"William and Jessie's assassinated murderer escapes walks about the world free and perhaps respected... would not change places with such a wrench."
-Elizabeth
Dramatic Irony:
It is clear by the quote above that Elizabeth, the kind hearted and soft spoken Elizabeth, is definitely spiteful of the murderer of her younger cousin and good friend. She is willing to express these freely to Victor because she feels very comfortable and safe around him but sadly it pains Victor to hear every word of it. She is not aware of it but Victor was the creator of the one who caused so much pain to her. Therefore, in a way it is like she is speaking to the very murderer about the murderer. At least that is how Victor feels about the whole situation. Although she can see that Victor is upset by this she is unable to make the connection as to why, it is something only Victor and the audience are aware of. Another example of dramatic irony would be when The Demon confides to DeLacey and tells him about the family that thinks he is bad but in reality he is not. It is Ironic because DeLacey's family is the very family The Demon is talking about. Without being able to see him, DeLacey was able to see the potential good in The Demon, it was not until after his family arrived that he realized The Demon was not to be trusted simply because his physical appearance.
"The pleasant sunshine and pure air restored me to some degree of tranquility"
-Victor Frankenstein.
Epic Characteristics:
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There are many aspect to the book Frankenstein that would be considered Epic characteristics. One of the most noticeable is the effect Nature has on Victor. He is always able to take comfort in it, something he was never able to do when he was with his fellow man. Victor also experienced a situation known as "The Fall" where he drops to a lower state of being which in this case was after he created The Demon and he had to live with the guilt and always be sad and angry about his big mistake during his journey. The Fall usually accompanies expulsion from a kind of paradise as a penalty and his expulsion was of a happy life. Victor lost his whole family and his future wife as a result of his mistake and therefor was denied access to a bright future because he let his interests of the time get the better of him. In turn, the murder of all his family members counted to Victor as, "The Unhealable Wound" because it is what drive him to dedicate the rest of his life to trying to kill The Demon. It is said that the pain of this wound drives the hero to desperate measures of madness and that is precisely what happened to Victor because he ended up dieing with so much hate toward The Demon boiling up inside him. See Archetypes and Characterization for more examples of Epic characteristics.
Foreshadowing:
Even if you have never heard of Frankenstein or seen the movie in your life you would still be able to tell that bad things are going to happen through all the foreshadowing in the book. Early on we hear Victor Frankenstein talking about how bad his current situation is and as he tells his story other hints appear. Take for example when he mentions, "raising of ghosts or devils was a promise liberally accorded by my favorite authors, the fulfillment of which i most eagerly sought..." This sounds like a bad idea from the start but the readers can tell that Frankenstein will end up doing this because he shows so much passion in having it be done. He even goes on to say later that , "[he] will pioneer... the deepest mysteries of creation" which further underlines the dangers to come. We also see forshadowing through other characters such as Elizabeth, the night before their wedding Felix noticed Elizabeth feeling alittle off and she confessed to him that "Something whispers to me not depend too much on the prospect that is before us." which first brings to mind what the demon told Frankenstein, " I will be with you on your wedding night". It is clear that danger is fast approaching and they are not safe.
Hamartia:
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Hamartia is known as the character flaw that in the end leads to the characters demise and in Frankenstein Nearly every character has one. The first death we all know to be of William Frankenstein. Like most young people he is curious and had a desire to explore and that was his tragic flaw because, had he not wandered away from his family he may have never encountered The Demon and suffered an untimely death. Sadly, Justine was sentenced to death soon after William's. Although there was no concrete evidence that said she was guilty she was convinced by priests that god did not like that she was doing and therefore she "submit[ted] in patience to the will of heaven" and said she killed William and it caused her to be unjustly killed. Victor Frankenstein may have lived to be much older and surely much happier, but he let his thirst for knowledge get the better of him and he decided to play god. His decisions left him with a mistake he had to spend the rest of his life attempting to solve and sadly he did not. Although The Demon had not yet died by the end of the book, He is still cursed with a tragic flaw that in the end ruined him forever. His hideous external image makes him an outcast to all of society. Because of this he will never feel the love and affection of another being. He put it well when he said ," like the archangel who aspires to form omnipotence, I am coincide in an eternal hell."
Invocation:
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In the book Frankenstein, the belief of destiny and the interference of a higher power is see throughout the book. Victor mentioned destiny and his set in stone future multiple times like when he said, "Destiny was too potent and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction." Mary Shelly had her character say this in order to highlight how popular these beliefs were at the time. Frankenstein would also go on to mention influences from negative entities such as when he mentioned "Chance- or rather the evil influence, the angel of destruction with asserted omnipotence..." He is clearly addressing what many would believe is The Devil. He also at one point thanked his "guardian spirit" which shows that he believes in these higher entities and they do play an important role in his destiny. Along with that, victor also hints that he believes the higher entities have control of what he does when he says, "I perused my path toward the destruction of the demon more as a task enjoyed by heaven, as a mechanical impulse of some power of which I was unconscious, than as the ardent desire of my soul." Much like many roman novels, Shelly had her characters believe in the idea that a higher power was the one who controlled your fate.