Mary Shelley's life experiences and the era in which she lived were the influencing factors that led her to write the novel Frankenstein and explore the major themes within it. One of the main reasons that led Mary into writing this fascinating novel was the fact that she had never received love throughout her life. The beginning of Mary's life resulted in the death of her mother. "Mary was never known to her mother" (Neilson). The loss of her mother meant that Mary would never be loved by the one who she needed the most throughout her life. The loss of Mary's mother wasn't only tragic for Mary but Mary's father was also greatly affected by it. "Her father was a distant man at best and he never completely forgave his daughter for causing his wife's death"(Neilson). The loss of Mary's mother not only meant a loss of love from whom she needed it the most but also loss of love from others that she needed as well.
Steel engraving (993 x 71mm) for frontispiece to t...
English: Portrait of Mary Shelley
Promotional photo of Boris Karloff from The Bride ...As Mary grew, her life begun to get better because she eventually found the man of her dreams and decided to marry him. After Mary married the man of her dreams, they had several children but most of them died. The death of Mary's children greatly affected her because she kept losing her loved ones. The pain of constantly losing her loved ones led Mary into being a lonely woman which she later expressed in Frankenstein using a universal truth that if something seems too extraordinary, chances are it probably is.
Frankenstein is a very fascinating novel because in this novel the author manages to convey the main theme and the universal truth of the story using chronological flashbacks. This novel begins with the introduction of Walton, who is on a search for something big. While searching, Walton finds the novels protagonist, Victor Frankenstein who reveals that he constantly suffers the pain of creating a monster, "as the memory of past misfortunes pest upon me, I began to reflect upon their cause-the monster whom I had created, the miserable daemon whom I had sent aboard into the world for my destruction" (Shelley 99). The previous quote makes it evident that Victor put his own life in jeopardy due to the lack of his judgment to create the monster and abandon him to the world he is yet not familiar with. Abandoning an unfamiliar character in this evil world led to a creation of a monster that wanted revenge from his creator. In order to gain revenge, the monster begun killing all of victor's loved ones. The death of Victor's loved ones led him into being a lonely man and expressing the universal truth that if something seems too extraordinary, chances are it probably is.
According to publisher weekly, this is a story with an "unusual and intriguing feel", meaning that this novel is different from other yet is very pleasant to read. Von doodle also believes that this book has an intriguing feel to it. "Instead of haunted houses and monsters the reader will find themselves involved with a tail of responsibilities, morals, primeval fear and the various appetite of revenge". Von doodle along with other reviewers believe that this novel is very unique because unlike other novels this one incorporates many themes of the horror convention but at the same time has a good side to it. According to many this novel is very fascinating and intriguing and most believe that it is eye catching and catches the reader's attention almost immediately.
Most people have their own views on different novels, similarly some critics believe that Frankenstein is an excellent novel; however, some believe that it is not. Personally, I believe that this story is excellent because this novel uses the characters to express the main plot and the universal truth. Not only does this novel express the main plot of using different characters but it also expresses the author's life experiences. I would most likely recommend this novel to every individual because this novel uses different themes to express a very important message. In this novel the author expresses the theme in a very explicit way because throughout the story the reader realizes that the main theme is revenge which the monster seeks from its creator. "Frankenstein! You belong then to my enemy-to him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim" (Shelley 66). Here the monster expresses the main theme of the story by stating that he has sworn to take revenge against his creator who abandoned him to suffer in this evil world. Using the main theme of the story, the author was also able to convey the universal truth that if something seems too extraordinary, chances are it probably is.
Biography:http://www.literature.org/authors/shelley-mary/frankenstein/
Manuscript page from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
English: Cropped portrait of Mary Shelley
http://www.exophagy.com Frankenstein (1910 film)