Frankenstein

Worldview is one of the many things shown in an author’s writings, and works. Mary Shelly and Robert Lewis Stevenson both express their unique worldviews in their novels. Shelly‘s view of man in Frankenstein and Stevenson’s in Jekyll and Hyde are prime examples of how worldview can affect many books, movies, and media culture, given that both of these famous writings branched out and later became popular movies and television shows. Although entertaining, there are some faults within each of these author’s worldview concerning mankind. Shelly and Stevenson’s worldview are different from the Bible because while they both recognize evil in today’s world, they either fail to understand where it comes from or do not grasp that there is a way to be saved from it Shelly believes that mankind is created virtuous, benevolent and becomes evil by society’s actions.

Shelly view of society corrupting man is constantly pushed throughout Frankenstein, Shelly writes, “unfortunately, they are prejudiced against me. I have good dispositions; my life has been hitherto harmless, and in some degree beneficial; but a fatal prejudice clouds their eyes, and where they ought to see a feeling and kind friend, they behold only a detestable monster” (Shelly 144). Shelly believes that when born, or in the monster‘s case created, our human nature is not flawed in any way, We are not stained with sin, we are innocent. They monster even believed this. To Shelly, when a person opens their eyes for the first time in their life, they are a blank canvas for the world and society to draw on, either for good or for bad. Shelly believes that society is responsible for the corruption of mankind.

Shelly’s novel says, ”There was none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist me; and should I feel kindness towards my enemies? No; from that moment, I declared everlasting war against the species, and more than all, against him who had formed me and sent me forth to this insupportable misery” (Shelly 146). The monster’s rejection from society hardened his heart and made him evil. As the monster continues to interact with people and “society” continues to reject him, the reader will notice how he becomes full of hatred and anger, This, according to Shelly, is society‘s doing. Because other people rejected the monster, he feels like it is their fault he is full of evil. Shelly writes her characters in Frankenstein in a very grim situation, because to her, everything that is happening to them is simply not their fault. Stevenson presents a different view of man’s nature than Shelly does and shows this in Jekyll and Hyde.

Mankind, to Stevenson, is not truly one but two. Mankind is both good and evil. in chapter eight the author shows the evil inside of Jekyll/ Hyde taking over. He writes, “Instantly the spirit of hell awoke in me and raged. With a transport of glee, I mauled the unresisting body, tasting delight from every blow; and it was not till weariness had begun to succeed, that I was suddenly, in the top fit of my delirium, struck through the heart by a cold thrill of terror” (Stevenson 27). Stevenson doesn’t shy away from showing the evil side of mankind, Unlike Shelly, he never attempts to blame anyone else for man’s nature, Jekyll‘s evil nature leads him to attempt to split his personalities so that he could sin in secret while preserving his reputation.

While Jekyll does successfully do so, evil takes over. Stevenson seems to believe that evil is more powerful than good and that there is nothing that can save mankind from this. The book reads in chapter eight, ”There comes an end to all things; the most capacious measure is filled at last; and this brief condescension to evil finally destroyed the balance of my soul. And yet I was not alarmed; the fall seemed natural” (Stevenson 98). Jekyll’s battle with his evil side takes a toll on his good/light side and eventually kills it. Even though this is the case with Henry Jekyll, this is not the fate of other characters in the book. The right side of humanity is shown in Mr. Utterson when he tries to help the doctor throughout the book. But once again evil prevails when the Doctor lets the evil side take over.

Stevenson, like Shelly, never provides any type of redemption or saving for mankind in His book. The Biblical teaching of man’s nature differs from both Shelly and Stevenson’s ideas but is closer to Stevenson’s view. Mary Shelly’s interpretation of evil being a learned characteristic coming from outside of man is not a correct view according to the Bible. The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (NlV Jeremiah 17:9). The Bible doesn’t say ”society is deceitful” it says the heart is deceitful and evil, Society is made up of people so for Shelly to blame “society” for other people’s evil nature, she is pretty much just saying other people are evil. This constant painting of fingers just doesn’t make sense.

The Bible recognizes the inward evil that Stevenson shows, but not only does the Bible point out evil, it tells how mankind can be redeemed from it. Neither Stevenson or Shelly does this. In the book of Titus, the author writes, “who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good“ (NlV Titus 2:14). Not only does the Bible show that we are redeemed from our sins, it also informs us that because of this we should be filled with joy, and ”eager to do what is good.” Because neither Shelly or Stevenson focus on this in their books, both of the writing come off as depressing, hopeless, pieces of work, Mary Shelly, Robert Stevenson, and the Bible do not completely mix. They may seem to present the similar views but when boiled down to the main ideas (or “starting points”) they really don‘t.

The Bible isn’t about getting revenge, blaming people, or accepting our miserable fate like in Frankenstein, and it isn’t about letting our evil side take over, like in Jekyll and Hyde, The Bible is about a concept that neither Shelly nor Stevenson seemed to grasp, redemption from evil. Stevenson’s characters are mainly focused around evil, not redemption. Shelly’s characters are focused around revenge, not forgiveness. Neither of the authors completely present a correct view of man. Not only does the Bible present a correct worldview of man, it also presents ahappier and more positive ending, Mankind does not have to live in their sinful misery like they do in Frankenstein or Jekyll and Hyde, we have been offered a gift of redemption, and now all we have to do it take it.

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, many aspects relate to gender criticism, feminist criticism and queer theory. These are the types of criticism that explain the novel the best. Feminist and gender are both big because the author is a female and in the time that the novel was written, female authors were not respected. Shelley had to overcome this restriction by keeping herself anonymous and writing a non»emotiona| piece. Gender criticism is related to feminist criticism and gay and lesbian criticism. Gender criticism is used, “to question the idea that gender is natural, inevitable, and innate,” (Lynn 1169). It is used to show that humans are notjust divided into masculine and feminine, but also human sexuality. All men are not strictly masculine and all women are not strictly feminine. Most of the characters in the book show qualities of the opposite sex at different times. Gender and sex are distinguished by sex being biology and gender being culture. Since gender is influenced by surroundings. men and women can have qualities of the opposite sex. This shows that men can write as women and women can write as men.

This was a key critique of Mary Shelley because her novel Frankenstein is written in a way that people would assume the author was male. Women are expected to write with emotion which is something that Frankenstein lacks. I will also apply the concept of feminist criticism. Feminist criticism proves that there is sexual oppression which is displayed in Frankenstein. There are not many female characters but the females that are in the story are portrayed as weaker characters that are there to take care of the male characters. The women in Frankenstein are not portrayed as important. Queer theory is also a good theory to be used to criticize this novel. Queer theory responds to the problems with the gay and lesbian theory. When there are hints of homosexuality in a novel it does not always mean that the character is gay.

This is the case between Victor and Henry and Victor and the creature. “Queer theory can be seen as the third step in the process of undoing sexual prejudice,” (Lynn 130). This means that queer theory helps keep readers from assuming a character is gay when it has not been directly said. Queer theory also exposes and challenges all assumptions about sexuality. Queer theory says that there is an interval between what the character does and is. Just because Victor is close with Clerval and says affectionate things about him does not mean that they are in a sexual relationship. Queer theory can be applied to the relationships that Victor has with Clerval and the creature. The relationships are not homosexual, but they are of a closeness that you would expect between a man and a woman. Victor is not this close to Elizabeth which is very odd. The male characters in the novel tend to favor the other males rather than the females. Gender criticism, feminist criticism and queer theory all apply to Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein and expose the best interpretations of the novel.

Gender criticism and feminist criticism are closely related and easy to apply to Frankenstein together. Feminist critics would take note of the fact that. “Frankenstein was published anonymously, and its woman author kept her identity hidden,” (Smith 313). This directly shows the oppression of women as authors because had people known that the author was a woman it would not have been as successful. Shelley had to write a novel that no one would expect had a woman author in order to be successful. Gender criticism proves that because Mary Shelley is female does not mean that she will write like a female is expected to write, Shelley has qualities in her style of writing that are believed to be male qualities. Sex and gender, however, are separate. Another aspect of the novel that is anti-feminist is that the female characters are not as big as their male counterparts. Johanna M. Smith wrote that. ”no women speak directly in the novel,” (Smith 313).

Because of the time, Shelley could not even make the female characters very big. Women are mostly seen and not heard in this novel. The women in the novel also have very stereotypical roles. Elizabeth is told to take care of Victor and his brothers when their mother dies. She is also supposed to be Victor’s wife. Elizabeth is supposed to take on all of these motherly roles at home and she does not go to school or work or ever really leave home. This is very oppressive towards women. Victor goes off to school and ends up creating life from death while Elizabeth sits at home and watches over Victor’s brothers. Also, Elizabeth is always waiting on Victor to come home like she cannot be without him. It makes women look weak and needy. It is also oppressive to women that Victor sees Elizabeth as property. He says multiple times that Elizabeth is his. Victor makes it seem that women are property and throughout the book he takes Elizabeth for granted. He says that he “looked upon Elizabeth as [his],” (Shelley 44). Finally, the most important female characters do not even make it to the end of the story. Victor’s mother dies taking care of Elizabeth. Justine dies because she was accused of killing William, and Elizabeth is murdered by the creature. This is also another way that women look weak. The creature kills both William. a small child, and Elizabeth, a grown woman, wonder if it would be possible to bring someone back from the dead. Although the creature he creates is male, the description of the creature seems to have some female qualities such as the lustrous flowing black hair.

This description of the creature’s hair is very feminine. If Victor missed his mother so much, then why did he create a male creature? The creature expresses throughout the novel that he wants a normal family. The creature wants someone to love him. Although the creature is male, he is trying to get attention from Victor, The creature knew that Victor was his creator and he was looking for any sort of emotion from him. The fact that the creature was looking for emotion would imply that he was looking for a woman figure, but according to gender criticism. emotion can also be a quality that a man has. Victor does not always have to be masculine. Since Victor was who the creature really wanted, this implies that Victor had womanly or motherly characteristics. This is an aspect of Victor’s gender. Queer theory can also illuminate different aspects of Frankenstein.

One aspect that queer theory can explain is the relationships between men in the novel. Victor is very close to his friend Clerval. Victor often refers to Clerval as his “beloved,” Victor explains that Clerval has always been a part of his life since birth and that he is never completely happy without him. This extreme closeness between them is often read as homosexual. I do not think that was Shelley’s intent. Another concept explained by queer theory would be what Victor intended the creature to be. Victor had been missing his mother and thought about bringing life from the dead. With this thought, the reader would assume that Victor would create a female creature as an extension of his mother. When the creature is created as male, the creature starts to seem more like another side of Victor. Suzanna Stormant wrote that, “Frankenstein and his creation may even represent one being — two sides of a single entity forming a doppelganger relationship,” (Stormant). This theory suggests that the creature is Victor’s ghost haunting him. This is exactly how the creature acts toward Victor. The creature takes away everyone that Victor loves. Another idea would be Victor hiding from his responsibility. Victor is hiding from his responsibility of creating the creature because he did not get his intended outcome. Victor became obsessed with becoming a great scientist since he was told the things he was studying were unnecessary.

He wanted to create life from dead and when he did not get his expected outcome he did not want to accept his failure. In a way, Victor did succeed in becoming a great scientist, but since his creature was not perfect, he gave up. Another queer concept is the short length of the creation scene. Shelley writes less than a paragraph and summarizes two years of working to the point that the creature opens his eyes. “By the glimmer of the half extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs,” (Shelley 60). This is the only description that is offered to explain how Victor created the monster that would haunt him in the rest of the novel. Shelley also writes a very brief description of Victor and Elizabeth’s wedding. These two events had been such important parts of the story. Shelley was building up the Victor and Elizabeth‘s wedding throughout the whole story as Victor kept putting off the wedding that would fulfill his mother‘s dying wish. To describe the wedding, Shelley writes, “after the ceremony was performed, a large party assembled at my father‘s,” (Shelley 165). This is the most description of the wedding festivities. It is odd that Shelley does not add much detail to this scene. Even after Victor is married he still does not show his full attention to Elizabeth. but to the creature. On their wedding night Victor and Elizabeth are in completely different rooms of the house and Victor sits downstairs with his gun. Victor knew that the creature was coming for him and Elizabeth but Victor did not offer his protection to her. Victor could have assumed that the creature would not kill him because the creature had been killing other people and just wanting Victor to chase him.

Queer theory, feminist criticism, and gender criticism can all be used throughout Frankenstein. The women in this novel were oppressed numerous times because of the time the book was written. The women did not have as important roles and they did not do any important things in the novel. The women stayed at home and took care of the children while the men, such as Victor, went to school and went on trips. Victor created life from the dead while the female characters only babysat. The women come off weak and unimportant in the novel. Feminist criticism brings out important features of the novel that really contribute to the interpretation of the novel. Gender criticism also explains important features such as why Shelley wrote the way she did. Just because she is a female does not mean that she could not write a story like Frankenstein. Shelley had to write this way at first in order for people to read the novel. Also, different qualities of the opposite sex were brought out in the characters. The creature sought out love from Victor when what he really wanted was what Victor had, something like Elizabeth.

The creature’s hair was described in a feminine way as an extension of Victor’s mother. The extreme closeness between the male characters is explained by queer theory. Their closeness is not intended to be interpreted as homosexuality. It is to show that Victor found companionship in men and ownership in women. Queer theory also addresses the idea of what Victor wanted the creature to be. He did not want to create a monster but he got such a big ego when the creature came to life. He did not want to accept responsibility for the monster but he also did not try to stop it. This is why Victor and the creature are often interpreted as the same being: one evil and one good. It is hard to tell which of them is evil and which is good. Some people say that true evil is when good men do nothing. This would prove Victor as evil. The creature murdering innocent people shows his true evil. Since Victor and the creature both have shown evil actions it is impossible to choose which is worse, This further proves that the creature is Victor’s ghost. like in the doppelganger theory.

These theories and types of criticism are what best describe Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Feminist criticism, gender criticism, and queer theory provide many answers. Although Shelley‘s intent cannot be known. this is the best interpretation of the novel and answers to the questions that arise from reading the novel. The queer theory explains the lack of explanation of what would seem to be the most important parts of the novel. By not explaining the creation scene it proves that it is not important how Victor created a monster, but it is important what he did with the creature after. The main point is that Victor created something so dangerous and could not get over his ego to take responsibility for the creature. The message of Frankenstein was to show how women were oppressed. how men treated each other and to show what a big ego can really do. Shelley showed how men really thought of themselves and others in this day and time. Victor had such a big ego that he treated women as property and refused to accept failure, while the women were unable to make anything of themselves. Shelley ended up proving that women can be just as successful as men with her novel, Frankenstein.

Works Cited

1.  Lynn, Steven. Reading and Writing with Critical Strategies. South Carolina: Pearson Longman, 2004. 1213. Print.
2. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 1996. 189. Print.
3. Stormem, Suzanne. “Frankenstein: The Man and the Monster,” Frankenstein Commentary. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr 2013. <http://pub|ic.wsu.edul~delahoyd/frank.com ment3.html>,

In society, citizens are expected to confirm to certain ideals; a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes their way of viewing reality. The nineteenth century was a pivotal period in European history that included key changes in social classes, the ‘Industrial Revolution’, extensive urbanization and both religious enlightenment and rebellion. The protagonists in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina are each an example of iconoclastic individuals struggling in their society’s expectations. The BBC production of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, directed by Simon Langton is a carefully replicated period love story for a contemporary audience. The dialogue and repartee, is thoroughly crafted, to evoke tension, wit and flirtation in the two main characters while still remaining accessible to a modern viewers.

Authentic Regency costumes, settings, and a prosaic musical score provide necessary atmospheric conditions for contemporary viewing. Actors’ striking impertinent poses substitute the display of any real emotion; Elizabeth Bennet is demure in a mischievous, yet calmly desperate performance. The subplots are illuminating without dominating. Characters in the form of Mrs. Bennet (her vicarious need to be successful through her daughter’s marriages, intended for wealth and social status, portrays the false impression that she cares about them.), Lydia and Collins are emphatically caricatured to elucidate social satire.

The institution of marriage, and economic insecurity for women is contrasted by Jane and Elizabeth’s resolves to marry for love with Charlotte’s choice to wed for stability. Representations of social behaviours and aristocratic pretension are well suited for the medium, portrayed artistically with camera shots that allow the viewer to engage with Austen’s characters. The production negotiates the intricacies of Regency society that threaten the individual in society. A woman in Regency times was excluded from all professions and higher public offices. Most could not earn money unless marrying for it or inheriting it. Indeed “patriarchal control of women depended on women being denied the right to earn or even inherit their own money”. Elizabeth Bennet does not conform to the behaviour and standards of her microcosm, but is educated in the workings of the game.

By resisting the existing social norms she faces the danger of never finding happiness or her place in life. Because she doesn’t adhere to the standards set by society where the family and the community predetermine the aspirations of the individual, she’s self-sufficient and independent, contemptuous of the conventions that restrict individuality. This causes her proud disposition as she regards herself as above customary society. Elizabeth finds happiness when she learns to recognize her faults, and learn from experience, accepting Mr. Darcy’s second and her altogether third proposal. After realising her prejudices against her family and community She states: “Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind…till this moment, I never knew myself”. ‘Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way These opening lines, which most writers wish they themselves had written, underscore the central themes and issues of marriage, love, and family life in Leo Tolstoy’s Russian epic, Anna Karenina.

Set in the backdrop of 1860’s revolutionary Russia, the novel is an unashamed attack on familial institutions, freedom, individuality, and social conventions. Described by many critics as a Russian ‘Scarlet Letter’, the central plot line is adultery and Anna’s betrayal of her husband. An idealised aristocratic wife, Anna is trapped in an unfulfilling marriage to a man she never loved. Upon her arrival 100 pages into the novel to save her brothers marriage, she is besotted by the roguish Vronsky. What follows is a dangerous liaison that tests Anna’s veracity and integrity. The book portrays marriage as a social constraint. Anna’s husband is willing to ignore her actions as long as she doesn’t seek a divorce, caring only of her appearance as a dutiful wife. However her strength of character is evident in her reply to him regarding Vronsky: “I love him, I am his mistress, I cannot endure you. I am afraid of you, and I hate you…

Do what you like to me”. Hypocritically, her brother Stiva is not chastised for his adulterations, as it is more acceptable for men to be unfaithful than women, whereas Anna is sentenced to social exile and driven to a tragic end. Anna fears pregnancy, worried it will take away her sexuality. This dependence on attractiveness for social success is characteristic of Russian women of this time who had no independent role. Marred by her insecurities and branded by her adultery Anna evolves from near flawlessness to suicidal collapse In Tolstoy’s novel, trains appear as an insidious symbol of advancement versus tradition.

It is in the midst of trains that Anna meets her lover, and it is at this time where they witness the death of a railway worker-a frightening omen that climaxes when the stifling forces of society lead Anna to end her life by jumping in front of an on-coming train. Unlike Pride and Prejudice’s Elizabeth Bennet, Anna Karenina does not triumph in marriage or acceptance but in death. Tolstoy tells us: “the position she held in Society was dear to her, and that she would not have the strength to change it for the degraded position of a woman who had forsaken husband and child and formed a union with her lover; that, however much she tried, she could not become stronger than herself”. Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus is the greatest literary achievement of Romanticist writer Mary Shelly. Published in 1818, Frankenstein highlights the issue of an individual discarded by society and what happens as a result.

The dark tale of student Victor Frankenstein’s un-dead creation is a chilling look at the Individual in Society. Narrated in fatalistic past tense, Victor Frankenstein recounts his story to ship-captain Robert Walton. Victor is himself a kind of monster, alienated from society by his ambition, secrecy, and selfishness. After realizing his dream of reanimating a corpse, Victor’s life turns into a horrendous nightmare. While 20th century pop culture has misinterpretedly christened The Monster Frankenstein, it is Victors rejection of his creation and denying it of a name, and thus an identity, that causes The Monsters bloodthirsty revenge, ‘now … the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart’. Attacked again and again by humankind because of his gruesome appearance, The Monster, alienated and alone develops a deadly hatred against his creator and all mankind.

In his attempts at gaining Victor’s attention and adoration, the Monster resorts to manipulation and murder climaxing in the strangulation of Victor’s bride on their wedding night. Subsequently Victor chases the monster north where he is rescued by Walton, before one last confrontation with the Monster. Science and technology, as in Anna Karenina, challenged traditional perceptions about religion and creation. The alternate title: The Modern Prometheus relates to Frankenstein and his illicit, otherworldly knowledge of resurrection. Prometheus, a figure in Greek mythology, took fire from the gods to give to man and consequently suffered everlasting punishment. Likewise, Frankenstein’s obsessive pursuit of knowledge is disastrous, but his realisation of thus comes only after the murders of his father, brother, best friend, wife and her maidservant.

He pleads with the reader: “Learn from me … how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow.” Frankenstein’s nature causes his emotional and physical peril since he cannot balance his intellectual and social relations. Immersed in his research he alienates himself from society. Mary Shelly may well be telling us that Ignorance really is bliss. Contrastingly, human injustice towards outsiders is expressed in the experiences of The Monster. Throughout his narrative, the monster laments over man’s cruelty to those who are different: “You, my creator, abhor me, what hope can I gather from your fellow creatures, who owe me nothing? They spurn and hate me”. In the course of the novel, Frankenstein becomes progressively more like The Monster; both are alienated from society, yearn for a female companion and are suffering from their transgressions.

In this essay I will be talking about the historical background of writer Mary Shelley and about her novel “Frankenstein”. Mary Shelley was born on the 30th of August 1797. Mary Shelley’s father was called William Godwin who was a Godwin and a philosopher. After Mary Shelley was born, Mary Shelley’s mother Mary Wollstonecraft who was a feminist writer at the time died 4 weeks after Mary Shelley’s birth. When Mary Shelley grew up she ran off with a poet called “Percy Bysshe Shelley” who was already married.

Mary Shelley was very well educated. Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley had a baby girl in February in 1815 who unfortunately died almost a month later. The Shelley’s went on holiday in about 1816. Mary Shelley had a dream that was used as the basis of “Frankenstein”. It was very wet so a ghost writing competition was organised to pass time, it was then that Mary Shelley had written her novel “Frankenstein” Mary Shelley’s ideas were inspired by developments in science and medicine which made people wonder if life could be created.

People were religious and thought God was in charge of life and death, so any person tempering with his powers was likely to be horribly punished. Mary Shelley had a further series of tragedies in life. These tragedies include the death of Mary Shelley’s in 1816 due to committing suicide; including the death of Mary Shelley’s own two children; one who died in 1818 and one in 1819. When Mary Shelley was 22 years of age which was in the year 1822 the death of her husband had also occurred. In 1818 Mary Shelley’s book was published namelessly, and later on in about 1830 it was published with her name on it.

The reason for this is because when it was published previously in the years secretly, it was always believed that women should not work and are not as useful as men are and should remain as housewives looking after their children. Another reason for this was that it was believed that women are not capable of writing novels. Later on when years had passed Mary Shelley had died in 1851. In the novel Frankenstein the creature is first mentioned in the letter IV to Robert Walton. The letter had written in it: “a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature”.

The novel is set in the mist and ice, this is a gothic novel and causes a sense of mystery about the creature, and creates an atmosphere. This is so we create an image inside our minds of the creature and the mysterious atmosphere which leads an expectation. Mary Shelley uses words like “dreary, dismallye. eg “the rain pattered dismally against the panes”, dull and dim”. Mary Shelley used a lot of pathetic fallacy in this novel. In chapter 5 Shelley tells us that there is little light at a certain pint in the novel.

This is because she wrote “my candle was nearly burnt out… Here Shelley builds up the atmosphere by writing “so dark that anything could happen”. The size of Frankenstein’s creature reminds us of Walton’s letter “to make the being of gigantic stature, that is to say, about eight feet in height and proportionally large”. The creature is linked with corpses, graveyards, maggots and dead bodies. This description makes the reader feel disgusted and sick and would not want the creature anywhere near them and would most likely feel revolted and sickened which would make them feel furious and think the creature is just morally wrong.

Mary Shelley and her audience knew about body snatchers. In chapter 5 Mary Shelley sets a gothic scene by creating an atmosphere (at the beginning of chapter 5). Mary Shelley makes it all spooky and then starts to describe the character and then goes back to the weather. Shelley uses the word “detain” to show that Victor is scared that the creature will stop him from leaving. This makes us feel that it is threatening and is dangerous when she calls it a “demonical corpse”. She implies that it’s from the devil and makes the reader scared of the creature. Victor’s reaction is violent and gothic.

To add to the tension and fear the beast is by his bedside so he runs outside to escape it. Shelley uses words like “miserable monster” and “demoniacal corpse”. I think that Shelley uses such word because I think that it is true the creature is very much like a miserable monster as the creature is very lonely and does not know who he is and has no one who likes him and all the creature wants is sympathy. I think that this is why Shelley uses words like “miserable” and also uses words like monster because the creature is just like a beast and acts like a monster does and is like a monster is usually described.

Shelly also uses word like “demoniacal” possibly because the creature is shown to be evil and up for revenge for why he was created. “demoniacal” means that someone is evil or is possessed by an evil spirit. The reason why Mary Shelley could have used corpse after “demoniacal” is because the creature is made of different corpses and dead bodies. Victor is ill for weeks, and then when things look happy, Victor receives a letter from his partner.

The letter contains: “About 5 in the morning I discovered my lonely boy whom the night before I had seen blooming and active in health, stretched on the grass livid and motionless the print of the murderous finger was on the neck”-letter from Geneva. Mary Shelley uses pathetic fallacy again in the novel when victor goes to the place where William was murdered… e. g. “the darkness and storm increased every minute and thunder burst with a terrific crash over my head”; he sees the creature “a flash of lightening… ” .

Victor reacted with shock thinking he had made the killer kill William. E. g. He was the murderer! I could not doubt it”. In the chapter of sympathy (chapter 11), we hear the creatures side of the story, “am I not alone, miserably alone? ” this makes us feel extremely sorry for the creature and makes us think that it was not the creatures fault and was not the creatures decision to come into the world and have life so we cannot really blame the creature fully for what is going on. The creature was taken from villages to villages just because people were horrified of him as children shrieked and women had also fainted over seeing him. “Some attacked me until, grievously bruised by shoes…

I escaped… “. The creature was homeless and had nowhere to live; he had no roof under his head and desperately needed a roof over his head. The creature was so desperate for a roof above his head that yet a hut was joy to him no less than paradise. “Exquisite and divine a retreat… ” The beast really wanted somewhere to belong. The creature takes shelter in an animal shed at a farm and is very kind to them. When the creature sees them he feels very happy to see what a family is like and also feels upset and unwanted knowing he is not wanted by anyone and is hated by the people.

They were a mixture of pain and pleasure, such as I had never before experienced… “. In chapter 15 there is a blind man and the creature helps him and is extremely kind to the blind man, the creature takes advantage of this that he cannot see the ugliness of him and likes the love he gets from the old man and feels like he is cared by someone for the first time. Just like i mentioned previously I really feel sorry for his creation, this is because the creature is not at fault for his creation. The creature must feel very miserably like he says because he also has a heart like humans and feels unwanted, rejected lonely.

I do not blame the creature for wanting a female just like him, so he could have someone to love and someone to love and care for him even after seeing how he appears. When the creature is rejected from the old man’s family the creature sets off to find his creator who he believes to be his father. “My father, my creator… “. At the time the creature was rejected by the family the creature feels sour inside himself we know this because “the spirit of revenge enkindled in my heart”. There is a point in the novel when Frankenstein’s creature saves a girl from drowning.

When the creature tries to breathe life into the girl, the creature is shot by a man. “I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind”. The creature meets William, when William see’s the creature William is scared of him and tells him that his name is Frankenstein. At this point William is killed by the creature. “I gazed on my victim and my heart swelled with exultation and tallish triumph… ” When Shelley used the word(s) “gazed on my victim” she makes it sound like William has done a huge crime and he is at fault for what Frankenstein has done by creating the creature.

The creature asks Frankenstein for a female creature, like himself, someone to love him and someone that he can love and spent the the rest of his life with. “If I cannot inspire love I will cause fear, and chiefly towards you my arch enemy… “. Here the creature say’s to Frankenstein that if he cannot find his love then he will become his enemy and take away his love. “I demand a creature of another sex but is hideous as myself… we shall be monsters, cut off from the world… let me see that excite thing… At this point I believe that the creature is asking for something that he thinks is reasonable. I think that the creature has a right to ask this because the creature did not choose to come on to this world and it is not fair for him to be lonely with no one to be with. The creature makes a deal with Frankenstein saying that he will leave him and everyone alone and go far away from them only if Frankenstein creates a female creature. The problem with this is that if a female creature is to be created it could also become like Frankenstein and they both may want to take revenge from Frankenstein.

Another problem would be that the creatures would have children and this would lead to something very serious. After the creature say’s all these things Victor feels sickened with what the creature is saying. “The filthy mass that moved and talked… “. Victor agrees to create a female creature for the male creature. When victor is in the process of creating the female creature he changes his mind, when he changes his mind he rips the body into pieces. When Victor does this act the creature see’s everything and is furious and vows to take revenge. “I shall be with you on your wedding night”.

The creature mean that if he cannot get someone to love and spend the rest of his life with neither will Victor. When the creature gets to Elizabeth (Victors wife) and kills her, Shelley uses a storm again to create a scary atmosphere and a horrific atmosphere. “She was there lifeless and inanimate, throw a cross the bed”. Victor dies and Walton finds the monster by his body. The creature say’s he regrets the killings but was provoked to do such doings. “I pitied Frankenstein… the important envy and bitter indignation as filled me with an insatiable thirst for vengeance”.

At this point i feel sorry for the creature only because he has no one left, otherwise I do not really feel sorry for the creature here because due to him Elizabeth had died and she had nothing to do with anything. Elizabeth was not at fault and was very unfair for the creature to kill her in such a brutal and insane way. So I think that the creature would just have to live with and put up with what he has done, and could have a tried a different way of trying to persuade Frankenstein of creating a female creature for him rather than threatening to kill his wife on his wedding night, which I think sounded very sick and extremely unfair.

This story is about a young boy who lived with his divorced mother in an old house. He used to lead a ordinary life until one day; the young boy heard a creaking sound. What he did not know was that that sound would change his life

it was around 12:15 am when he heard that creaking sound, a dawdling poignant profound tread. His body was quivering as he ran with fright to shut his window. The wind blaring against his body, as if attempting to push his back, blew up his sleeve making the hair on his hand elevate as if they had seen a ghost and gravity was no longer effective on his.

Unnerved, he jumped back into his bed, snuggling up as hard as possible persistently looking around trying to see if he could conceive anything, or anyone. He began falling into a daze, feeling sleepier by the second. As the complete silence conquered the whole house, the only sound he could hear was the loud tick-tock of his clock echoing around his room. As time went forth the sound grew stronger, until he heard a footstep, which automatically pulled his back into reality from the hypnotising sound of his clock. The sound was a footstep. His heartbeat intensified as he began to panic ascetically, imagining his fate with this thing and what it had in intrigue for his.

He came to yell, yet before he yelled, he realised that that wasn’t the malicious tread that he had been keeping an eye out for but another kind of footstep, a lighter, more familiar stride. It was his mothers. Instantaneously, he leapt out of his bed like a lion hiding beneath straw and hay adapting to his camouflage about to attack his prey. Yet when he got to the corridor all he saw was a small shadow going into the bathroom and as he went one-step closer, the bathroom

door slammed shut.

Eager to know who it was that had entered his bathroom; he managed to gather enough courage to step up to the door and knock. What was behind this door was either his mother or his regrettable doom. Awaiting a reply he knocked again. Suddenly, the door handle began to shake. Some one was going to come out of that bathroom. Petrified, yet too shook up from the intensity, he was motionless. As he felt his heart fall into the pocket of his nightgown, the door suddenly opened. Yet a monster wasn’t this to fulfil his evil scheme, but an innocent mother’s shimmering, bright, angelic face saying: “Are you alright honey?” In her peaceful, comforting, calm rhythm.

“Yes I’m fine mum” The boy replied with a sigh as his mother strode away out the bathroom and back to his room. Before he got into his room he said, “You’d better get some sleep, you do have school tomorrow you know!” The boy replied with a yawn and decided that he had had enough a thrill for one day. As he gazed at his clock, he saw that he had been up for two hours and that he really did need some sleep for tomorrow. So, he bravely put his fears under his pillow for that night for the nightingale had begun its merry chirping.

“Honey, I’m going now. Don’t be late to school” were the words that would have normally woken the boy up, but not today and not ever again. For today he lay by his mother’s corpse as the tears trickled down his heart-breaking, shining, diamond-like eyes. His eyes began leaking and before he knew it, his iris was afloat a lost boat chasing reality, twirling from side to side with his confusion. Whilst the tears rolled down his cheeks, he replayed the depressing moment when, his mother was killed. He remembered it clearly and what hurt his most was that he could have done nothing against this vile, sickening monstrosity.

He remembered how his mother was screaming for him to run away and save him self. How he didn’t listen to his mother. How he declined his mother’s final demand. How the voice of the monster brought terror to his heart, when it said, “I cannot be killed”. How he repeatedly stabbed the monster with the kitchen knife with no effect. How the monster crushed his mother in front of his very eyes. How the monster came to kill and torment his. How, instead of killing his he threw the knife right above his head as he stood there with his eyes closed. How he could almost taste death: a bitter, resentful flavour stirring in his mouth.

He remembered it all perfectly. Suddenly a flashback of all the good memories he had with his mother when he was a young boy; how every time he was sad his mother made his smile. How every time he was scared his mother comforted his. How every time he had a problem he could talk to his mother about it and his mother would always find a solution to that problem. How on the first day of school he held his mothers hand tightly because he was scared he wouldn’t fit in.

But what hurt his most was that he remembered his father who he had also lost; he remembered in particular when he used to call his mother a Glamazon and he would ask his father over and over again what a Glamazon meant. Yet he would never tell his. But now he knew. It meant ‘strong lady’. Yet he found that his father wasn’t lying. His mother really was strong. But now, now he has lost both his father and mother. And all that night he drowned in his sorrow, wishing there was something that he could have done to save his mother.

Unable to believe the events that happened he felt he could not live without the mother he was overly attached to. He couldn’t accept that she had gone. All that day, he cried on his mother’s chest calling her name until his voice disappeared. He still silently called for his mother and forever will. Later that night he made a decision. He was going to reunite with his beloved mother. As he took the same kitchen knife he incessantly stabbed his mother’s assassin with he cried:

“Oh dagger! Show me no mercy! Rip through my heart and liberate my soul to reunite with my mother…”

And so, he lay motionless on his mother’s yieldingly curvaceous body; blood staining his white night gown. Once again, silence conquered their home with a nightingale chirping merrily as mother and son lay in a pool of united blood.

One heart, was adequately strong to withstand the pain, the pressure, the grief. Inside hatred, vengeance, and long nights with only me, a candle and a bottle of wine. Alone again, you and l. Edited the way you enshrouded my companion, under your white sheets, as if she never lived. She was alive- until that cruel and ruthless Elizabeth destroyed her, without humanity. So I wasn’t able to take this, It was too much! I roared, I raged, with all my might Then I got my renewable Revenge! Revenge! Renewable Hal Hal Hal Selfish!

Selflessness’s You didn’t think about me, did you? You left me, without asking what I thought about it. You didn’t ask me if I would be alright without you. You won’t understand, how I felt. Would you? The years I bore the anguish, the years I ‘eve suffered pain, I was helpless, hopeless, I felt the shame. All I wanted was a companion, love and comfort, that’s all. Then, I would have left you alone -Oh years ago, of course, I would have went to the wilderness, and many other places, to explore the world. And I am not alright. I’m hurt. I am wounded, the people see me and they run away reified.

In horror, in disgust. When I try to talk to them, they betray me. My heart cries out In sorrow and agonizing pain. How easy It would be to let me take It. To close my eyes, to give up. It Is enough! I have had ENOUGH I’m sorry, I ‘II have to die, Fraternities. Alone again, you and l. ‘hated the way you enshrouded my companion, under your it was too much! Then I got my rearrange! Revenge! Revenge!

Tim Burton really unleashed his imagination for the first time when he made the pop fairytale Edward Scissorhands in 1990. Just as Burton’s success is associated with Batman, his artistic reputation is inextricably linked to Edward Scissorhands. Modern narratives are often updated versions of timeless stories. Edward Scissorhands adapts the structure and conventions of the European fairytale to a contemporary American, suburban setting.

Clips mentioned in this section are not available to view on the website but are readily available to buy or rent from the usual outlets. The film can be read as a dark, romantic fable for adults, another take on the disparity between the individual and society, on the unique nature of one single character and the horror of conformity. The Frankenstein story provides the model here. ‘A monster with a heart’ was one of the central themes of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, with an emphasis on sympathy, and intellectual and emotional identification particularly characteristic of English Romanticism.

Edward Scissorhands takes up this tradition in so far as the creature becomes an object of sympathy and makes the world around him appear monstrous in comparison with his own innate goodness. Burton sets his story in a contemporary American suburb. He has given each generation represented in Edward Scissorhands its own system of symbolic shorthand representing the different eras they grew up in, different times associated with different tastes, each expressing a particular aesthetic.

The parents generation is characterised by familiar 50s and 60s icons; theconformist, consumer-led boom of those years represented by lava lamps, functional interiors and social rituals like the barbecue. The younger generation wears the insignia of the 80s: jeans, T-shirts and the dream of fast money symbolised by a Landrover decorated with flames, all very reminiscent of the familiar aesthetics of Slacker films. Ultimately Edward represents two apparently disparate cultures.

His clothes – a tight black leather suit with metal accessories – look like the rebellious uniform of punk, whose ‘no future’ attitude and rejection of bourgeois society were actually directly descended from the self-isolation and self-obsession of the Romantics as embodied in our lonely, misunderstood hero. Extract from ‘Edward Scissorhands Study Guide. ’ Reproduced with kind permission of the Film Institute of Ireland. Edward Scissorhands (1990) The town and the mansion: (00:05:06 to 00:14:28)

There are two distinct locations in the film: Edward’s home in the mansion on the hill and the town which it overlooks. While they are very different places, they are similar in the exaggerated fashion in which each is presented. The gothic style mansion with its forbidding exterior, decorated by monstrous stone carvings, and its huge cavernous interior, lit only by long spindly windows, is the archetypal haunted house of the fairytale or Hammer horror. It is also reminiscent of many of the films sets of German Expressionism.

By contrast the town at the foot of the hill is a pretty, peaceful, traditionally ordered society (men go to work each day, women are housewifes) as represented in American TV shows of the 1960s such as the Brady Bunch and Bewitched. The contrast between the two locations is established in this sequence. The lush, colourful landscaped garden of the inventor’s castle filled with flowers contrasts greatly with the flat unimaginative lawns which form a neat little pattern in the town below.

The film set for the mansion is very dramatic, with windows and arches all slightly askew, adding to the feeling that not everything is as it should be. Peg, the Avon Lady’s entrance to the house is framed by a long shot which shows her suddenly engulfed by a huge bare interior. However, her vulnerability is counteracted by her inappropriate comments while exploring this chilling environment; “This is some huge house. Thank goodness for those aerobics classes. ” The cheery lilac figure, climbing the stairs of a huge gothic house, is completely out of place.

The music, which has been warning us of imminent danger, reaches a climax as Peg tells the dark approaching figure: “I’m Peg Boggs.. your local Avon representative. ” It is only when Edward emerges from the dark that Peg feels afraid, but is soon reassured when he speaks. The music changes sharply at this point into something a little more melancholic as a stunned Peg looks at Edward’s hands and asks him what has happened. Again the mood quickly changes to optimism as she begins to heal the cuts on his face.

Edward Scissorhands (1990) The Barbecue Scene: (00:34:03 to 00:34:57) Edward Scissorhands (1990) The Television Interview: (00:52:25 to 00:54:26) Edward Scissorhands (1990) The Diner Scene: (00:57:43 to 00:58:47) These three sequences illustrate the bold use of primary colours in Tim Burton’s mise-en-scene. The vibrant colour scheme conveys the emotional excess and unstable behaviour of the inhabitants of the town. The contrast with Edward’s gothic punk style of clothing, hairstyle and make-up is striking and it marks him out as an outsider – a fish out of water.

Edward Scissorhands (1990) The Ice Sculpture: (01:12:45 to 01:14:20) In Edward Scissorhands, as in many German Expressionist films, realism is rejected in favour of artificiality which adds to the fairytale quality of the film. In this scene, the dream-like atmosphere of a romantic fairytale is evoked by the strong use of the colour white; the slow motion cinematography of the falling snowflakes (like a glass snowball); and the haunting music of composer Danny Elfman.

Elfman has written the score for every Tim Burton film and his music perfectly expresses the kind fantasy world with menacing undertones that Burton aims to create in his work. Edward Scissorhands (1990) The Death of the Inventor: (01:21:27 to 01:23:06) In this sequence, Tim Burton’s mise-en-scene brilliantly conveys the strange world of the inventor that we are familiar with from the horror genre. However, the director’s intention is to subvert genre expectations. For this dark gothic interior, drained of life and colour, does not house an evil force or wicked character.