When society does not facilitate companionship, characters in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein harden and seek isolation. This is most vividly delineated through her characterization of Victor Frankenstein’s creature. Built from a patchwork of decaying body parts, the creature is born nameless and alone; his basic existence and worth are solely determined by society and society’s perception of him. This utter aloneness he faces only augments his dire need for companionship, even at the price of a human life despite humans being the only other living creature with whom the creature can communicate with. With his growing realization of his detrimental uniqueness, the creature relies on his eloquence in speech to sympathize with the humans around him.
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At his inception, the creature speaks with “uncouth and inarticulate sounds” which “frightened [him] into silence” (Shelley 93). He is soon able to adopt a romanticized style of language through his observation of Saife’s, the eldest De Lacey’s fiance, language learning. This further causes the creature to “desperately seek but never find [the] ideal sympathetic companionship” (Britton) that he is yearning for. Since Shelley’s use of the nouns “human,” “monster,” and “creature” is not lucid enough to be clearly understood by the creature, he tries to seek sympathy from the other human characters as there are none others like him (Britton). Because the creature views himself as having a “gentle demeanour” and possessing “conciliating words,” characteristics of the cottagers who he lives near, he is confident that he will “win [the cottagers] favor, and afterwards their love” (Shelley 103). With the opportunity to find acceptance from the cottagers, the creature relies on his verbose language to hide his hideous countenance. De Lacey, who “cannot judge [his] countenance” as he is blind, finds “there is something in [his] words which persuades [him]” to offer his services to what he perceives to be a “human creature” (Shelley
At his inception, the creature speaks with “uncouth and inarticulate sounds” which “frightened [him] into silence” (Shelley 93). He is soon able to adopt a romanticized style of language through his observation of Saife’s, the eldest De Lacey’s fiance, language learning. This further causes the creature to “desperately seek but never find [the] ideal sympathetic companionship” (Britton) that he is yearning for. Since Shelley’s use of the nouns “human,” “monster,” and “creature” is not lucid enough to be clearly understood by the creature, he tries to seek sympathy from the other human characters as there are none others like him (Britton). Because the creature views himself as having a “gentle demeanour” and possessing “conciliating words,” characteristics of the cottagers who he lives near, he is confident that he will “win [the cottagers] favor, and afterwards their love” (Shelley 103). With the opportunity to find acceptance from the cottagers, the creature relies on his verbose language to hide his hideous countenance. De Lacey, who “cannot judge [his] countenance” as he is blind, finds “there is something in [his] words which persuades [him]” to offer his services to what he perceives to be a “human creature” (Shelley