What Is The Role Of Isolation In Frankenstein

The philosopher Thomas Carlyle once said “Isolation is the sum total of wretchedness to a man.”. Isolation is the cause of a person being separated or apart from others in society. In Mary Shelley’s novelbook, Frankenstein, isolation is confronted in different ways by different characters. Victor Frankenstein, the Creation and Robert Walton all suffered both the physical and emotional effects of isolation. While Robert Walton barely escapes the dangers of isolation, both Victor and the Creation die because of it. Throughout the novel, Mary Shelley repeatedly uses multiple characters to show that isolation when not averted, typically results in death.
Victor Frankenstein brought isolation upon himself in order to make his creation, and it ultimately led to his death. Victor Frankenstein chose to isolate himself in order to make his creation. Victor obsessed over the making of his creation for years, losing sight of the people that he cared about. This is shownshowed when Victor is attending the University of Ingolstadt, and said, “Two years passed in this manner, during which I paid no visit to Geneva, but was engaged, heart and soul, in the pursuit of some discoveries which I hoped to make” (Shelley 36-37). Victor told Walton that when he was making his creation for two years he never saw his family or his friends and that he put all his …show more content…
Even though Robert escapes, Victor and the Creation both die because of the physical and emotional effects of isolation. French novelist and poet, Jules Verne said, “Solitude and isolation are painful things and beyond human endurance." Robert, Victor and the Creation all experienced the type of isolation both Carlyle and Verne speak about. Isolation is the destructor of man and it cannot be handled by an ordinary human being. It is best to be avoided at any and all