The Destruction Of Emotions In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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The natural world is at once beautiful and capable of immense destruction in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The main character ,Victor Frankenstein, becomes intrigued by the many wonders of nature and pursues a career in alchemy. This hobby soon becomes an addiction that leads him to making the most vilest monster to humankind. Once created, the monster seeks a partner to minimize his loneliness in society, but was denied this need and became enraged, deeply affecting Victor, his fiancee ,Elizabeth, and the one’s that they loved the most emotionally and physically. Shelley’s Frankenstein portrays a connection between a character's emotions and how it is reflected in nature. As Elizabeth went through many changes in her life her emotions were always calmed by nature. When she was adopted into Victor’s family …show more content…
As the monster is recalling his journey in the woods to Victor he says that,”The light became more and more oppressive to me, and the heat wearying me as I walked, I sought a place where I could receive shade.”(p.71) This explains that the monster had a bad experience with elements of nature and it was hard to overcome it. This suggests that the monster will have bad luck interacting with other elements in the book such as society. The monster also tells Victor that,”In my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain. How strange, I thought, that the same cause should produce such opposite effects!”(p.72) In other words, the monster was surprised that something that was supposed to bring warmth could actually bring such pain. This proves that nature has changed the monsters emotions through pain and he may therefore not trust unknown areas for the fear of being brought unexpected pain again. Unlike the monsters experience with nature, Victor had a fascination with nature and it brought him great joy and