Vanita Baldaniya Velabhai is a second semester MA student writing a paper on the themes of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley for her Romantic literature class. The three main themes she will discuss are birth and creation, represented by Victor Frankenstein taking on the roles of woman and God in creating life, alienation experienced by both Victor and the monster, and the idealization of family and domestic life. She concludes that these themes reflect issues in Shelley's own life or contemporary debates and provide thoughtful commentary.
1. DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
Name: Baldaniya Vanita Velabhai
Semester: 2
Class: M.A.Part 1
Paper: 4 (Romantic literature)
Roll No: 29
Topic: Themes of Frankenstein
Email add.: vanitabaldaniya0806@gmail.com
2. ABOUT OF MARY SHELLEY
1797 to 1851.
She is born in Somers Town,
London.
She was an English Novelist,
short-story writer, Dramatist,
Essayist, biographer and travel
writer. Frankenstein is Gothic
Novel.
4. BIRTH AND CREATION
Mary Shelley does this trough the main character, Victor
(Frankenstein), who succeeds in creating a “human” life form. In
doing this, Frankenstein has taken over the role of women and God.
Shelly discusses how Frankenstein has used his laboratory as a kind
of ‘womb’ as he has worked on his creation. He also refers to his task
as his labour, suggesting that he has literary given birth to his creation.
5. ALIENATION
Victor is one character who is alienated from other. This is due to his
desire for knowledge, and the vast amount of time in which he spends in
completing his scientific experiment. Victor choses to be alienated,
despite that fact that he insists many times that the only reason he is
isolated from other is because of the Monster.
Alienation is also shown through the creature which Victor creates.
The suffering of the creature in the novel are also the result of being
alienated, but unlike Victor, he does not bring this upon himself. Instead,
others isolated the Monster.
6. T H E FA M I LY A N D D O M E S T I C A F F E C T I O N S
The Family and Domestic Affections is also
demonstrated in the novel Frankenstein. In the novel, the
family unit is something which is frequently idealized. The
home seems to be a paradise where the woman is the presiding
angel. In the case of the Frankenstein home, Elizabeth is first
adopted, as she is described as being somewhat angelic .
7. Conclusion:
Mary Shelley discusses the themes of birth and creation,
alienation and the family and the domestic affections. In her novel
Frankenstein. This themes represent incidents which occurred in
her own life, in those around her, or debateable issues of the time.
The themes discussed show Shelley’s thoughts and feelings
on these issues, and present the reader with interesting points to
think about and reflect upon their own lives.
