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7-26-2003 By Elizavetta Schrijver The meaning of life is finding someone to love and who will love you. At least that’s what Mary Shelly believes and used as the bases of her book Frankenstein . Frankenstein is a story about a creature whose outer appearance makes him utterly unlovable. Frankenstein, the main character and mad scientist, created the creature out of a lust for knowledge. He speaks of his creating the creature as if it was an inevitable punishment for his desire to know the unknowable. The actually creation of the creature, who remains nameless throughout the book, takes place early in the story and in very little detail. The creature spends his time longing for love. When he finds none he resorts to violence to protect him from the violence that humans show him. He begs Frankenstein to create him a mate who will be equal in ugliness so that she will love him and accept him for who he is. The story is told by a mariner/explorer named Robert Walton who meets Frankenstein while traveling to the North Pole. Frankenstein dictates to Robert the events of his life leading up to now. Robert in turn records them in a letter to his sister Margaret. Frankenstein tells most of the story through first person. The original narrator, Robert, first introduces the theme of finding love and acceptance. He writes some letters to his sister which are the begining of the book, and are written before he meets meeting Frankenstein. In these letters Robert speaks of his mission and also of his longing for a friend who will accept him and love him for who he is: I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me, whose eyes would reply to mine. You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend. I have no one near me, gentle yet courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as of a capacious mind, whose tastes are like my own, to approve or amend my plans. ( letter 2) The theme of love and acceptance is carried through when Frankenstein speaks of his love for his friend Elizabeth Lavenza. His parents adopted the girl when he was five and they had been fast friends ever since. Their parents wanted them to marry, and they both wished to do so also. He speaks of her as his helper, support, and counter balance to his scientific aspirations as she was interested in natural beauty and art. Clerval, Frankenstein childhood friend, is also described as being someone that accepted and supported Frankenstein in his endeavors. Shelly’s characters are virtuous beyond any human in reality to contrast with the evils that appear in the book. They are quite unrealistic and make the story almost comical. I am sure Shelly did not anticipate this effect when she created her characters. Their personalities are described in flowery detail as being pure and kind. Frankenstein is pure and lovely in everyway. His only sin is the quest for knowledge, which he curses. He spends much of his time analyzing the out come of his two available options. He is a tortured man with inexplicable pain. He spends half of his time talking about his anguish. They are all over the top wonderful people. Even the monster is over the top in his love of nature and all things good. Shelly was a very romantic girl. She chalked the story full of girlish fantasies. The love between the adopted sister, Elizabeth Lavenza, and Frankenstein is a fantasy that little girls have. A little girl wishes to love a man she grew up with because he will understand her completely. The idea of being as close as a brother to the man she loves is very common. The second evidence of her romantic fantasies is the story of Felix and Safie. Felix saves Safie’s father from prison in order to win her hand in marriage. He helps Safie’s father escape and they travel to Italy. Meanwhile Felix's family is imprisoned. Safie’s father changes his mind about allowing them to marry, and is happy when Felix leaves to help his family. Safie’s father promises to send Safie’s to Felix when Felix is safe. Felix and his family are exilied to Germany from France, and they find a small cabin to live in. Felix waits and waits for his Safie’s. Safie loves Felix and escaping from her father, she finds her way to Felix through many dangers (chapter 14). The story is short, but totally ridiculous. Shelly seems unable to restrain herself in adding it, even though it is quite non-essential. Frankenstein is a beautifully written book. The pose makes the unrealistic story bearable. The story is unrealistic not because Frankenstein created a monster, but because the characters are so unbelievable. The words Shelly uses, and the sentences she creates with them are far superior to the language we use today. The feelings she expresses are profound. The innate longing each human has for love and acceptance are poured forth in eloquence. The subtle nuances of human emotion are portrayed in a way we can identify with. If the characters had some flaws that would make them more realistic, it would have been a novel I would recommend, but as it is I find it childish and hard to read with out laughing.
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