Exploring Themes of Birth, Alienation, and Family in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Mary Shelley illustrates many important themes in her famous novel Frankenstein. She presents these themes through the characters and their actions. Three of the most important themes in the novel are birth and creation should be left to God, alienation leads to distress, and the love of a family is always there.

One of the novels' most outstanding themes is birth and creation should be left to God. The main character, Victor Frankenstein, succeeds in creating a 'human' life form. In doing this, Frankenstein has taken over the role of God. Shelley conveys to the reader that Frankenstein has used his 'workshop of filthy creation' (33) as a 'womb'. At one point, Frankenstein says, 'winter, spring, and summer passed away during my labours' (34). The length of these three seasons is nine months, representing the time a natural human baby takes to be formed in its mother's womb. When he finally 'births' his creation, he horrified and abandons it.

The monster, after many undesirable encounters with humans, becomes insane and embarks on a killing spree of Victor's friends and family. This suggests that Victor should never have attempted to play God's role, as his being was not even close to being deemed as perfect as God's 'Adam'. Victor should have left God's role in birth and creation alone, as it is something that the human race does not have the knowledge or power to control. This is how the theme birth and creation should be left to god is shown by the author.

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Another theme that becomes evident in the novel is alienation leads to distress. Victor is one character who is alienated from others. This is due to his desire for knowledge, and the vast amount of time in which he spends in completing his scientific experiments. Victor chooses to be alienated; despite the fact that he insists many times that the only reason he is isolated from others is because of the monster. He shows his desire for solitude when he tells Clerval, "..do not interfere with my motions, I intreat you: leave me to peace and solitude for a short time." (118) Also, in all the time he is studying and creating the monster, he never once visits his family. Victor's rejection of the family unit, along with his fears of sexuality and natural birth may be reasons why he keeps himself isolated for most of his life. Most of Victor's sufferings in the novel are brought about solely by his own alienation. In the end, the creation of the monster and it's secrecy actually led to his downfall.

The theme of alienation causes distress is also shown through the creature that Victor creates. The sufferings of the creature in the novel are also the result of being alienated, but unlike Victor, he does not bring this upon himself. Instead, others isolate the monster. As Victor puts it, 'His yellow skin... his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips' (35) frightened many people.

Victor, his own creator, is the first to abandon him, leaving him to learn and fend for himself. Then, when the monster enters a village, the people are terrified of him. He had hardly placed his 'foot within the door before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted.' (74) The people of the village, horrified by his looks, drove the monster out by throwing stones and other objects at him. They judged him on his appearance only, showing that many people in society value good looks. The next event in which the monster is rejected occurs when he tries to communicate with the blind father of the DeLacey family.

The father, not knowing what he looked like, did not fear him, but when the children walked in, they saw his hideousness; 'Agatha fainted, and Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix darted forward ... in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick.' (96-97) After experiencing all of these things, the monster longs for love and compassion more than ever, but realizes that he will never be accepted by human life forms. Due to this, the monster retaliates with violence, stating 'I am malicious because I am miserable' (104). This means that he is only violent because he wants to escape the alienation he faces, but because being violent is how people act toward him, he acts the same towards people. Shelley seems to be criticizing the way in which people alienate others because of their looks. This is how the monster reflects the theme alienation causes distress in the novel.

The love of a family is always there is another theme that is demonstrated in the novel. In it, the family unit is something that is frequently idealized. The home seems to be a paradise where the woman is the presiding angel, and the glue that holds the family together. In the case of the Frankenstein home, Elizabeth is this presiding angel. We see this when Elizabeth is first adopted, as she is described as being somewhat angelic. Frankenstein refers to her as 'a being heaven-sent' (17) .

The home is also portrayed as a place where refuge and sanctuary can be found. This is seen when Victor is sick and depressed. He returns home to recover, under the care of Elizabeth, and to be surrounded by his 'perfect' family. The idealistic family is also demonstrated through the DeLacey family. Their family operates with love, and there is never an argument amongst them. The children willingly look after their blind father, often sing and tell stories together in the evening, and work together during the day. Shelley demonstrates the theme that the family and home are always there through this.

Mary Shelley portrays the themes of birth and creation should be left to god, alienation leads to distress, and the love of a family is always there, in her novel Frankenstein. These themes show Shelley's thoughts and feelings on these issues, and present the reader with many interesting points to think about and reflect upon in their own lives.

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