Group+3

An Analysis of //Frankenstein// Rachel Kaufman, Bianca Minuto, and Elysia Liang

Although //Frankenstein// begins with Victor's scientific pursuits, the novel focuses more on the feelings of the characters rather than experiments. Often in Romantic literature, nature is described in great detail and plays an important part in the plot of the story. ** Frankenstein encompasses many gothic elements. Mystery, horror, and the grotesque are common themes throughout the book. **
 * Emotion and Passion**
 * Victor begins to focus less on science and more on revenge as the novel progresses. His desire to destroy the monster becomes his passion and only goal.
 * "For this purpose I will preserve my life: to execute this dear revenge...And I call on you, [[image:http://www.ruralintelligence.com/images/blogs/mad_scientist_painting338.jpg width="134" height="180" align="right"]]spirits of the dead; and on you, wandering ministers of vengeance, to aid and conduct me in my work. Let the cursed and hellish monster drink deep of agony; let him feel the despair that now torments me" (Shelley 201).
 * The scientific process of actually creating the monster is not an important plot element. Instead, Frankenstein puts these details aside in order to emphasize reactions and responses to science. While speaking to Walton, he specifically tells him that he will not describe how to create life.
 * The novel focuses heavily on individual emotions and is told mainly in first person with various narrators. The monster, for example, is very aware of his feelings, especially his anguish at his inability to coexist with humans.
 * "Was I then a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled, and whom all men disowned? I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted upon me: I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge" (Shelley 119).
 * Nature
 * Characters' emotions match the weather
 * Fear and anguish are represented through storms
 * Happiness is represented with sunshine[[image:http://nassr2009.english.duke.edu/wp-content/themes/kelabu-gray/images/castle.jpg width="241" height="123" align="right"]]
 * "The stars shone at intervals, as the clouds passed over them; the dark pines rose before me, and evey here and there a broken tree lay on the ground.." (Shelley 148).
 * Victor is in shock after his creation tell his story, just as a tree may go into shock and break after a violent storm
 * Idea that nature is pure while humanity is evil
 * Frankenstein's monster sees beauty in everything, even though he knows he is hideous to the common world
 * "O! what a miserable night I passed! the cold stars shone in mockery, and the bare trees wave their branches above me: now and then the sweet voice of a bird burst forth amidst the universal stillness. All, save I, were at rest or in enjoyment: I, like the archfiend, bore a hell within me..."(Shelley 135).
 * Gothic Elements
 * The creation of such a horrific monster holds a gothic mystique within the novel. Victor Frankenstein exclaims, "Abhorred monster! Fiend that thou art! The tortures of hell are too mild a vengeance for they crimes. Wretched devil!" (Shelley 86).[[image:http://threesixty360.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/frontispiece_to_frankenstein_1831.jpg width="132" height="179" align="right"]]
 * Many grotesque scenes are within the novel. While describing "the monster," he is illustrated to be "formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips" (Shelley 43).

** The rejection of social convention is prominent in this novel.
 * Rejection of social convention
 * In Victor’s own quest for perfection, he becomes obsessed with the formation of life’s flawless form. By creating an artificial man, he goes against the natural sequence of human beings, and consequentially creates a monster instead.
 * Victor breaks laws of nature through the use of science and experimentation.
 * All of Victor’s hard work is against the tide of social normalcy. “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body” (Shelley 41).

1. Why does Shelley choose to begin the novel with letters and a narration from Walton rather than introducing Frankenstein and his story immediately? 2. Is it wrong to create the perfect man? Can be perfection be attained? Is it actually a flaw? 3. What is the significance of having Frankenstein's monster narrate a sizable portion of the novel?
 * Key Questions**

Picture websites: [|http://www.ruralintelligence.com/images/blogs/mad_scientist_painting338.jpg] [|http://threesixty360.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/frontispiece_to_frankenstein_1831.jpg] [|http://nassr2009.english.duke.edu/wp-content/themes/kelabu-gray/images/castle.jpg]
 * Notes**