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Essay on 'Sympathy for the Creature'
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Essay on 'Sympathy for the Creature' in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
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Frankenstein: Sympathy for the Creature essayFirstly, the Creature may be seen as deserving of our sympathy through the rejection he
feels from his creator, Victor Frankenstein; “I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the
fallen angel…” Shelley cleverly references John Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ which unpacks and
expands upon the creation narrative as told by Genesis. The extended epic was published in
1667 in order ‘to justify the ways of God to man,” as Milton put it. The Creature uses this
reference to highlight how his acquirement of knowledge has led him to understand that he
is not a divine-imbued creation, instead he is formed by the imperfect perversions of the
mortal human…not in the way of God. The extended metaphor highlights how instead of
being welcomed as a good creation the Creature is seen to be like Satan, the powerful
creation that rejected his master. This is a trait that Frankenstein’s creature later follows
through raw anger as he curses his own master; “Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I
live?” The raw emotional tone of the Creature and the repetition used in this quote really
convey the despondency that fills his heart and leads his rejection. Adam was never seen to
wholeheartedly reject God as the Creature has done, perhaps a comment on the Creature’s
lack of humanity, but in my opinion rather a comment on Victor’s perception of the
wickedness of the Creature that he imbues every time he calls him ‘daemon’. The use of this
derogatory term embodies Victor’s hatred for his creation and lack of love as he did not
even have the compassion to name his Creature, emphasising the reaction that stems from
Victor towards his monster showing that the Creature is deserving of our sympathy.
Furthermore, the Creature may also be seen as deserving of our sympathy due to his lack of
companionship and utter loneliness that permeates his narrative. This is evident in his
demand at the end of volume two, “You must create a female for me…I demand it of you as
a right…” The Creature’s use of imperatives and blunt syntax emphasises how carnal and
powerful his desire for another like him to comfort and uphold him. The fact that he wants a
female companion is also very important as it acts as a strong critique of the clashing worlds
of men and women in Victorian society. The male world was seen to be emotionless and so
it was seen as a woman’s role to provide physical and emotional sustenance for their
companions and here we see the Creature demanding this social norm. The Creature is so
brashly pained by his isolation that it has drove him to evil; “I am malicious because I am
miserable” The Creature through his retrospective narrative is seen to be a victim of his
circumstance at the whim of those who judge and punish him for how he looks. Shelley’s
structuring of the novel leads us to sympathy the Creature. First, we learn of his miserable
creation and instant neglect of his father and creator on superficial grounds. Next we see
him traverse the wild world in search of survival and then upon gaining a greater sense of
self-awareness he is plagued by loneliness and isolation as he continues to be rejected by
humankind, “Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind?” His loneliness is only highlighted
by the gothic idea of doppelgangers that appears in many combinations of characters within
the novel. The doppelganger relationship between the Creature and Victor that exists in
their similarities and their shared vices in the virtues as clearly demonstrated as the dual
literary allusion to Percy Bysshe Shelley’s ‘Mutability.’ This sense of similarity between the
characters of Victor and the Creature only go to highlight the Creature’s isolation and
loneliness that locks him out of society proving that he is deserving of our sympathy.
However, the Creature may be seen as undeserving of our sympathy through his hypocrisy
in his self-judgement of Justine towards the end of Volume two; “she, shall suffer; the
murder I have committed because I am forever robbed of all that she could give me, she
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