Frankenstein Essay

Frankenstein was originally written by Mary Shelley in 1818. In 1818 scientists were discovering many different scientific revolutions. One thing they discovered was vaccination. People at that time were both very scared and excited about this. Shelley’s novel was inspired by Galvini who used electricity to move a late criminal’s hand jaw. Also Mary was influenced by her father and her husband’s view of life, who were both radical thinkers. Mary’s story was brought to life after long days and nights during her holiday when she entered a horror competition. She wrote her initial draft from a nightmare she had. Without Galvini, the holiday, nightmare, her father and her husband then this story wouldn’t have been brought to life. In the play which is adapted by Phillip Pullman. We feel empathy and sympathy for various characters throughout. The two main characters I feel sympathy and empathy towards are Frankenstein and the monster. We feel sorry for these characters in different places in the play. But who do we really feel sorry for? We initially feel sorry for Frankenstein. For example Frankenstein had a lack of care for his own health. For instance he spent all his money on chemicals and not for himself. We know this because in the play it quotes â€Å"No, no fire I keep it cold on purpose- it’s the only way to preserve my specimens. † This implies that Frankenstein thinks his specimens are more important than his own health and well-being that he resulted into living in the cold. This also shows how much Frankenstein was devoted into creating the monster and didn’t let the cold stop him from achieving his goals of creating life. It also shows how much he loves the monster. This makes the reader feel sympathy towards Frankenstein as it makes them feel like Frankenstein how he put his own health at major risk just because of his life ambition and has resulted to adapt to the cold. We also feel sorry for victor because of the death of William. For example â€Å"You killed my little brother! Is that love? Is that good will? † This make the reader feel sympathy for victor as he’s lost a loved one who was killed by the person he had created. On the other hand it makes us understand upon victors opinion towards the monster as everything victor witnesses and everything the monster does it appears evil. This makes it acceptable for victor’s opinion towards the monster. However it’s not the monsters fault because when the monster was born the first thing he received was hatred and the more hatred he got the more it drove him to be evil. The monster was judged by his looks which appeared evil and this drove him to do evil actions which led the monster looking even bad. I also blame victor for playing the role of god. As victor has no right in creating life and death and questioning God by saying â€Å"if lightning can kill someone it can bring someone alive. † Victor knew that he had neglected Elizabeth because he was so preoccupied with creating the monster. In the novel it quotes â€Å"No Elizabeth don’t- you’re right, I’ll come back with you but my work. You don’t understand it’s reached I’ve been working towards for six years. † This tell us that Frankenstein had realised how he had treated Elizabeth with rudeness, he instantly agrees to go see his father but insists on finishing the monster as he had been working on it for 6 years. This makes the reader feel sympathy for victor because he had devoted most of his life on the monster and at the end everything goes wrong. On the other hand what was the purpose of creating life and this also showed how he thought the monster was more important than his very own father at the time of need, he could have took a break as he has been working constantly for 6 years and to see his father who was at his death bed. On the other hand we also feel empathy for the monster. For example the monster was unloved from the start. For example â€Å"But you’re not what I thought you’d be. † This suggests that Frankenstein’s was disappointed in his very own creature he has devoted 6 years for and didn’t accept the monster the way he was but instead judged him on his appearance as soon as he laid eyes on him. Frankenstein prejudged the monster by looking at him to be ruthless and evil but it also shows that Frankenstein wanted the best for his monster and wanted it to be perfect like an angel. The word angel suggest that Frankenstein wanted pure beauty but instead he discriminated the monster which made the monster feel neglected and disowned, he had a perfect deal of what a human should be. People judged the monster on his appearance and not his personality. I know this because â€Å"Felix runs in, sees the monster apparently attacking her and Agatha struggling to be free and without hesitation seizes the musket. † The stage direction suggests that soon s Felix comes in and he sees the monster and tries to shoot him because he apparently thought the monster was attacking Agatha. The word â€Å"without hesitation† suggests that as soon as Felix saw the monster and judged he was up to evil and he quickly got the musket and didn’t even consider the situation. Also the word â€Å"apparently† suggests that Felix prejudged the monster and the entire situation as he thought the monster was hurting Agatha but on the other hand the monster was trying to get through to Agatha as that was his only hope for a friend but Felix never listened and persisted into believing that the monster was spiteful. This make the reader feel sympathy toward =s the monster because he had found a friend that had looked at his inner beauty and didn’t judge him but it was ruined but a person who didn’t see that inner beauty and just thought plain evil of the monster. We feel sorry for the monster because all he wants is to be loved. In the play it quotes â€Å"They’d throw stones and shouted harsh words to me but they had companions, fellows, friends. Couldn’t I find a friend? So I began to look. † This makes the audience feel empathy towards the monster because it makes us feel how harshly the monster was treated. He got hurt even more as he saw that everyone had friends. He wanted a friend. The quotation â€Å"Couldn’t I find a friend? † this suggests that the monster wanted someone to support him and a person who he can laugh with like the people who were laughing at him together. This makes the reader feel sympathy towards the monster because he is lonely and isolated. The writer at this moment makes us feel how people are judged without even finding out about that person and naming the monster monster it over reacts straight way and if someone heard that they would assume bad and keep their distance. As the word â€Å"monster† suggests evil and scary. The writer also wanted us to think about human nature. And how we look can play a big role in our life and the changes we want to make to ourselves to fit in. I believe that Mary Shelley the writer was trying to put across that the consequences of trying to play God and challenging the unknown. It also puts across about how you shouldn’t discriminate against someone cause of their appearance. Another thing that it puts across is love and how important role it plays in everyone’s life. In my opinion I feel more sympathy for the monster because Frankenstein had no right to play God and create a living creature because it is going against God by taking his power against him which is causing life and death also saying you are as superior as god as you are creating life. The monster didn’t want to be created and as it has no family or support Frankenstein’s duty was to take care of the monster and feed him but Frankenstein just prejudged the monster and disowned him. That’s what made the monster evil at that time. It’s not his fault for turning evil and does the actions he did. So in my opinion I feel sorrier for the monster.