The Girls.
Every single female presented in Shelley's story is characterized a sort of source of happiness or at least a potential prospect of it. Additionally, the all seem to present themselves at the exact moment they are needed. Safie brings light into the heavy heart of Felix. At this point, Felix's spirit has been bogged down from the constant reminder of his family's poverty (and how he caused it). The creature remarks how expressions of happiness rarely cross his face anymore. Yet when Safie arrives, "Felix seemed ravished with delight...every trace of sorrow vanished from his face, and it instantly expressed a degree of ecstatic joy"(Shelley, 82) The women also tend to be the more light-hearted characters. The character of Elizabeth is somewhat vulnerable in that she does not believe anyone to be capable of any harm or wrongdoing. Even Mrs. Saville, Walton's sister, is at one point the only thing he has to hold on to when everything else seems to be going wrong. Caroline also brings strength to Mr. Frankenstein's character. For the creature, the expectation of having someone to confide in and understand him offers him a sense of calmness and possibly even joy, and the let down has even greater effects. Though the girls may be sideline characters, they are what keep the men in this novel functioning.
No comments:
Post a Comment