When thinking of love, Frankenstein is not a novel which immediately springs to mind. However, love, or rather the absence and fight for it, is in fact a prevalent theme within the novel, and was strongly influenced by the author's own passionate relationship with her husband, Percy Shelley. The monster longs for love, as Mary did. In the frozen Alpine wastelands, he demands that Victor create him a bride. Frankenstein, at first, refuses to make his creation a mate, fearful that they might breed, or unite and attack. However, with the fate of his remaining friends and family hanging in the balance at the monster's whim, he concedes, but eventually destroys the female.
Here we see an example of Frankenstein's monster being robbed of a chance of love, an event which happens continually throughout the novel. Due to his ugly appearance, he cannot have a relationship with another human, and thus cannot have children. He also has no friends, as most hate and fear him on sight. Additionally, when the monster’s expectation of acceptance and love from a family he has been watching is upset by their violent reaction to him, he represses his instinct to injure his attackers. This is because in that moment, despite being physically assaulted, the monster still feels love towards them. Victor Frankenstein, on the other hand, has every chance of love, with a large, close family and his affectionate fiancée, Elizabeth. The creature would also have loved him as a father, had he given him a chance. He throws each of these opportunities away, through his own foolishness, neglect, and mistreatment of his creation.
Frankenstein - Quotations
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