Frankenstein- A plea for tolerance

Frankenstein on the surface may be but a simple horror story but transcending beyond such can be read at another level- that is a plea to be tolerant to the outcasts in society. Shelly’s parents were predominant political theorists, and thus it’s important to note the influence they had on Shelly's development and writing and more specifically; on Frankenstein. 

Throughout the text Shelly employs the Godwinian concept of a Tablu Rasa , a being who will have his psyche formed by his contacts with circumstance. For example despite the Monster appearing to be a "daemon" he initially entered the world as a very innocent naive being that was eroded away by the hostility he experienced. For example his behavior seemed to be noble, he looked after the Delacey family and used "extreme labor" to save a young girl from drowning. He goes on to "dream" about revealing himself to the delacey family and believing them to look past his "grotesque form" and this evidently shows his naivety and innocence. He is then rejected by the Delacey family, shot by the father of the young girl and so it is inevitable that his nobility of character gets eroded away. 

Despite Frankenstein portraying the "demonic corpse" as an essentially evil character throughout his own perspective the narration of the monster provides a gap in the readers perspective of the Creature compared to that of Frankenstein. While Frankenstein repeatedly calls him "wretch" "vile insect" and the like the narration of the creature makes it seem he is unworthy to be called such things as he is made evil because that is all he has been taught.  Even despite being rejected by Victor the monster doesn't instantly attack his creator in the second confrontation instead asking him to follow him and "hear my tale". The confrontation between creator and creation is used to illustrate the Monster lost his innocence as a result of his rejection from mankind, Frankenstein calls him “devil” and “vile instinct” and also attempts to physical attack him where the creature responds with forbearance;

“I expected this reception all men hate the wretched; my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature” making it seem despite everything the monster still wished to be accepted by someone.  After the creation narration of the events that befell him after Victor rejected him he goes on to say "i am malicious because i am miserable" and requests Victor to create him another as himself. This "moves" Victor especially after the Monster promises to stay away from mankind and live in "Africa" this helps to underline the concept of the tabla rasa in the novel. 

Shelley also makes it quite difficult to see who is the "Gothic villain" and who is "the Gothic protagonist". The Gothic protagonist for David Punter in "The Terror of Literature" is one who discerns great pleasure from the sublime, This is obvious in Victor as he feels "ecstasy" in viewing nature but the monster also takes pleasure in nature. This is evident in his narration as "the only object i could distinguish was the moon and i fixed on that with pleasure". However as the novel progresses and the monster is rejected by the Delacy families he is filled with a fiery rage and wished to "tear down trees and sit amid the ruin" this underlines how the morally neutral character gets eroded away and the monster's characterization turns into one of a more malicious nature. 

Therefore it becomes evident that the creature is made evil by his environment. This is further enforced as there are numerous references to "paradise lost" by Milton. This becomes key to the monster as he sees himself as Victor's "Adam" but instead descends into "a fallen angel" this is the most apt description of the monster. His initial actions do appear to be angelic as his uses his superhuman strength to good use but is rejected by society and turns into a devil, just like Satan in paradise lost. Due to the evidence of the creature’s intellect it’s evident that the creature could be “acculturated” but instead he is exiled.  Frankenstein is thus a book about the rejection of the strange at both a social and psychological level. Shelly in writing Frankenstein therefore launches an critique against society as the monster is rejected on the basis of aesthetic appearance, implying that if society was to reject anyone who simply looks differently we effectively create a "monster". Which therefore persuades the reader to think more kindly onto the outcasts of society simply because they look differently.