Mary Shelley Frankenstein Setting Analysis

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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein takes the reader on a journey around countries in Europe, and brings you as far as the Arctic. The story involves one man 's desire to use his passion and love of science to create a living organism. The reader follows along as Frankenstein deals with the emotional stress from playing the hand of God. Shelley’s choice of setting plays an important role in connecting the audience with the story on an emotional level helping them feel the fear, stress, anger and joy felt by characters in the novel. It becomes evident that the author’s knowledge and choice of setting is vital to the theme and tone of the story.
Throughout Frankenstein many different settings are introduced to the reader, most of the environments centered
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These different environments each individually play a role in painting a picture in the reader 's mind of a typical horror story. Mary Shelley begins the book during summer in Geneva which does a great job portraying how happy Frankenstein is. While Frankenstein attended the University of Ingolstadt, he loved the feeling of out-doing his peers, this is when he becomes very attached to his work, which brought him glee. But, when Frankenstein realizes he can create life, summer is coming to an end, foreshadowing the troublesome events that are about to take place. The majority of the events take place around the United Kingdom and throughout various European countries; all exhibiting similar, dark and dismal characteristics. The location of chapter five is a great example of how Shelley uses the setting to instill fear in the reader. The night Frankenstein created the Creature is described as a, “... dreary night of November...”. The author specifically chose Autumn to illustrate the cold, dull nights, because that generally symbolizes horror and fear. The reader is supposed to feel as though they are in danger, which would lead to their own imagination taking over, creating a sense of fear. This could also be foreshadowing negative and scary events that take place later in the

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