alps; Ingolstadt; England and Scotland; the northern ice point of view · The point of view shifts with the narration, from Robert Walton to Victor Frankenstein to Frankenstein’s monster, then back to Walton, with a few digressions in the form of letters from Elizabeth Lavenza and Alphonse Frankenstein. falling action · After the murder of Elizabeth Lavenza, when Victor Frankenstein chases the monster to the northern ice, is rescued by Robert Walton, narrates his story, and dies tense · Past foreshadowing · Ubiquitous—throughout...
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...Fathers play important roles in the development of their children, providing care, protection, companionship, socialization, and learning opportunities to their sons or daughters. Good fathers produce good kids who grow up to be productive members of society. On the other hand, children who are abandoned by their fathers often have low self-esteem, have issues establishing attachments with others, display deviant behaviors, and suffer from mental illness ("Father"). Mary Shelley's groundbreaking novel, Frankenstein, exemplifies how fathers abandoning their child, whether emotionally or physically, can affect their children in negative ways. Victor Frankenstein, the main character of the book who later creates the legendary monster, traces...
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...Bryan Pelkey AP Literature Mrs. Chow 27 September 2015 Alternate Biblio-therapy in Frankenstein Bibliotherapy, by definition, is the use of reading materials for help in solving personal problems. It can be very useful to those the struggle with confidence issues, and has also helped improve the lives of people living through depression. It is also a tool used in literature throughout history, and sometimes it can do more harm than good. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster ends up with a group of books that are less than beneficial. These books are Paradise Lost, Plutarch’s Lives, The Sorrows of Young Werther, and the journal of his creator. Each of these books, especially the passages he absorbed, had negative messages that could easily scar a being just brought into this world. Had he read different books that focused on loyalty, honor, and morals, he might have not had the fire of revenge in his heart. The first book read by the monster, Paradise Lost, is a poem written by John Milton. It tells the story of Satan, Adam, and Eve. It has a specific asphyxiation on Satan and the fall of man into sin. This could very easily give the monster a feeling of rebellion, as Adam and Eve rebelled against God. If he had instead just read the bible, his outlook on the story of creation would have been very different. He would have seen the sorrow that comes with rebellion, not just the thrill. There are also many good message in the bible, like “Thou shalt not kill”. ...
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...opportunity to create anything we want. However, in Mary Shelley's novel ‘Frankenstein’ and the Canadian Space Arm, we went beyond the boundaries of ethics, where we created objects which were incredulous, yet at the same time, they were monsters of our own making. Both creators were nothing less than admirable in their intentions. Nonetheless, in providing both creations with human- like names and features, they violated what I believe to be ethical limits, and as a result they ended up with unethical monsters. I do not believe that it is right to give inanimate objects human like features; when we...
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...In Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein, Victor and the Monster can realistically be the same person because of the struggles they both endure physically and mentally and the intelligence the both acquire. Victor and the monster both encounter struggles with isolation. Victor takes solitude when he is creating the monster. He isolates himself from the rest of the world and has no interaction with his family or friends. When Clerval, his friend, comes to Ingolstadt University, Clerval notices how mentally and physically ill Victor really is. The isolation from the real world for several years turned Victor “lifeless, and did not recover [his] senses for a long, long time” (Shelley 55). The creation of the monster literally took the life out of Victor and cut off all his...
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