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Mrs. Forys
English IV DC – 3rd
3 March 2014
The Fault
Many critics have argued about the inspiration for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, whether it was her own imagination, if it was influenced, or even written by other influential men in her life— Samuel Coleridge, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron or Percy Shelley. In that time period, women where not seen as having the ability to write such a book. Speculation on some of the themes and the ideas raise red flags onto whether or not she truly wrote the entire novel. However, many of the themes correlate to Shelley’s life and how traumatic it really was. Once her mother had died and her Father, William Godwin, remarried, Shelley did not have exactly a loving home. Her stepmother, Mary Jane Clairmont, neglected Shelley and held her own daughters needs above Shelley’s. Not only was she viewed as inferior to her stepsisters, but also as something that did not deserve the power of knowledge. This type of neglect and negative self-worth is reflected in the characters of Frankenstein. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, many characters display some traits of abandonment. However, the Creature and Victor Frankenstein, are abandoned, isolated, and neglected more so than the other characters, but they may also be responsible for these outcast traits in each other.
If all the readers of Frankenstein could agree on one subject it, would be that the monster is undoubtedly abandoned and neglected by Victor. Neglect is defined as “the failure of a parent…or caregiver to provide for a child’s basic needs” (What). It is this neglect that is ever so present in the novel and ultimately shapes who the monster becomes. If we look at the Monster as being a type of child once created it helps reveal and justify a significant amount about the character. Victor immediately abandons the Monster in his childish state. Thus, neglecting the child of its much-needed guidance. Victor justifies his action by expressing how the creatures “dull yellow eye,” skin that “scarcely covered the… muscles and arteries beneath,” and his “ straight black lips, ” (Shelley 42) is unpleasant and hideous to look at. The creature is thusly ostracized, left to his own devices and completely abandoned. Victor has indisputably “left his child to face the world unguided and unprotected,” (Bond) almost completely exemplifying the definition of neglect. This bad parenting is not strictly fictional. This happens to many children in many places of the world. As a result, there have been numerous studies on the long-term and short-term repercussions of abandonment and neglect. Several of these studies, on long-term effects, “have documented the correlation between abuse (in the form of neglect) and future… delinquency” (Long-Term). This is clearly evident in the behavior of the monster, despite his attempts to bond with, not only his creator, but also other people, he is continuously “disowned,” (Shelley 101) and neglected by every single person. This neglect was far in extreme; the creature simply could not make a single connection with anyone. This of course was, in the eyes of the Monster, the fault of Victor for making him a wretched ugly being. Deprived of love and warmth, the creature was unmistakably abandoned and neglected making him “more likely to develop antisocial traits,” (Long-Term) which is evident in his self-isolation from people and his revengeful attitude toward Victor. Just like any child that is neglected, one can expect that child to have numerous social problems as well as be at a higher risk for future delinquency, drug abuse, and worst of all, killing themselves or others, all as a consequence of an neglecting parent.
In contrast to the Monster, who thirsts for a companion and love, Victor is isolated as a result of his own addiction. Many studies have conducted experiments on addiction and they “suggest that isolation often results from addiction” (Schmid). It is not hard to see that because of his infatuation with the pursuit of knowledge, Victor isolates himself from the rest of the world. Evident from the very beginning of his narrative, Victor explains that from a very young age he has seen “[himself] totally unfitted for the company of strangers” (Shelley 30). He found a passion and that passion soon became an addiction. This addiction is not necessarily to a drug or chemical substance; instead he is addicted to something much less materialistic. This addiction, and consequent isolation, leads to Victor spending many years away from his family and friends all in the pursuit to “perform the ultimate usurpation, that of god” (Bond). He soon found himself driven by “vanity and egotism,” (Bond) that added to his whimsical ideals of playing God. His egotism peaked when he felt that “life and death’ were ‘ideal bounds which he should… break through,” (Shelley38) only further convincing him that what he was doing was not only possible, but necessary for him to do to prove that he is capable of defying death. He took on this isolationist attitude from a very young age and uses his isolation as a means to further his knowledge and importance. Victor’s idea of creating life, he feels, will bring him renowned status in the eyes of his creation, and eliminate the need for women to procreate, only furthering the need for isolation. At the end of the day Victor is creating a means for men to be isolated from the need of women, the same way that he has done his entire life. As a father to the creation, he feels that once he has succeeded in eliminating the mother from the process “No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve [the child’s]” (Shelley 38). When broken down into its simplest form Victor is at fault for creating the monsters isolation and at fault for “his impulsive experimentation” with life and death, that “ultimately cuts him off from the rest of the world” (Schmid). Though, many readers of the novel result in condemning Victor as the true monster, is he a victim himself?
Victor being a victim is not an easy thing to derive from the novel. It is obvious that Victor neglects the Monster, but not clear on who neglects him. Victor presents his child hood as being normal loving one. However, when one analyzes deeper, soon this front that Victor hides behind becomes transparent and his true childhood becomes discernible. Once the reader has glimpsed this reality then they can finally start to understand why Victor is whom he is. In its simplest form, the question is a debate over the chicken and the egg. Shelley stated, “ Everything must have a beginning…and that beginning must be linked to something that went before it,” (Shelley xxiv) and this is key to the entire novel. It is obvious in the book that Victor abandoned the Monster, but what is not obvious is who abandoned Victor. When deciphering just who is at the root cause for Victor’s abandonment one must look at his childhood; Victor describes it as loving and full of lessons. However, the topic of family is a cautious subject and often Victor is hesitant to talk about it. For instance, When Henry Clerval addresses Victor and asks to speak on a very important matter “[Clerval] quickly surmises that [Victor] might be fearful to speak of his own home” (Claridge). When the topic does come up and Victor speaks on the behalf of his childhood he describes that, to his parents, he was “their plaything and their idol,”(Shelley 19) making him sound as if he is a possession that they own and get to objectify with their world views. His parents where not in any case portrayed as bad people. They have love, but just for each other. Victors parents “share an affection that in some way excludes [victor]” making Victor “an object of their love, not a participant” (Claridge). Being viewed as a possession has tremendous effects on Victor. Elizabeth soon is viewed as his possession and then later in life he creates the Monster so that he will be forever indebted to him. When Victor is describing his childhood he recalls his fond memory of discovering Cornelius Agrippa and how it sparked a passion, “a new light” that “[dawned] upon [his] mind],” and was “bounding with joy” in his head (Shelley 24). Of course any child that discovers this kind of passion will want to share their experience with their parents. However, when Victor goes to share with his father he is rudely dismissed. Victor is silenced for not displaying the lessons that were taught— that of patience and self-control. This abuse may not be physical but “victor is abandoned— psychically and emotionally— by his ostensibly ‘doting’ parents, who never acknowledge or strive to accommodate his inner world” (Zimmerman). The lessons taught to Victor ultimately teach him how to be, in a sense, invisible. The qualities that the “lessons” entail are the same virtues that Victor lacks in his adult life, due to his parents forcing them on him at a young age thwarting off childhood passion and optimism. It is “a classic case of a battering parent who produces a battered child who intern becomes a battering parent,” (Zimmerman) which is ever so present in the fact that Victor abuses the Monster and then the Monsters first victim is a child that he wants to own and make his companion. It is abundantly clear that once the cycle has started, with Victor’s father, then it continues on through the actions of Victor and his child, the Monster.
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley many characters are abused in numerous ways, but no two characters display neglect as much as Victor and the Monster. Neglect is often a passed down trait, meaning that the child who is abandoned often will abandon or neglect their child. Although it is abundantly clear that Victor abandons the Monster that intern ignites the chain reaction that is the book, it is not so clear who is responsible for abandoning Victor. Victor isolates himself from the world in order to indulge himself in his addiction for knowledge and power. With the intent to be seen as a God to his creation and to his peers he creates a monster that he immediately abandons forcing his creature into isolation. When the reader analyzes the Monster’s and Victor’s signs and symptoms, then only does the evidence start to paint a picture of who is at the root cause for all of the death and destruction. With the idea presented in the introduction that everything must have a beginning, the reader starts to see through the fog and recognize that Victor is who he is because he was abandoned himself. An idea that is not an original one to Shelley and her highly neglected and jaded life.
Works Cited
Bond, Chris. "Frankenstein: is it really about the dangers of science? Chris Bond explores how Frankenstein is about something more than the danger of scientific experimentation." The English Review 20.1 (2009): 28+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
Claridge, Laura P. “Parent-Child Tensions in Frankenstein: The Search for Communion.” From Studies in the Novel, vol. XVII, no.1 (Spring 1985): 14-26. © 1985 by North Texas State University. Reprinted by permission.
“Long-term consequences of child abuse and neglect”. “Child Welfare Information Gateway.” (2013). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau.
Schmid, Thomas H. "Addiction and isolation in Frankenstein: a Case of Terminal Uniqueness." Gothic Studies 11.2 (2009): 19+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
Shelly, Mary. Frankenstein, N.p.: Signet Classics, 1963. N. pag. Print.
“What is child abuse and neglect?” “Child Welfare Information Gateway.” (2013). Recognizing the signs and symptoms. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau.
Zimmerman, Lee. "Frankenstein, Invisibility, and Nameless Dread." American Imago 60.2 (Summer 2003): 135-158. Rpt. in Children's Literature Review. Ed. Tom Burns. Vol. 133. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.