Mary Shelly’s, Frankenstein, is a novel of horror and nail biting suspense. Shelly’s purpose for the book was to create a sense of horror and she established it through the use of diction. Shelly first describes the creature’s “features as beautiful” then changes her opinion to “demoniacal corpse.” She implies the creature as a horrific scene to gaze upon. Using the words, “yellow skin,” “watery eyes,” “dun white sockets,” “shriveled complexion,” and “straight black lips,” it gives a sense of uneasiness and calm fear. As if someone were stare it, they would be paralyzed with fear. Although, the creature did have beauty such as, “hair…lustrous black and flowing” and “teeth of a pearly whiteness” it all contrasted with his less beautiful features
In chapter five of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein she uses horrific imagery, graphic diction and and over use of semicolons and comas, in one particular for a monstrous list, all to create a pervasive atmosphere. In the first paragraph Mary uses diction such as “dreary”, “agony”, and “convulsive”, she doesn't only use this type of diction in the first paragraph but through out the entire chapter. Her choice of diction stands out because it give the reader that dark mood Mary wants the reader to understand. Shelly's diction is full of dark, dreary feelings to give the reader that horrified impression.
Frankenstein, a novel first published in the year 1818, stands as the most talked about work of Mary Shelley’s literary career. She was just nineteen years old when she penned this novel, and throughout her lifetime she could not produce any other work that surpasses this novel in terms of creativity and vision. In this novel, Shelley found an outlet for her own intense sense of victimization, and her desperate struggle for love. Traumatized by her failed childbirth incidents, troubled childhood, and scandalous courtship, many of Shelley’s life experiences can be seen reflected in the novel. When discussing the character and development of the monster, Shelley launches an extensive discussion on the
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein a story that contains stories inside each other portrayed in letters. The diction Shelley used captured the feeling of abandonment and sorrow that the monster felt through his perspective and Victor was able to acknowledge the emotion as well. Victor also went through the feeling of sorrow because the very thing he created destroyed his whole family. Throughout the story, Shelley goes back and forth from writing from Victor point of view and the other characters point of view through the letters. The structure of this book is quite unique in the sense of communication through the characters in the novel. The diction used was complex and abstract. The diction allowed the audience to connect to the characters and
In an excerpt of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, an internally conflicted scientist recalls the moment he brought an atrocity to life. Evidently, the reader senses conflicting feelings of both dread and fascination from Victor Frankenstein through Shelley's use of shifting tone and sensory details. To begin, Mary Shelley's utilization of emphasized tone in her work allows the reader to experience Victor Frankenstein's complex emotions as he brings life to an abomination. More specifically, the consistent alterations in tone and language indicates Frankenstein's changing perception of his experiment. Near the beginning of the excerpt, the speaker frustratingly asserts, "In the center of the room, a grotesque structure dominated the space - a grotesque mockery of the human form, stitched together from the salvaged remains of the charnel house" (Shelley 1).
Victor Frankenstein is the speaker of this passage. The passage is spoken to the reader as Frankenstein is describing what he is witnessing in order to include the reader in the story. In other words, the author wants the readers to feel like they are in the story. The author’s use of diction is informal. The diction is informal because Victor Frankenstein is describing the events around him. The adjectives used in this passage like gigantic help portray the mood of mystery at the beginning of the passage. The passage also contains a volta that goes from being mysterious and suspenseful to distressed and apprehensive since Frankenstein discovers the identity of the object saw. Imagery is used in this passage as Victor Frankenstein describes
What differentiates Mary Shelly’s novel, Frankenstein from the majority of horror novels are the very real and timeless themes it explores. The overriding theme of the novel - scientific investigation without consideration of morality and responsibility is still an important topic in today’s world. “Perhaps the reality of cloning and genetic engineering makes this theme more relevant today than when Frankenstein was first published”(Patterson). This theme, along with the more subtle themes of revenge, the inability to accept those who are different, and the inability to control one's destiny are all themes which separate Frankenstein from other novels in the genre.
The book Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, is a unique novel in that it switches between three different narrators throughout the story. When Robert Walton is narrating, the tone is meditative and the mood is enthralled; when Frankenstein narrates the tone is horrified and the mood is suspenseful, and when the Creature is narrating, the tone is reflective and the mood is sympathetic.
Frankenstein Diction, “the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing”. Diction develops the tone and mood in every novel, whether the author is just using words or phrases to do so, they both make the reader feel the same way reading the novel. Although diction, tone, and mood do not change the way people believe the story should go on, but they do change the overall view of the novel. In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein took many years researching and discovering how organisms more and function.. He eventually created his own and called it Frankenstein, this creation was made up of many different body parts making him have a horrendous body.
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, explores the concept of humanity through distinguishing it from that of a demonic nature. This is done through a constant doubling between her two superficially opposing characters throughout the novel. Through the thematic use of nature, knowledge, wretchedness, and vengeance, sometimes as direct comparisons other times as striking contrasts, Shelley blurs the lines between human and demon within her own characters.
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the narrator, Dr. Frankenstein, enhances an atmosphere of horror through diction and imagery, which creates escalating a tone of darkness. Frankenstein had been working on this experiment for months, and on a late, fall night it finally presents itself. The narrator is extremely anxious, and images of a lack of light, his “candle… nearly burnt out,” promotes a tone of fear and disquietness. Frankenstein means to contrast the living and the dead by reviving a “lifeless thing,” but ends up locating the peak of dread.
“Nurture vs. Nature”, are some individuals destined to become evil? Or does the environment and experiences of the individual shape who they are? In Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein” there is a character (the creature) that these questions apply to. Through her use of diction, changes in perspective, and imagery, she was able to make the creature seem more human than creature by making the reader sympathize with the creature.
In this passage from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the creature recounts his earliest memories in a conversation with his creator, Victor Frankenstein. The author uses obscure diction and infantile imagery to convey the impression of the creature as a baby just learning about life and the world.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has several literary devices- such as structure, imagery, and many intricate details. She perfectly places words and puts them in such a way that the passage has a dual tone. Shelley begins with establishing the monster’s nature as being peaceful, because he wanted to reason with Victor. Him wanting to reason shows the importance of his decision to meet with Victor and shows that even though he has been through a great deal, he is still respectable to others. The audience gets to see the creature’s humble nature and makes the audience feel sympathetic towards him. This creates a peaceful tone to the passage. The monster wants to be loved by “any being and if they showed benevolence to me, I would return them hundred an hundred fold” (Shelley 148). The creature’s begging makes it sound like Victor will answer his plea. Using a broad term like “being”, demonstrates the monster’s need to be loved, putting him in a position with the audience again feeling empathetic towards him. Eventually, Victor’s compassion begins to fluctuate. The desperation the creature has looks like the desperation a human might have. This only gives the readers another reason to relate to him which leads to the other tone, impossible. Victor’s unreasonableness heightens this shared discontent as not only has the build up of the creature’s wistful nature made him an utmost identifiable character, but our views are adjusted in such as way that Frankenstein is seen
Who is the real monster?” acts as the dominant question throughout the novel “Frankenstein” written by Mary Shelly as the reader explores the protagonist Victor Frankenstein and his nameless creation. As the novel progresses, the reader notices how the relationship between the two characters goes far beyond a neglectful creature and resentful creation, for the two influence the thoughts, actions and emotions of each other. Furthermore, the creature’s physical appearance acts as his purpose throughout the novel as well as a mirror of Victor Frankenstein’s true identity. Additionally, the creature’s lack of identity begins to initiate Frankenstein’s shame towards his own identity, revealing the flawed character of Frankenstein and determining the resolution to the question “Who is the true monster? Who is the true catalyst of destruction?” During the novel, the reader is able to identify the creature as the most effective foil for Victor Frankenstein because the creature causes: Frankenstein to view the action of the creature as his own work, the shift between pride and shame in Frankenstein, and his physical appearance demonstrates his purpose to reveal the true character of Victor Frankenstein.
Nineteen-year-old Mary Shelley didn’t know when she began it that her “ghost story” would become an enduring part of classic literature. Frankenstein is an admirable work simply for its captivating plot. To the careful reader, however, Shelley’s tale offers complex insights into human experience. The reader identifies with all of the major characters and is left to heed or ignore the cautions that their situations provide. Shelley uses the second person narrative style, allusions both to Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and the legend of Prometheus, and the symbols of both light and fire to warn against the destructive thirst for forbidden knowledge.