The Four Children In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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One might think it is worth it to give away an entire life to chasing one dream; that to strive for one extravagant goal, they will finally be fulfilled. Victor Frankenstein, from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, achieved his dream of creating life, but, instead of the satisfaction Victor craved, a horrific monster was unleashed unto this world. The creature was despised by Victor, as Victor’s intentions were to be godlike and create his Adam, not a hideous monstrosity. The creation of this horror is a metaphor for the birth of Mary Shelley’s first two children and her own birth. Of Mary Shelley’s four children, only one survived to be older than three years of age. The amount of death for her children took a toll on Shelley’s sanity. Her first child was born prematurely and died within eleven days, leaving Shelley feeling guilty, as if her child’s death was her fault. The next two died of disease, whether it be malaria or dysentery. The …show more content…
Years after her mother’s death, Shelley’s father remarried a woman who despised Shelley. This abhorrence Shelley’s stepmother had for Shelley caused Shelley to be sent away for school, much like how Victor immediately abandoned his creature, as he had been “unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room,” (Shelley 43). Not only was Shelley abandoned by her mother, but after her pregnancy, “Mary's friend Isabel Baxter was forced by her family to terminate their acquaintance,”. Everyone close to Shelley had left her behind, much like the creature. The creature had become so close to this family, listening to them, learning from them, and even helping them, but once he revealed who he was, the family was disgusted and left him behind. Since birth, Shelley and the creature had faced nothing but

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