Chapter five of ‘Frankenstein’ is crucial to creating a sense of horror in the novel. How does Shelley achieve this?
The gothic horror novel published in 1818 called ‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’ consists of the major themes of life and death, love and sex and also how man challenges god. The alternative name for this novel is called “The Modern Day Prometheus”, the author who wrote this was aged 19 when Mary Shelley wrote this, many people was surprised to learn that a young girl would ever write a novel as unique and horrendous as this.
Through-out the story of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s life is portrayed thought-out the events in several chapters, for example as Mary Shelley’s mother died from giving birth; she gained inspiration from this and reflected this onto the novel by using such techniques, causes an unusual yet unique aspect, coincidentally when Mary Shelley gave birth her baby died in the process, since this was the number one killer in the 18th century. This was lead to believe that the thought of reincarnation/ re-birth was immediately present in the mind of Mark Shelley.
Chapter 5 is the most crucial chapter as this is the pivotal point of the novel and most important shows Victors scientific breakthrough of the two years he spent obsessed with his experiment also through-out the chapter Victor deals with the reality of the monster that he created, rather than what he imagined it to be, by using words such as “demonical corpse”.
The Term Paper on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
... them upon our lives. Bibliography Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft (1999) Frankenstein, or the modern Prometheus. The ... about Frankenstein’s family situation. The first chapter is primarily concerned with the theme ... creating the monster “labour” he literally gives birth to the monster himself- “After so ... of them would be enough to write a complete new essay about. Obviously ...
The extensive use of describing the weather helps create the atmosphere needed to create the initial idea of horror; “dreary night of November” makes the reader interact with the scene as it is very easy to imagine the sound and feel of a cold night. Also an image is presented on the first paragraph. This creates a reminder of God and religion.
As Victor says “His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful”, this shows the contrast between what Victor expected to achieve and what he substantially created. After that he expresses his outrage with the words “Great God!” this is very awkward because what Victor has accomplished is already challenging god.
When Victor sees the monster he pessimistically calls his breakthrough a “demonical corpse”, after spending 2 years isolated from the outside world, and abandoning his relationship to realise that what he has accomplished was antagonizing.
Victor makes the monster seem inhumane. He describes the monsters eyes as “dull” and “yellow”, using these colours indicates illness or death.
He then comments the monster with sentences such as “his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness” this clearly contrasts between life and death, evaluating the monsters characteristics with words such as; “luxuriance” and “horrid”, which switches between beautiful and atrociousness, which ultimately makes the reader think that Victors judgment is very diverse.
The dull colours used to describe the eyes contrasts between emptiness and the brightness of a normal child also, Mary Shelley describes the creation of the monster similar to the birth of a normal child, “His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds,” this is very similar to normal birth, because babies aren’t capable of talking when being born.
Mary Shelley refers the monster to mummies by using, “A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch” this sentence shows the reader that Victor realizes that what he has accomplished is erroneous, this ultimately sets the tone and pace for the duration of chapter 5.
Mary Shelley refers to many novels during the 18th century within chapter 5; Shelley refers to ‘Dante’s inferno’ which is a novel about a man called Dante who travels through the nine depths of hell, Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, Violence, Fraud and Treason, in which he see’s many disturbing images, and eventually sees Satan. “A thing such as even Dante could not have conceived”, this description shows that Victor is linking the monster to hell and that the nine depths of hell were not disturbing enough.
The Essay on Mary Shelley How Does Mary Shelley Create Atmosphere
Mary Shelley wrote the novel Frankenstein in 1818. This was an era when Romantics; a group of people who believed that you shouldn’t play around with nature. Mary Shelley uses various types of language to create atmosphere throughout the chapter. Shelley uses metaphors such as,’ my candle was nearly burnt out’, This has a double meaning: that his candle is actually burning low on its wick and that ...
There are many similarities to Victor and the Ancient Mariner, including quotations from the novels, and also how both of them are egotistical, and obsessed. In the poem of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, the mariner is haunted/ stalked by an albatross. This relates to Victor being hunted down mentally by the monster.
Also there is reference to archaeologists in Egypt in the early 19th century, because during mummification, the body would be open with its internal organs removed. This may refers to the monster as it was created by different body parts of criminals, Victor then describes it as being more hideous that a mummy which creates a more atrocious image of the monster.
– “A mummy again endued with animation could not be ‘so’ hideous as that wretch”.
The monster then looks for comfort and love from Victor, but ultimately receives rejection, during this the monster makes “inarticulate sounds” which shows how he depends on him,
As he abandons his experiment and ‘time traverses’ in his bedchamber, during this time Victors mental state and sexuality becomes diverse. He then goes into a dream, in Victor’s dream he see’s Elizabeth “in a bloom of health”, although Victor procrastinating the reality, the image of Elizabeth turns into Victor’s deceased mother, “ grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel”. The description that Mary Shelley uses horrifies the reader.
“Walking up and down in the greatest agitation”, this clearly shows that Victor is mentally unstable , this is clearly shown as he is unable to sleep, even if he’s exhausted and also how when the monster attempts to seek love and nourishment from Victor, he becomes frightened and runs away.
When Clerval meets Victor, Victor is unable to tell Clerval what he has done, and is too reluctant, during this time, Shelley shortens many sentence structures to show a sense of urgency and panic, “I then paused”, this clearly shows Victor’s sensitivity and nervousness.
The Essay on Beautiful Human Victor Monster Life
In past and present, society has always put an emphasis on external appearance as opposed to inner personality. As a result, social classes are formed, such as upper and lower, wherein members of each class must uphold the norms defined by the prestige of the class. Upper classes are deemed to be perfect, as they contain the wealthy and the beautiful. This class distinction is heightened in Gothic ...
Clerval clearly notices that Victor is ill, and that something is irregular. As a friend he restores Victor’s life and health which shows how good a friend Clerval is. This is something Victor could not give to the monster, which may lead to wonder if Victor felt guilty.
As a conclusion I think that Mary Shelley’s uses of various techniques and wording such as ‘rushed’, ‘forced’ and ‘threw’ which creates the potential to add quick tension, atmosphere or pace when required and also the amount of emphasis used to put contrast in to the story creates the sense of fear and foreboding, there are many contrasts between Victors goal to reality, and also the use of light and dark to signify good and evil, and life and death.
