Thursday, November 29, 2012

Hitting Rock Bottom

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
Pages 136-149

The letter from Elizabeth that opens this section allows the reader to gain an outside perspective of just how far Victor has fallen from his prior state. "Yet I fear that the same feelings now exist that made you so miserable a year ago, even perhaps augmented by time," (Shelley, 138). Elizabeth's fear is true. Victor himself even acknowledges that "misery had her dwelling in [his] heart," (Shelley 137). However, the two still have their marriage, and Elizabeth intends to live happily ever after. However, Victor's knowledge of the creature's threat haunts his memory; he continues to believe that his life is destined to be ended by the monster on the night of his wedding. This is ironic because the reader is able to infer that the threat was made in regard to the life of Elizabeth. The murder of Elizabeth would further destroy the mentality of Victor and would enter him into a state of solitude similar to that of the monster. And through the successful murder of Elizabeth and the subsequent death of the father, the monster succeeded in reducing Victor to a barbaric mental state.

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