Mary Shelly’s ‘Frankenstein’, and P.B. Shelly’s ‘Alastor’ Essay

The motion of scathe is best conveyed by the solitary aesthetic figure of the spider or vagrant. Ro bittic writers produced works revealing extremes of isolation and socialisation, creating either a wild beast or a god and proving that although sex segregation cig bette render noesis, it piece of tail withal be the cause of deep scathe. bloody shame S booby hatcheys Frankenstein,is an account of the monstrous potentiality of human creative big businessman when severed from honorable and social concerns. Suffering is displayed through the instances of professional Frankenstein and his unkn stimulate concept, the heavyweight or the fallen angel . Moreover, what is necessary to further the password of woe, is the cause and indeed expression of suffering endured by the central characters. Frankenstein hopes to be the source of a bare-assed species, besides ironically, his beast evolves into a ego acknowledged Satan who swears ageless r all the samege and war on upo n his spring and all the human race as a pass on of the chastisement he looks at their slip bys.The ogre sees salvation only through the creation of his Eve. Both master and wildcat ar torn by their interior(a) conflicts from misapplied knowledge and their sense of isolation. P.B. S nut houseeys Alastor or the nature of Solitude, compares well to Frankenstein as there are many similarities with the poet and the character of the Monster and his causality, Frankenstein both(prenominal) textual matters introduce the themes of suffering through isolation and central to both is the desire for a companion or equal otherwise.Alastor or the Spirit of Solitude is a touching rhyme which conveys well the suffering of the individual. There is an obsession at heart the young poet within the poem, which leads him to express the contemplatives of the heart in solitude. The lonely musings of the poet are ironically soothing and realize a melodious tone to the poem as he learns a nd strives for to a greater extent knowledge to quench his young mind. As P.B.Shelley describes the character in the preface to the poem, he also draws on its moral It represents a youth ofuncorrupted feelingsHe drinks deep of the fountains of knowledge and is hush insatiate His mind is awakened and thirsts for intercourse with an intelligence similar to himself He yearns as a result, for his perfect companion, but his wandering to far lands fails to bump him his ideal.Shelley goes on to write that in desiring the purest organismness in a unmarried take care he seeks in vain for a prototype of his conception. damned by his disappointment he descends to an untimely grave. Shelley stated also in his preface that the tragic flaw of the young poet is that he is deluded and duped and olibanum morally dead. Shelley suggests, therefore that the spirit is cursed because it fails to exist with other citizens of the world. The poet chooses to wander in solitude and so suffers for exist ing without human humanity. It is the intensity and passion for their search which leads them to lasting misery and loneliness in the world. The moral is epitomized in the final lines of the preface Those who love not their fellow beings live unfruitful lives and prepare for their old age a miserable grave.It is ironic that the poem begins exclaiming Earth, Ocean, Air, beloved sum and further this obsession and love for creation leads him further and further out-of-door from coexisting with all these things which he admires, leading to withdrawal and suffering. The opening verse describes romantic public figures of genius, typical of the period in which Shelley was writing, revealing the poets love for nature The dewy morn and the solemn midnight as well as the descriptions of carnal and insect life, bring to pass a tranquil atmosphere. Yet these are of a sudden juxtaposed by the second verse the poet describes suffering and disturbed respite in charnels and on coffins and the philosophical questions of the purpose of existence that follow create a sense of foreboding. P.B.Shelley, significantly, then describes the alchemist, implying that just as the alchemists quests to enactment base metals into gold are an impossibility, the poets quests to wander and reject society, is equally fruitless. Parallels can be made to sea captain Frankenstein in Mary Shelleys mediaeval novel, who also is like the alchemist .The poet desires a companion, just as the Monster does in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. In the poem, the longing is portrayed in the image of themoon As oceans moon looks on the moon in promised land This image is significant for several reasons the poet compares giddyusion and reality and therefore conveys how he pursues the dream image of the maid into the real world, but the pursuit, as the image boldly suggests, is impossible and unattainable. In addition to this, the image of the moon enhances the feelings of a vacant natural world as it se ems to the poet, whose narcissist love is direct to an ideal conceived within his give mind. This can be compared to both the character of maestro Frankenstein and his creation. Just like the poet in Alastor, the Monster desires in despondency for an ideal which give never become a reality.Equally, the idea of narcissism is also apparent within the character of Frankenstein. In the poem, Yellow flowers continuously gaze on their own drooping eyes This image symbolises Narcissus who see his reflection and fell in love with it, mistaking it for a Nymph, dropping into the river, and dying in pursuit of his own reflection, turning into a daffodil. In the same way, Frankenstein is solipsistic and motivated by selfish desires for him, love is narcissistic and in his pathetic attempt to make a creation in his own image, as God did with Adam, he creates instead the fallen angel, which he fails to love and nurture. Thus the novel and the poem both represent an howling(a) quest, egoti stical in essence- and for Frankenstein, a quest for self glorification- which gives rise to unthinkable suffering.In his poem, Shelley compares suffering and loneliness with an eagle, grasped in folds of green serpent fire with painfulness, Frantic with dizzying disquiet Shelley appropriately uses the imagery of the serpent attacking a bird, drawing in Biblical parallels to the poem, just as Mary Shelley does in her novel to place importance on the Fall of Man. This theme is essential in Frankenstein as it often provides reasons for the suffering the characters experience, as Frankenstein too gains his knowledge through a forbidden act. Despite James Reigers 1974 reproach of the realism of the novel, it cannot be denied that Shelley knew far more about Galvanism, science and sorcery, than her critics gave her credit for. Frankensteins asexual creation of a new species is actually an evolutionary regression. His solitary reproduction is far from God-like it is instead the begin ning of terror and rile on human lives. The reader get-go learnsabout Frankensteins ill health and general designate through Robert Walter.This is an effective narrative method revealing Shelleys exceptional style which enhances sympathy towards Frankenstein and, more importantly, serves to create suspense. He is described as being dread to the fully emaciated by fatigue and sufferinggenerally melancholy and despairing and more significantly, gnashes his teeth as if impatient of the weight of woes that oppress him. This description also highlights that Shelleys work has been influenced by her produce, the author of Caleb Williams, William Godwin, who wrote Every time the mind is invaded with anguish and gloom the frame (or bodily and outward vigour) becomes disordered (Godwin, Political Justice, Pg 249)Walters description of professional Frankenstein only creates further suspense and is heightened by Frankensteins answer to why he is unsocial and travelling in much(prenomina l) severe retards To seek one who fled from me It is his constant and deep grief (Walter, rogue 59) which instil sympathy and compassion in both Walter and the reader. The cause to Frankensteins grief is then revealed to the final and only friend he result ever have, in a unique Gothic style, revealing elements of both the sensational and supernatural. What follows then is a chilling story, in which Shelley creates a brooding atmosphere or gloom and terror, mystery and suspense, revealing at first the sufferings of the creator, and then the pain and oath of the creation.Frankenstein emphasises that No youth could have passed more happily than mine. Shelley contrasts the description of Frankensteins upbringing which is both levelheaded and pleasant, to the gloomy and narrow reflection upon self which Frankenstein now feels on rotund his story to the lieutenant. He outlines his fascination for the structure of the human frame (page 79) and his motley advancements in his work , but what is emphasised more is his obsession with his work. When his test is finally complete, there is no such joy.Frankenstein describes his disappointment and disgust when the teras woke, having worked hard for nearly two years, but now that I had finished, the strike of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart (page 85) So sickened and repulsed by the being he has created, Victor leaves the room one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped (page 88). Thus stamp the moment the Monster is created, Frankenstein rejects him. His justification for hisaction is simply Oh No finite could support the horror of that countenance It is this fatal rejection which leads to his own downfall and proves that the suffering and solitary state of the addict is a result of Frankensteins irresponsibility.Victors suffering is caused by loss of his family and lover, and ultimately himself. Walter describes him as upset(a) in spirit but a divine wanderer nevertheless. Frankenstein says I have suffered great and unparallel mis batchs. Victor is not only referring to the murders, but also to the trial of Justice who is wrongly imp severally of murdering the young boy, William. Victor is aware that it was in fact the Monster who committed the murder, and when Justines finding of fact is announced, Victor can only think of his own guilt The tortures of the accused could not equal minethe fangs of remorse tore at my sweep up.Victor blames himself for the deaths that occur because only he is aware of his creation and that it was he who let lose the malice of the fiend. His mental state leads to his illness, and typically in a Romantic novel, Shelley proves language cannot describe the nature of experience and is therefore limited, as Victor states the sense of guilt which hurried me to hell of intense tortures, such as no language can describe. Victor describes his own solitary state has being deep, dark, death like solitude and this implants bitter rage within him My abhorrence for this fiend cannot be conceived and so he vows to avenge the murders.The arrival of the monstrosity reveals to the reader a distinguishable story of suffering. Shelly prepares the reader for a terrifying gothic figure, but when he finally appears before the vehement Victor, he is composed and calmly states I expected this receptionall men hate the wretched. His behaviour and eloquent speeches reveal a learned individual whose rationality supersedes even Victors, furthermore, there is a tone of remorse and pain in his voice. It is accredited that Victors creation only grows monstrous qualities through his sufferings. Victor created life and abandoned it, and the junkie even states disorientedly No father had watched my infant days. His creation therefore has no identity, family, society, home or companion. He recognises that he is varied Who was I? What wasI? Whence did I come? What was my destination?. His perceptions of himself are formulated as a result of societies reactions to him. He is hideous and gigantic and suffers for these reasons in solitude.He describes his initial feelings as a new creature on earth, a helpless, miserable wretch I knew and could distinguish nothing but feelings of pain invade me on all sides, I sat down and wept. His experiences are harrowing and emotional, and yet astounding the dickenss sensory experiences are like a small child that is abandoned and desperately trying to survive. His first coming upon with mankind leaves him afraid miserablefrom the barbarity of man (130) However, his encounter with the cottage family reveal the real nature and characteristics of the Monster. He yearns to be helping of a family unit and on seeing the family weep, he piddles their pain is poverty. He realises that by stealing from them inflicted pain on the cottagers, I abstained and satisfied myself with berries (141)He helps them by collecting firewood and without their kno wledge tends to their crops, and his only reward is his personal satisfaction of being able to help the needed. It can be stated that at this stage, the creature is only monstrous in appearance, and his recognition of the cottagers suffering shows his astonishing empathetic qualities. His romantic descriptions of his observations of the children and the loving nature of the family, juxtapose with his solitude and his feelings of self- loathing which are epitomised in seeing his reflection in the lake I was filled with bitterest sensations of disconsolateness and mortification. When the cottagers finally find him, they too react through physical personnel and ultimately the monster is rejected once again only to topic to his solitude and miseryOf my creation and creator I was absolutely vileendowed with a figure hideously deformed and loathsomeI was not even of the same nature as manWhen I lookedaround I saw and heard of none like mea blot upon thisearth which all men fled, and wh om all men disowned (149)The monster is visibly aware of his alienation and his reflections cause him agony and sorrow. He expresses his pain through wandering, and this is a pivotal moment which captures the transition completely I gave vent to my anguish in fearful howling. I was like a wild beast. His distress and agony are with a world full of prejudices where he is given no chance, and thus, he projects his rage at his purlieu tearing at branches and trees, and finally sank on the damp grass in the sick impotence of fear. It is at this moment that he realises his goodness will never be recognised he is grotesque but has physical strength as his only tool, hence declaring everlasting war on his enemies, and above all, against he who had formed me, his creator, Victor Frankenstein, the root of his suffering. The image which follows is a hellish and ghoulish scene of the monster howling into the night and vehement down the cottage he had once loved. His stream of bad fortune is just appalling and Shelley seems to be exposing the inhumanity of humanity.The significance of the three texts which the monster encounters cannot be overlooked. The first text is Goethes The Sorrows Of Young Werther which enables the monster to realise his own solitary state and depression. He weeps whilst Werther suffers too as an deprive and solitary walker, and adds I applied much personally and to my own feelings and condition (153) He compares his Werthers desires to become part of Charlottes family to his own which were to become part of the cottage family, the De Laceys. Shelleys novel also draws from her mothers work, such as Vindication in which the influence is apparent through the monsters actions he is deprived of the domesticity and affections necessary for human beings.Thus through Goethes text, he learns of the domestic idyll. The second text is the Volume of Plutarchs lives which depicts the history of the origins of mankind, and from the text he learns high thoug hts, and goes on to state He elevated me above the wretched sphere of my own reflection of self- sympathize with and gloom, to admire and love the heroes of past ages. However it is the third text, Miltons paradise Lost which is most striking in its parallel towards both the Monster and Victor . The monster found a correlation between his condition and stated Like Adam, I was apparentlyunited by no link to any other human beingI was wretched, helpless and alone. Many times I considered Satan as the fitter figure of my condition (page-136).The monsters central complaint is that he is alone and he requests that Victor make a companion for him I am alone, and miserable man will not associate with me my companion must be of the same species and have the same defects (Page 168) Society has rejected him because he is deformed and horrible, but this suffering leads to the monster retuning to find his creator so that loneliness can only be overcome by a companion this is a huge realisa tion in the monster and more significantly, is that this suffering caused by complete solitude, is experienced by existence too. Hence the suffering felt by the monster makes him no different to man. The monster goes on to say that a companion is necessary for my being (Pg 168) and the only cure for his malicious behaviour and misery. When Victor refuses a deuced rage animated him as he said this his face was wrinkly into contortions too horrible for human eyes to behold (Pg 169)This is his reaction to soul refusing what he desires most, what has haunted him since his creation and his rage is hardly surprising when considering the suffering he has endured. Every time languor and indifference creep upon us our functions fall into decay This is where the monsters argument finds its roots, for as Godwin writes in Political Justice, in order to be cheerful, we must educate a kind and benevolent propensityGodwin also expressed his views on solitary confinement and these too seem to b e echoed in the text The soul yearns, with inexpressible longings, for the society of its like.The monster is hence likened to the offender in solitary confinement and pleads for a companion Who can tell the suffering of him who is condemned to uninterrupted solitude? Who can tell this that this is not, to the majority of mankind the bitterest torment that human ingenuity can inflict? (Pg 251) Echoing Godwin, who wrote A man is of more worth than a beast, Victor disregarding the monsters pleas, destroys the unfinished female monster. This is the penultimate event which gives rise to morose suffering endured by the monster . The extent of his misery is epitomised with the monster sceptical Victor Shall each man find a wife for his bosom, and each beast have his mate, and I be alone? Are you to behappy while I grovel in the intensity of my miserableness? (Volume 3, chapter 2) Thus there is a disastrous outcome to Victors reasoning.In Mary Shelleys Gothic novel, Frankenstein hopes t o be the source of new species, but ironically, his creature evolves into a self acknowledged Satan who swears eternal revenge and war upon his creator and all the human race. The monster reflects that hell is an internal condition which is produced and increased through loneliness. Both master and creature are torn by their internal conflicts from misapplied knowledge and their sense of isolation. In P.B. Shelleys poem, the solitary walker suffers as a result of his own actions and choice to be abandon society. He suffers for having fantasies that will never be a reality. Hence his suffering is a result of his own disillusionment.BIBLIOGRAPHY1. Shelley, P.B., Alastor Or, The Spirit Of Solitude2. Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft , Frankenstein or, the Modern Prometheus,(D.L.Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf) 1999.3. Duncan Wu, ed,. Romanticism A Critical Reader, (Blackwell, 1995)4. Butler, Marilyn, Romantics, Rebels and Revolutionaries face Literature and its Background, 1760-1830,(Oxford University Press, 1981)5. Goethe, J.W., The Sorrows of Young Werther(Penguin Books, 1985)6. Furst, Lilian, European Romanticism, (Wayne State University Press, 1990).