In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses symbolism to explore important themes. Frankenstein is a book which can be interpreted in many different ways, as it contains many symbols and significant ideas. Frankenstein contains the classical symbol of a story: an antagonist and protagonist. In Frankenstein’s case, Frankenstein is the antagonist and his creature is the protagonist. This duality of characters reflects Frankenstein’s internal conflict which he deals with throughout the novel. Shelley also uses Symbolism through description of settings to help readers understand Frankenstein’s thoughts or create tension.
For example, when Victor arrives at Walton’s ship he describes the sunset as dark purple colours slowly sinking into blackness (Shelley 214). The darkness that Shelley describes represents Frankenstein feeling of despair and loneliness after creating his creature. Frankenstein also uses Symbolism through the dialogue Frankenstein has with his creature to represent his internal thoughts. Frankenstein often contemplates suicide as a solution to end his suffering which he does not have the courage to do himself (Shelley 162).
Frankenstein’s thoughts on suicide are represented by him speaking them out loud to the creature. The final way Shelley uses Symbolism is through Frankenstein’s dreams and nightmares of various scenes from different parts of Frankenstein’s life, such as being terrified in the face of death after being told Frankenstein will die rather than live without a leg, or Frankenstein’s dismay at discovering that Alphonse Frankenstein died before Frankenstein had a chance to reconcile with him (Shelley 94).
Scenes can be interpreted as Frankenstein confronting past mistakes and his future. Frankenstein’s dreams represent the guilt Frankenstein feels for his past actions and also Frankenstein’s fears of how he will die Symbolism is a useful literary device as it allows readers to interpret the book in their own way, which keeps readers engaged and allows interpretations to be original. Frankenstein abounds with Symbolism, many which help authors explore important themes such as isolation, revenge and death.
The following is from my edited version: Frankenstein uses symbolism throughout the novel to explore themes such as alienation, revenge and death (Varma qtd in Hayden). Mary Shelley has used symbolism through describing settings, Frankenstein’s dialogue with his creature representing Frankenstein’s internal thoughts and Frankenstein’s dreams of previous scenes from Frankenstein’s life. Frankenstein’s dialogue with his creature represent Frankenstein’s internal thoughts and Frankenstein’s dreams of previous scenes from Frankenstein’s life reflect Frankenstein confronting past mistakes and his future.
Frankenstein uses symbolism to explore important themes such as isolation, revenge and death (Varma qtd in Hayden). Frankenstein contains the classical symbol of a story: an antagonist and protagonist. In Frankenstein’s case, Frankenstein is the antagonist and his creature is the protagonist. This duality of characters reflects Frankenstein’s internal conflict which he deals with throughout the novel (Shelley 7). Shelley also uses Symbolism through description of settings to help readers understand Frankenstein’s thoughts or create tension.
For example, when Victor arrives at Walton’s ship he describes the sunset as dark purple colours slowly sinking into blackness (Shelley 214). The darkness that Shelley describes represents Frankenstein feeling of despair and loneliness after creating his creature. Frankenstein also uses Symbolism through the dialogue Frankenstein has with his creature to represent Frankenstein’s internal thoughts. Frankenstein often contemplates suicide as a solution to end his suffering which he does not have the courage to do himself (Shelley 162).
Frankenstein’s thoughts on suicide are represented by him speaking them out loud to the creature. The final way Shelley uses Symbolism is through Frankenstein’s dreams and nightmares of various scenes from different parts of Frankenstein’s life, such as being terrified in the face of death after being told Frankenstein will die rather than live without a leg, or Frankenstein’s dismay at discovering that Alphonse Frankenstein died before Frankenstein had a chance to reconcile with him (Shelley 94).
Frankenstein’s dreams represent the guilt Frankenstein feels for his past actions and also Frankenstein’s fears of how he will die. Frankenstein contains the classical symbol of a story: an antagonist and protagonist. In Frankenstein’s case, Frankenstein is the antagonist and his creature is the protagonist. This duality of characters reflects Frankenstein’s internal conflict which he deals with throughout the novel (Shelley 7).
Shelley also uses Symbolism through description of settings to help readers understand Frankenstein’s thoughts or create tension. For example, when Victor arrives at Walton’s ship he describes the sunset as dark purple colours slowly sinking into blackness (Shelley 214). The darkness that Shelley describes represents Frankenstein feeling of despair and loneliness after creating his creature. Frankenstein also uses Symbolism through the dialogue Frankenstein has with his creature to represent Frankenstein’s internal thoughts.
Frankenstein often contemplates suicide as a solution to end his suffering which he does not have the courage to do himself (Shelley 162). Frankenstein’s thoughts on suicide are represented by him speaking them out loud to the creature. Frankenstein contains the classical symbol of a story: an antagonist and protagonist. In Frankenstein’s case, Frankenstein is the antagonist and his creature is the protagonist. This duality of characters reflects Frankenstein’s internal conflict which he deals with throughout the novel (Shelley 7).
Shelley also uses Symbolism through description of settings to help readers understand Frankenstein’s thoughts or create tension. For example, when Victor arrives at Walton’s ship he describes the sunset as dark purple colours slowly sinking into blackness (Shelley 214). The darkness that Shelley describes represents Frankenstein feeling of despair and loneliness after creating his creature. Frankenstein also uses Symbolism through the dialogue Frankenstein has with his creature to represent Frankenstein’s internal thoughts.
Frankenstein often contemplates suicide as a solution to end his suffering which he does not have the courage to do himself (Shelley 162). Frankenstein’s thoughts on suicide are represented by him speaking them out loud to the creature. Frankenstein contains the classical symbol of a story: an antagonist and protagonist. In Frankenstein’s case, Frankenstein is the antagonist and his creature is the protagonist. This duality of characters reflects Frankenstein’s internal conflict which he deals with throughout the novel (Shelley 7).
Frankenstein also uses Symbolism through description of settings to help readers understand Frankenstein’s thoughts or create tension. For example, when Victor arrives at Walton’s ship he describes the sunset as dark purple colours slowly sinking into blackness (Shelley 214). The darkness that Shelley describes represents Frankenstein feeling of despair and loneliness after creating his creature. Frankenstein also uses Symbolism through the dialogue Frankenstein has with his creature to represent Frankenstein’s internal thoughts.