macbeth and frankenstein comparative essay

Macbeth & Frankenstein: Compare & Contrast Essay

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Introduction

Frankenstein’s monster & macbeth: supernatural qualities of the characters, works cited.

In 1818, Mary Shelley published her most famous novel – Frankenstein, which became incredibly popular, and which is often thought to have spawned the whole genre of Science Fiction in literature. It has been praised for its originality and appeals to wide audiences while at the same time having great artistic value.

On the other hand, Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare around the year 1605. Apart from their popularity and fame, at first glance, one would have trouble finding any similarities between the two works. Frankenstein is a science-fiction novel written in the Gothic tradition in the 19th century, while Macbeth is a classic play written in the Elizabethan period by William Shakespeare.

However, on a closer look, it is easy to see how these two works are very similar when it comes to the overall message and idea. This is particularly evident when we compare the character of Macbeth with that of Frankenstein’s monster in terms of their tragic flaws. The transformations that corrupted Frankenstein’s creature and Macbeth are both triggered by envy, making these two characters analogous.

First off, it is important to realize how Frankenstein’s monster and Macbeth were not corrupted from the beginning, but rather that the corruption was something that happened to them. The first impression the characters give is not that of someone who can easily become corrupted.

In the being of the play, we assume that Macbeth is akin to the king, a loyal soldier, and a person “full of the milk of human kindness.” We expect nothing evil from Macbeth until the witches approach him for the first time. His hunger for power increased after realizing that becoming a king is an open possibility. Frankenstein’s creature, on the other hand, used to be “kinder, more loving, and more poetic than his creator (Bissonette 110).

All that Frankenstein’s creature ever wanted was to be accepted by humans. He helped the family in the cottage to do the chores. He learned the language and the way in which humans interact so he could have a chance of acceptance. They both fell into evil because of their desire. Their tragic flaw was that their desire was stronger than their morals. Both of these characters started out as innocent beings but then turned into beasts.

A beast is depicted as a cruel, filthy, inhuman creature. Macbeth and Frankenstein are great examples of beasts. Macbeth shows no emotion towards the things that should matter to him. When Lady Macbeth committed suicide, Macbeth only uttered the following words, “She should have died hereafter; / there would have been a time for such a word.” (Shakespeare 5.5.18).

The realization that his wife is dead did not affect him on the emotional level. His killing spree caused him to become heartless and inhuman. Macbeth changed from a person “full of milk and human kindness” into a person for whom “death has no meaning (Waith 66)” Macbeth was willing to kill his friends and slaughter a whole family to get what he wants.

We can clearly see that Macbeth is really a symbol of a Machiavellian character in the world of literature when Eugene Waith (64) says, “His mental torments grows out of the conflict between the narrow concept of man as the courageous male and the more inclusive concept of man as a being whose moral nature distinguishes him from the beast” While Macbeth became a beast, Frankenstein’s creature really was a beast, at least in the physical sense. His physical appearance is nothing like the human body. As Kate Ellis puts it:

Had Victor not been so furtive about his desire to astound the world, he might have allowed himself time to make a creation his own size, one who mirrored the whole of him, not just the part of himself he cannot bring home. Nobody would accept him. He is just a beast in everyone’s eyes. Robert Walton could not recognize the sight he saw “a being that had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature” (Shelly 13)(Ellis)

However, when he saw Victor Frankenstein, he immediately recognized him as a human and pulled him aboard to help him. Frankenstein’s creature, similarly to Macbeth, became a beast on the inside, too. Frankenstein’s creature murdered everyone who mattered to Victor, and he did anything he could to get revenge on his creator.

These characters are good examples of beasts, but, again, they were not beasts from the start; it is rather that their personalities contained tragic flaws, which lead them to become ones. The difference, as I see it, is only in that Macbeth’s flaw was within himself, but Frankenstein’s creature became a beast out of the feeling of rejection and despair.

Both of these characters are creations for someone else’s benefit. Macbeth was happy with the power and the rank he already had, but people incited him to think differently. It all started when the weird sister told Macbeth of a prophecy of becoming king.

Without the weird sister, Macbeth would not have thought about killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth persuaded Macbeth to assassinate the king for her own benefits. The only way for her to gain power was to use Macbeth’s advancement and gain more power as he becomes more and more influential.

Things changed once the first murder happened. Macbeth became a new person, a person who can kill anyone that stands in his way, even friends and family. It is as Bernance Kliman says, “her [lady Macbeth’s] actual power over Macbeth, now that the murder has been committed is diminishing” (Kliman 73). This is because, after that, Macbeth’s ethical views change, and he himself becomes thirsty for blood and power.

Frankenstein’s creature is a creation of Victor Frankenstein for a reason, which is also, in a way, related to power. Victor Frankenstein created the creature for fame, fortune, and to be recognized as the father of a branch science. Victor Frankenstein is “trying to play God or usurp divine power in order to get fame” (Baldick 43). At the point when he succeeded in creating life, we become “confronted immediately by the displacement of God and woman from the acts of conception and birth” (Ellis).

The realization that humans are able to create life causes an immense feeling of power and self-sufficiency. Victor Frankenstein never thought about what the consequences of creating life would be. He rushed into it and did not even realize what his creation could be like until it actually came to life. “Victor doesn’t value the life he is to create so much as what the creation will give him (Lunsford 175)”.

If he had actually looked at what he was creating, instead of thinking only about the fame that the creation would give him, maybe he would have thought about it a little more. Once the creature came to life, he fled because the creature’s appearance was too monstrous and scary. “Victor’s worst sin is not the creation, but his refusal to take responsibility for it. It is as though God had withdrawn from his creation (Ellis)”.

It is true that knowledge is power and power corrupts, and Macbeth and Frankenstein’s creature are two pieces of evidence for that claim. Knowing that he can become a king caused Macbeth to become a monster. Knowing something that should not be learned corrupts the mind, “knowledge is shown to be double-edged, it has benefits and hazards.” Since Macbeth knows that becoming a king is not an impossible task, he starts to strive for it.

An example of this is when he says, “Stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires” (Shakespeare 1.4). Frankenstein’s creature, on the other hand, is quite different. If Victor Frankenstein had not had the knowledge or the motivation to create life, the monster would not have been made in the first place. Victor is an example of how having the wrong kind of knowledge can cause evil.

In other words, the knowledge itself is not valued neutral – there are simply facts about the world that are dangerous to know. Another way in which knowledge corrupted Frankenstein’s creature is the fact that he learned his true identity. Frankenstein’s creature believed that he resembles Adam in the sense that both of them have no knowledge. He realized that he is not like Adam and that he is more like Satan because Adam is a creation of God, and he ate the fruit of knowledge.

When he learned more about the lost paradise, he realized that he is very similar to Satan because Satan is a fallen angel. Realizing that he is not like one of the characters in Paradise Lost, lead him to conclude that he is a monster. This was when he decided to take revenge on Victor Frankenstein and kill everyone close to him. It is as Chris Baldick (54) says, “The condition of solitude cannot be cured, only sharpened, by knowledge.”

Both of these characters are victims of their own culture. The time setting of the story in Macbeth is in medieval times. During that time, status was the most important thing. Macbeth’s culture contributed to his desire for power and advancement through the ranks. Lady Macbeth urged Macbeth to kill Duncan and become a king because, at that time, people would do anything to rise in status and create a better future for themselves and their heirs.

Frankenstein’s creature is a victim of his culture, too. It is society that rejected him so he is, then, only a metaphor of a monster. Frankenstein’s creature is not really a monster. It is just that people see him as one. Frankenstein’s creature is actually a caring and loving person. He just needs to be accepted and not judged by his appearance.

The aspect of the supernatural is common to both characters. Macbeth caused supernatural occurrences when he killed Duncan. The play, as a whole, deals with the supernatural to a great extent.

The weird sisters cast spells, hover through the fog of filthy air, and even set a prophecy. Once Macbeth killed Duncan, everything just started to become supernatural. An example of this is when an owl killed a falcon, “A falcon, towering in her pride of place, was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed” (Shakespeare 2.4) and when horses started eating each other.

Another supernatural occurrence is when Macbeth is haunted by Banquo’s ghost and the scene when Macbeth sees the future kings. Frankenstein’s creature is, in a way, supernatural too because it is very disputable whether humans will ever become so knowledgeable as to create life. The creation of Frankenstein’s creature defies God and life. The creature is supernatural because he is made out of other people’s body parts.

Macbeth and Frankenstein’s monster are quite different, as well. Macbeth is more vicious and proud. Macbeth cold-bloodedly “cut [Duncan] from the nave to th’ chops, and fixed his head upon the battlement (Shakespeare 1.2.21)” Macbeth had no emotion. When Lady Macbeth died, he did not care and only said that she would have died anyway. Even though Macbeth knew he was going to die, he still fought till his death, “at least we will die with the harness on our back (Shakespeare 5.6.50).”

He knew his death is inevitable because the forest began to move, and he met someone that was not born of a woman – Macduff. Macbeth never regretted what he had done, but Frankenstein’s creature did. The creature is ashamed of the fact that he became a murderer. Unlike Macbeth, when Frankenstein’s creature noticed that Victor died, he was miserable and could not come to terms with what he had done. Victor Frankenstein was the only person that the creature could talk to and his only chance for acceptance.

Finally, there is one crucial difference that has to be mentioned, and that is the fact that Macbeth had a lot more control over his destiny and should, therefore, be thought of as responsible for his downfall much more than Frankenstein’s creature. In the case of Frankenstein’s creature, we can clearly identify several points at which other people determined his destiny.

The first point was when Victor created him without much consideration about the consequences. The second major point was when the family with which he spent time also rejected him for fear of being themselves rejected by the community. It is only after these two events took place that we could say that the creature should not have exerted such an act of terrible revenge upon his creator.

On the other hand, in the case of Macbeth, we did identify two external contributors to his downfall (his wife and the cultural setting), but it is clear that he was in a much better position than Frankenstein’s monster. What he simply needed to do was to reject any ideas of committing immoral acts for the sake of gaining power. Therefore, it is natural to conclude that more blame should be placed on Macbeth because he clearly had more of choice.

In conclusion, although it might appear that there is no basis for comparing Frankenstein’s creature and Macbeth, it seems that they are fundamentally similar in a number of ways, but they also have quite a few differences. I have pointed out that neither of them was corrupted from the start, and that corruption was rather something that happened to them.

In addition, it might be argued that the cause of their downfall was at least to an extent external to them, although this claim is much stronger in the case of Frankenstein’s monster. Furthermore, the search for knowledge and power also played an important role in the downfalls of both of them, the only difference being that in the case of the monster, the terrible consequences came as a result of somebody else’s search for knowledge.

The basic difference, which I would point out, is that it seems that Macbeth had more control over his destiny and thus had more responsibility for his downfall, while Frankenstein’s monster was, in fact, a result of a series of unfortunate events, and other people’s errors.

Baldick, Chris. In Frankenstein’s shadow: myth, monstrosity, and nineteenth-century writing. Oxford [Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press ; 1987. Print.

Bissonette, Melissa. “Teaching the Monster: Frankenstein and Critical Thinking.” College Literature 37 (2010): 106-120. Print.

Ellis, Kate. “Monsters in the Garden.” Frankenstein: The Pennsylvania Electronic Edition. N.p., n.d. Web. < http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Articles/ellis1.html >.

Kliman, Bernice W. Macbeth. Manchester: Manchester University Press ;, 1992. Print.

Lunsford, Lars. “The Devaluing of Life in Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN.” The Explicator 68 (2010): 174-176. Print.

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Print.

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Library, 1996. Print.

Waith, Eugene. “Manhood and Valor in Two Shakespearean Tragedies.” ELH: a Journal of English Literary History 17 (1950): 63-66. Print.

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Macbeth and Frankenstein: Characters Similarities and Differences

Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Marry Shelley’s Frankenstein were written in different periods. Macbeth’s goal is to become king by committing murder, while Frankenstein wants to create something ingenious and unique, something that will make him famous and push the boundaries of science. At first sight, it may seem there are few parallels between the two works. Despite this, the characters in both situations pursued a goal that may easily lead to compromise and disaster, namely, power. Denoting this, there are many similarities both characters share that make them both charismatic and robust figures.

The way the protagonists treat their loved ones, those they hold dear, is one of the most significant distinctions between the two novels. In the case of Frankenstein, he separates himself from his loved ones to develop the monster. Meanwhile, lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s beloved, was intimately involved in and even inspired some of his heinous acts.

In several aspects, the objectives of the ‘monsters’ in each narrative are remarkably similar. Macbeth’s quest in Shakespeare’s story was for power. His absolute passion and effort were focused on becoming and remaining king, which appears when he states, “Stars, conceal your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires” (Shakespeare, 1992). Although Macbeth had regarded authority in his kingdom, his taste, the power made him desire more.

Meanwhile, Frankenstein’s objective is simple – to gain control over death. This can be seen when he says, “I will leader a new way, explore unidentified powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of production” (Shelley, 1818). He succeeds in bringing life to an end, but he fails to consider the long-term ramifications of his deeds, resulting in far more death than life.

After examining these two texts more closely and comparing them, it can be seen that they have certain parallels and differences. The search for power is what both Macbeth and Frankenstein are on throughout the stories. However, the characters have different approaches to their loved ones. As a result, while “Macbeth” and “Frankenstein” have different missions and fatal defects, their treatment of their loved ones is vastly different.

Shakespeare, W. (1992). Macbeth. Wordsworth Editions.

Shelley, M. W. (1818). Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones.

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Frankenstein

Macbeth & Frankenstein: Compare & Contrast Essay

Introduction.

In 1818, Mary Shelley published her most famous novel – Frankenstein, which became incredibly popular, and which is often thought to have spawned the whole genre of Science Fiction in literature. It has been praised for its originality and appeals to wide audiences while at the same time having great artistic value.

On the other hand, Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare around the year 1605. Apart from their popularity and fame, at first glance, one would have trouble finding any similarities between the two works. Frankenstein is a science-fiction novel written in the Gothic tradition in the 19th century, while Macbeth is a classic play written in the Elizabethan period by William Shakespeare.

However, on a closer look, it is easy to see how these two works are very similar when it comes to the overall message and idea. This is particularly evident when we compare the character of Macbeth with that of Frankenstein’s monster in terms of their tragic flaws. The transformations that corrupted Frankenstein’s creature and Macbeth are both triggered by envy, making these two characters analogous.

Frankenstein’s Monster & Macbeth: Supernatural Qualities of the Characters

First off, it is important to realize how Frankenstein’s monster and Macbeth were not corrupted from the beginning, but rather that the corruption was something that happened to them. The first impression the characters give is not that of someone who can easily become corrupted.

In the being of the play, we assume that Macbeth is akin to the king, a loyal soldier, and a person “full of the milk of human kindness.” We expect nothing evil from Macbeth until the witches approach him for the first time. His hunger for power increased after realizing that becoming a king is an open possibility. Frankenstein’s creature, on the other hand, used to be “kinder, more loving, and more poetic than his creator (Bissonette 110).

All that Frankenstein’s creature ever wanted was to be accepted by humans. He helped the family in the cottage to do the chores. He learned the language and the way in which humans interact so he could have a chance of acceptance. They both fell into evil because of their desire. Their tragic flaw was that their desire was stronger than their morals. Both of these characters started out as innocent beings but then turned into beasts.

A beast is depicted as a cruel, filthy, inhuman creature. Macbeth and Frankenstein are great examples of beasts. Macbeth shows no emotion towards the things that should matter to him. When Lady Macbeth committed suicide, Macbeth only uttered the following words, “She should have died hereafter; / there would have been a time for such a word.” (Shakespeare 5.5.18).

The realization that his wife is dead did not affect him on the emotional level. His killing spree caused him to become heartless and inhuman. Macbeth changed from a person “full of milk and human kindness” into a person for whom “death has no meaning (Waith 66)” Macbeth was willing to kill his friends and slaughter a whole family to get what he wants.

We can clearly see that Macbeth is really a symbol of a Machiavellian character in the world of literature when Eugene Waith (64) says, “His mental torments grows out of the conflict between the narrow concept of man as the courageous male and the more inclusive concept of man as a being whose moral nature distinguishes him from the beast” While Macbeth became a beast, Frankenstein’s creature really was a beast, at least in the physical sense. His physical appearance is nothing like the human body. As Kate Ellis puts it:

Had Victor not been so furtive about his desire to astound the world, he might have allowed himself time to make a creation his own size, one who mirrored the whole of him, not just the part of himself he cannot bring home. Nobody would accept him. He is just a beast in everyone’s eyes. Robert Walton could not recognize the sight he saw “a being that had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature” (Shelly 13)(Ellis)

However, when he saw Victor Frankenstein, he immediately recognized him as a human and pulled him aboard to help him. Frankenstein’s creature, similarly to Macbeth, became a beast on the inside, too. Frankenstein’s creature murdered everyone who mattered to Victor, and he did anything he could to get revenge on his creator.

These characters are good examples of beasts, but, again, they were not beasts from the start; it is rather that their personalities contained tragic flaws, which lead them to become ones. The difference, as I see it, is only in that Macbeth’s flaw was within himself, but Frankenstein’s creature became a beast out of the feeling of rejection and despair.

Both of these characters are creations for someone else’s benefit. Macbeth was happy with the power and the rank he already had, but people incited him to think differently. It all started when the weird sister told Macbeth of a prophecy of becoming king.

Without the weird sister, Macbeth would not have thought about killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth persuaded Macbeth to assassinate the king for her own benefits. The only way for her to gain power was to use Macbeth’s advancement and gain more power as he becomes more and more influential.

Things changed once the first murder happened. Macbeth became a new person, a person who can kill anyone that stands in his way, even friends and family. It is as Bernance Kliman says, “her [lady Macbeth’s] actual power over Macbeth, now that the murder has been committed is diminishing” (Kliman 73). This is because, after that, Macbeth’s ethical views change, and he himself becomes thirsty for blood and power.

Frankenstein’s creature is a creation of Victor Frankenstein for a reason, which is also, in a way, related to power. Victor Frankenstein created the creature for fame, fortune, and to be recognized as the father of a branch science. Victor Frankenstein is “trying to play God or usurp divine power in order to get fame” (Baldick 43). At the point when he succeeded in creating life, we become “confronted immediately by the displacement of God and woman from the acts of conception and birth” (Ellis).

The realization that humans are able to create life causes an immense feeling of power and self-sufficiency. Victor Frankenstein never thought about what the consequences of creating life would be. He rushed into it and did not even realize what his creation could be like until it actually came to life. “Victor doesn’t value the life he is to create so much as what the creation will give him (Lunsford 175)”.

If he had actually looked at what he was creating, instead of thinking only about the fame that the creation would give him, maybe he would have thought about it a little more. Once the creature came to life, he fled because the creature’s appearance was too monstrous and scary. “Victor’s worst sin is not the creation, but his refusal to take responsibility for it. It is as though God had withdrawn from his creation (Ellis)”.

It is true that knowledge is power and power corrupts, and Macbeth and Frankenstein’s creature are two pieces of evidence for that claim. Knowing that he can become a king caused Macbeth to become a monster. Knowing something that should not be learned corrupts the mind, “knowledge is shown to be double-edged, it has benefits and hazards.” Since Macbeth knows that becoming a king is not an impossible task, he starts to strive for it.

An example of this is when he says, “Stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires” (Shakespeare 1.4). Frankenstein’s creature, on the other hand, is quite different. If Victor Frankenstein had not had the knowledge or the motivation to create life, the monster would not have been made in the first place. Victor is an example of how having the wrong kind of knowledge can cause evil.

In other words, the knowledge itself is not valued neutral – there are simply facts about the world that are dangerous to know. Another way in which knowledge corrupted Frankenstein’s creature is the fact that he learned his true identity. Frankenstein’s creature believed that he resembles Adam in the sense that both of them have no knowledge. He realized that he is not like Adam and that he is more like Satan because Adam is a creation of God, and he ate the fruit of knowledge.

When he learned more about the lost paradise, he realized that he is very similar to Satan because Satan is a fallen angel. Realizing that he is not like one of the characters in Paradise Lost, lead him to conclude that he is a monster. This was when he decided to take revenge on Victor Frankenstein and kill everyone close to him. It is as Chris Baldick (54) says, “The condition of solitude cannot be cured, only sharpened, by knowledge.”

Both of these characters are victims of their own culture. The time setting of the story in Macbeth is in medieval times. During that time, status was the most important thing. Macbeth’s culture contributed to his desire for power and advancement through the ranks. Lady Macbeth urged Macbeth to kill Duncan and become a king because, at that time, people would do anything to rise in status and create a better future for themselves and their heirs.

Frankenstein’s creature is a victim of his culture, too. It is society that rejected him so he is, then, only a metaphor of a monster. Frankenstein’s creature is not really a monster. It is just that people see him as one. Frankenstein’s creature is actually a caring and loving person. He just needs to be accepted and not judged by his appearance.

The aspect of the supernatural is common to both characters. Macbeth caused supernatural occurrences when he killed Duncan. The play, as a whole, deals with the supernatural to a great extent.

The weird sisters cast spells, hover through the fog of filthy air, and even set a prophecy. Once Macbeth killed Duncan, everything just started to become supernatural. An example of this is when an owl killed a falcon, “A falcon, towering in her pride of place, was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed” (Shakespeare 2.4) and when horses started eating each other.

Another supernatural occurrence is when Macbeth is haunted by Banquo’s ghost and the scene when Macbeth sees the future kings. Frankenstein’s creature is, in a way, supernatural too because it is very disputable whether humans will ever become so knowledgeable as to create life. The creation of Frankenstein’s creature defies God and life. The creature is supernatural because he is made out of other people’s body parts.

Macbeth and Frankenstein’s monster are quite different, as well. Macbeth is more vicious and proud. Macbeth cold-bloodedly “cut [Duncan] from the nave to th’ chops, and fixed his head upon the battlement (Shakespeare 1.2.21)” Macbeth had no emotion. When Lady Macbeth died, he did not care and only said that she would have died anyway. Even though Macbeth knew he was going to die, he still fought till his death, “at least we will die with the harness on our back (Shakespeare 5.6.50).”

He knew his death is inevitable because the forest began to move, and he met someone that was not born of a woman – Macduff. Macbeth never regretted what he had done, but Frankenstein’s creature did. The creature is ashamed of the fact that he became a murderer. Unlike Macbeth, when Frankenstein’s creature noticed that Victor died, he was miserable and could not come to terms with what he had done. Victor Frankenstein was the only person that the creature could talk to and his only chance for acceptance.

Finally, there is one crucial difference that has to be mentioned, and that is the fact that Macbeth had a lot more control over his destiny and should, therefore, be thought of as responsible for his downfall much more than Frankenstein’s creature. In the case of Frankenstein’s creature, we can clearly identify several points at which other people determined his destiny.

The first point was when Victor created him without much consideration about the consequences. The second major point was when the family with which he spent time also rejected him for fear of being themselves rejected by the community. It is only after these two events took place that we could say that the creature should not have exerted such an act of terrible revenge upon his creator.

On the other hand, in the case of Macbeth, we did identify two external contributors to his downfall (his wife and the cultural setting), but it is clear that he was in a much better position than Frankenstein’s monster. What he simply needed to do was to reject any ideas of committing immoral acts for the sake of gaining power. Therefore, it is natural to conclude that more blame should be placed on Macbeth because he clearly had more of choice.

In conclusion, although it might appear that there is no basis for comparing Frankenstein’s creature and Macbeth, it seems that they are fundamentally similar in a number of ways, but they also have quite a few differences. I have pointed out that neither of them was corrupted from the start, and that corruption was rather something that happened to them.

In addition, it might be argued that the cause of their downfall was at least to an extent external to them, although this claim is much stronger in the case of Frankenstein’s monster. Furthermore, the search for knowledge and power also played an important role in the downfalls of both of them, the only difference being that in the case of the monster, the terrible consequences came as a result of somebody else’s search for knowledge.

The basic difference, which I would point out, is that it seems that Macbeth had more control over his destiny and thus had more responsibility for his downfall, while Frankenstein’s monster was, in fact, a result of a series of unfortunate events, and other people’s errors.

Works Cited

Baldick, Chris. In Frankenstein’s shadow: myth, monstrosity, and nineteenth-century writing. Oxford [Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press ; 1987. Print.

Bissonette, Melissa. “Teaching the Monster: Frankenstein and Critical Thinking.” College Literature 37 (2010): 106-120. Print.

Ellis, Kate. “Monsters in the Garden.” Frankenstein: The Pennsylvania Electronic Edition. N.p., n.d. Web. < http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Articles/ellis1.html >.

Kliman, Bernice W. Macbeth. Manchester: Manchester University Press ;, 1992. Print.

Lunsford, Lars. “The Devaluing of Life in Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN.” The Explicator 68 (2010): 174-176. Print.

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Print.

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Library, 1996. Print.

Waith, Eugene. “Manhood and Valor in Two Shakespearean Tragedies.” ELH: a Journal of English Literary History 17 (1950): 63-66. Print.

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by William Shakespeare

Macbeth comparitive essay example sheet

by Sigrid Miller

• Released February 12, 2019

Grade Levels

This is an outline of how to create a comparative essay for Macbeth vs. a ruler in history that ruled with fear or death. It is aimed toward a more remedial/struggling student to help him/her understand what the assignment is asking and how to set up this paper.

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Compare the ways in which Macbeth and Frankenstein are presented as flawed heroes.

Neither Macbeth or Frankenstein are monsters, in fact at the start of their stories (in a time sense) both show acts of courage and loyalty, this however is destroyed by their vaulting ambitions. Frankenstein is keen to have power over nature, and conquer death by creating life however he creates a monster that should not live, this then destroys his loved ones and eventually Frankenstein. Macbeth also has a huge ambition and moves from a trustworthy valiant warrior to a murderer full of deceit who destroys every threat to become king and remain king. Macbeth by Shakespeare conforms to many of Aristotle’s characteristics of a tragic hero, where the hero starts heroic but has a major flaw which destroys him. Whereas Frankenstein is created on the back of fears to Galvanism in the 19 th  century and the main character is the representative of the scientists.

The structure of Frankenstein makes it evident that his tale will be a cautionary one as he retells the story of his misguided mission. Frankenstein can be viewed as a flawed character from the start as he is seen through Walton’s eyes as a destroyed being which is emphasized when compared to the monster. Walton describes Frankenstein on “the brink of destruction”, and describes how he “never saw a man in so wretched a condition.” This in comparison to the monster who Frankenstein is meant to be chasing is shocking, “gigantic structure” who was making “rapid progress”. From the start of the book we know that the hero Frankenstein will slowly be destroyed by his own creation, while the monster will stay strong. However although Walton sees him shattered in both body and mind he views Frankenstein as “a noble creature” much like Macbeth at the start of the book is seen as a “worthy gentlemen” and “noble Macbeth”. However the contrast between the two figures at the start is huge while Macbeth was in his prime Frankenstein had seen “better days”. Shakespeare has delayed Macbeth’s entrance to establish him through other people’s eyes as a military hero who seems entirely trust worthy and a military hero. Duncan describes Macbeth as a “valiant cousin” and gave Macbeth a “smack of honour” and tributes him by giving him the title of “Thane of Cawdor”. This makes Macbeth seem completely loyal to the king and makes his betrayal seem worse as the King had honoured Macbeth and trusted him.

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Both Frankenstein and Macbeth have idealistic ambitions which although they succeeded in lead to their downfall. Frankenstein has an ambition to have power over nature, over life and death, to create a living being from lifeless material, a super hero of the humans, who is not only bigger and stronger than the rest but also the most beautiful. Frankenstein had “selected his features as beautiful” with “luxurious black hair” and “pearly white teeth”, however this made the monster seem all the worse “a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes”. The eyes are meant to be the soul of a person, so Mary Shelley might have made the monster soulless to show that Frankenstein had not really created life just something that can move and think. Both Macbeth and Frankenstein’s flaws become evident very quickly Frankenstein has an obsessive nature right from the start to learn knowledge pouring over the books of “Cornelius Agrippa” and other ancient scientists, even as a boy he had a “fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature”. Shakespeare was also very quick to identify Macbeth’s flaw as he immediately realises after the witches prophecy that murdering Duncan is the fastest way to the throne within the same scene “murder yet is but fantastical”. Although the murder to Macbeth seems “fantastical” at the start within another 67 lines he is actively plotting the murder.

Macbeth is much more self aware in his wrong doing and evilness while Frankenstein is so absorbed in his creation that he fails to see his flaw. Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 2 scene 1 lines 33-61 show that he is not comfortable in murdering Duncan when he speaks of his “vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself” but cannot resist the attraction of becoming King. Frankenstein on the other hand was completely taken over by his ambition and would go to any length to get it, “Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil” but even more alarming “had lost all soul or sensation for this one pursuit” in a “passing trance”. This makes Frankenstein seem less evil as he seemed to have no choice of what he was doing because of the “frantic impulse that urged” him forward. Frankenstein tries to make up for his mistake by trying to first negotiate with the monster, and finally to try to kill the monster, “I sware… to pursue the daemon until he or I shall perish in mortal conflict.”  Whereas Macbeth after the murder of Duncan consciously chose to keep murdering “I am in blood Stepped in so far… Returning were as tedious as go o’er”. Macbeth did not try to make up for his flaw but just try and rid it by killing so much eventually he would free himself of the horrors he had done.

Shelley uses gothic and almost God-like imagery similarly Shakespeare uses the contrast between light and dark, both to emphasize the unnatural and horrific actions of the heroes. Frankenstein thinks that by creating life he will “pour a torrent of light into our dark world” this God-like imagery enhanced by “A new species would bless me as its creator” shows Frankenstein’s naivety and arrogance. However Frankenstein goes to “unhallowed damps of the grave” and “charnel-houses” in a “solitary chamber... separated from all other apartments”. These idea of “Unhallowed” completely contrast Frankenstein’s idea of being holy and God-like. Shelley uses gothic ideas to increase a sense of wickedness and abnormality to the creation these include isolation Frankenstein living in “solitary” and the monster was created in “a dreary night of November” not in the spring which is usually associated with new life but in the autumn which is associated with death and decay. Frankenstein’s toils have many associations with darkness again a gothic idea in his “midnight labours” with the “candle almost burnt out”. Macbeth is also full off dark images contrasting them with light to show Macbeth slowly becoming more evil. At the start of the play Duncan describes Macbeth “like stars, shall shine” this image of Macbeth and light is responded to by Macbeth a few lines later saying “Let not the light see my black and deep desires”. As the play goes on darkness becomes increasingly attached to Macbeth especially before commiting murder, he calls the “seeling night” to “Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day”. The darkness shows that Macbeth has entered a world of horror and nightmare, and as the darkness increases around Macbeth it shows him slowly becoming more and more evil until finally he is driven insane.

Both Macbeth and Frankenstein are presented as flawed heroes, with both noble at the start however both destroyed by their one major fault. Macbeth especially started off as very noble with his delayed entrance creating a sense of ore before he entered the stage. He was described with associations to light at the start of the play however as the play went on there were more connotations of darkness as he became more immoral. From the start Frankenstein life was always a cautionary tale as the book started off with Frankenstein almost destroyed, so throughout the book his acts of nobleness seemed lesser. Again in Frankenstein there were associations with light and darkness, the light often God-like was Frankenstein’s ambition however the darkness was what actually occurred. Both Frankenstein and Macbeth’s flaws was their ambition, Macbeth however was much more self-aware of his ambition and the effects of it however he could not resist it. A big difference between Frankenstein and Macbeth was the treatment of the lovers, Lady Macbeth was very behind Macbeth’s ambition, whereas Elizabeth was not at all behind Frankenstein. This may explain the difference in response between the two heroes, Frankenstein tried to put make up for his mistake, whereas Macbeth accepted in and continued in his evil ways.  

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A Comparison of Macbeth, a Play by William Shakespeare and Frankenstein, a Novel by Mary Shelley

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Comparing Frankenstein 'And Macbeth' By Mary Shelley

Good morning esteemed members of the Australian curriculum, assessment and reporting authority, it is my great pleasure today to be speaking here on why the study of the canon in English should be extended beyond the flawed classic canon. Traditionally, a canon is a series of texts which are said to be texts of “greatest value” and typically consists of text written by dead, white, European males. By simply acknowledging this, there is no doubt that texts written by such a narrow criteria of authors would inspire great prejudice and bias. Through comparisons of the classic play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, and the modern novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, it will be highlighted that although both texts are unarguably great sources for education, through their representations of universal themes, human dilemma, and their appeal to future readers, “Frankenstein” is an equal, or superior text which should undoubtedly be included in the classic canon. In our modern society of digital technology, it is …show more content…

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Elizabeth And Frankenstein Comparison

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Macbeth Compare And Contrast

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Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play of recognized literary merit who might on the basis of the character’s actions alone be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary. I. Introduction: A. In Mary Shelly’s novel, Frankenstein, the reader is tasked with answering the central question of who is the truest evil.

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More about Comparing Frankenstein 'And Macbeth' By Mary Shelley

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Macbeth And Frankenstein Comparison

This sample essay on Macbeth And Frankenstein Comparison provides important aspects of the issue and arguments for and against as well as the needed facts. Read on this essay’s introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.

Michelle Cardwell English Literature – Understanding Literature Compare & Contrast the use of ‘horror’ in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein The gothic horror genre is a favourite for many readers. We love the suspense and mystery, the desperation, the doom and gloom, the claustrophobia, even the blood.

But most of all we love the fear – the feeling we get that gives us pathos with the protagonist that keeps us on the edge of our seats and propels us to turn the page. How do Shelley and Shakespeare provoke our reactions when reading Macbeth (Shakepeare,1606) and Frankenstein (Shelley, 1818)?

When comparing and contrasting the two texts an awareness of the different formats is necessary: Macbeth is a play and Frankenstein a novel written in the epistolary format.

In a novel the use of descriptive language, often including metaphor “her hair was the brightest living gold” (Ch I, pg 35) or simile “one vast hand was extended , in colour and apparent texture like that of a mummy” (Ch 24, pg 204) enables the reader to visualise the scene. When Victor Frankenstein is describing the monsters ‘birth’ he tells us: it was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out” (Chapter V, pg 59) In a play, the scene will be set by a director.

Proficient in: Fiction

“ Ok, let me say I’m extremely satisfy with the result while it was a last minute thing. I really enjoy the effort put in. ”

We take clues from the dialect regarding environment, “so foul and fair a day I have not seen” (I, 3, 36), we know the battle is won so foul must refer to the weather. Thoughts are conveyed through asides “Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor: The greatest is behind” (I, 3,115-116), Macbeth has thoughts which he cannot share with Banquo, but Shakespeare needs to make the point that the seed is planted.

Theme Comparison Essay

Another contrast between the two works is the date; In Elizabethan times the genre of horror was not referred to. The works of authors such as Shakespeare, Sackville, and Webster were referred to as ‘Tragedies’ although they had many gothic elements. They were based on history, mainly Greek mythology – interesting to note as Shelley’s novel is based on the tale of Prometheus, the titan who was challenged by Zeus to form a man from clay, (Theoi Greek Mythology, 2010). The main ingredient of the gothic novel is the atmosphere of mystery and suspense. Shelley and Shakespeare use similar techniques to create this atmosphere.

Shelley, writing in an age of discovery, uses the fear of the unknown; whereas Shakespeare bases Macbeth on the fear of the supernatural. Frankenstein was written in a time when scientists were going crazy in the quest to find answers to everything – the concept of a mad scientist would not be so unbelievable. In the mid 1700’s Franklin discovered that lightening was electrical, Volta invented the battery in 1800 and in 1818 Blundell performed the first human blood transfusion (Bone, 2007) – three relevant discoveries that demonstrate the novels appeal.

When Shakespeare wrote Macbeth human thinking was very different to today; every misfortune was blamed on supernatural forces, hence the popularity of superstition. There are many elements of superstition in Macbeth, including the owl, the raven and of course numerous references to the power of three – three witches, three prophecies and the use of “thrice” in the witches incantations: “ thrice to thine, and thrice to mine, and thrice again, to make up nine” (I, 3, 33-34). Shelley builds a fear of the unknown through vagueness in several parts of the story.

When Walton describes his first encounter with the monster, “We perceived a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the North, but at the distance of half a mile: a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the sledge, and guided the dogs. We watched the rapid progress of the traveller with our telescopes, until he was lost among the distant inequalities of the ice” (Letter IV, pg 26) No explanation is given about where he came from or how he got there herefore we are forced to look at the implicitness of this inclusion. Walton then changes subject making the previous subject seem indifferent, however the reader is left wondering what unnatural event has been foreshadowed. In chapter four Victor tells Walton of his obsessive behaviour but will not divulge his secret, leaving the reader in as much suspense as Victor’s audience. “I see by your eagerness, and the wonder and hope which your eyes express, my friend, that you expect to be informed of the secret with which I am acquainted; that cannot be” (Ch 4, pg 54)

Like Shakespeare, Shelley uses elements of supernatural forces, the monster seems to appear from nowhere at various stages – always foreshadowing tragedy, much the same way as the witches do in Macbeth. She is keen to inform us that, unlike the characters in Macbeth, Victor is not affected by superstition, “I do not ever remember to have trembled at a tale of superstition, or to have feared the apparition of a spirit” (Ch 4, pg 53). This is a complete contrast to the eponymous hero in Shakespeare’s play. Macbeth is traumatised by the appearance of several apparitions including that of Banquo’s ghost: thou canst not say I did it; never shake thy gory locks at me! ” (III, 4, 50-51). Although Shakespeare’s play is predominantly supernatural, Shelly focuses on the unnatural rather than supernatural. The very ‘birth’ of the monster is unnatural, but the same can be said of Macbeth, being born by caesarean section. Macbeth’s creation is completely natural and within Gods laws, in Shelley’s novel Victor is playing the role of God by creating a living being that is not conceived and nurtured in the womb. The monster although designed by Victor to be “beautiful” (Ch 5, pg 59) is actually quite the opposite: his yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriance’s only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight, black lips. ”(Ch 5, pg 59) The imagery the reader conjures up is of a horrid, hideous zombie-like creature. The witches in Macbeth are also described as unnatural; What are these, so wither’d and wild in their attire,That they look not like th’inhabitants o’th’earthAnd yet are on’t? Live you, or are you aughtThat man may question? ” (I, 3, 37- 41) What both works definitely have in common is the element of madness brought on by ambition. However the subject of the ambition is a huge contrast; Frankenstein wishes to create a life, while Macbeth wishes to destroy a life. The reasoning for both is the same; they believe they are acting for the good of mankind; Macbeth believes that if the witches have proclaimed it then it must be so; the king’s murder is a necessity.

Macbeth is an ambitious man who on hearing the witches prophecy, seeks the opinion of his wife and takes advantage of her ruthfulness. However after the murder, Macbeth becomes indifferent to his wife’s and determines to hold on to his greatness. He murders anyone who stands in his way, including children. Throughout the play hallucinations and apparitions haunt Macbeth, and we get a sense that his lack of sleep and his conscience are sending him mad. In Frankenstein, Victor is driven by his ambition to “banish disease from the human frame, and render man invulnerable to any but violent death! (Ch 2, pg 41). He becomes obsessed with his quest and like Macbeth his sleep suffers: “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health” (Ch 5, pg59) The main difference here is Frankenstein loses sleep prior to the event due to his obsession to reach his goal; Macbeth loses sleep after the event as a result of his conscience and paranoia: “sleep no more, Macbeth does murder sleep’, the innocent sleep” (II, 2, 38-39). Both works use many elements of gothic horror within their texts.

Shelley’s Frankenstein also meets the criteria of the science fiction novel through its focus on fear of the unknown. Both have elements of stormy weather, settings within castles and macabre, explicit descriptions. The use of extreme emotion is apparent in both, with both Lady Macbeth and Victor fainting at crucial moments. Both protagonists attempt to play God, Frankenstein even acknowledges this, “A new species would bless me as its creator” (Ch 4, pg 54). The tragic hero is evident in both works – both built up then brought down by a tragic flaw, their obsessive ambition.

The tragic irony is that both can only be redeemed by their own deaths. Both works are didactic pieces, intended to make the reader take haste when pursuing unrealistic ambitions, as Walton does and abandons his quest. The moral of both stories is a classic basis for the gothic horror: “El suano del la razon produce montruos” – Francisco Goya 1797(The sleep of reason produces monsters) Bibliography Bone, M. 2007. Timeline of Scientific Discoveries. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. wattpad. com/22971-timeline-of-scientific-discoveries. tml. [Accessed 23 February 11]. Goya F, 1797. The Artchive. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. artchive. com/artchive/G/goya/goya_sleep_of_reason. jpg. html. [Accessed 20 February 11]. Shakespeare, W 2009 [1606]. Macbeth: Oxford School Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, UK. Shelley, M 2001[1818]. Frankenstein (Cliffs Complete).. Cliffs Notes. Wiley. New Jersey Theoi Greek Mythology. 2010. Prometheus: Greek Titan. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. theoi. com/Titan/TitanPrometheus. html. [Accessed 20 February 11].

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Frankenstein And Macbeth Comparison

Show More An evil lives within us all, just waiting to emerge. In the books Frankenstein and Macbeth, the two main characters begin and end the story as two completely different people, drastically changed by their actions and surroundings. Ignorance and knowledge being two recurring themes in the book Frankenstein and the play Macbeth, the two themes are polar opposites, yet work well together when comparing and contrasting these two readings. Both Macbeth and Frankenstein suffer from either an abundance, or lack thereof, of knowledge; the epitome of their downfall throughout the storylines. Both characters are monstrous in their own ways, while at the same time being drastically different. In both stories, the main characters’ hunger for …show more content… In the beginning, Macbeth has doubts about going through with his murderous plans, but eventually ignores his apprehensions. He completely transforms into a dishonorable, inhuman, and monstrous character almost immediately after that. He starts to find his best friend since childhood, Banquo, a threat to his power, and sends to have him murdered. He views Banquo from “such bloody distance that every minute of his being thrusts against my near’st of life... (To leave no rubs nor botches in the work) Fleance, his son, that keeps him company, whose a sense is no less material to me than of his father’s, must embrace the fate of that dark hour... It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul’s flight, if it find Heaven, must find it out tonight” (Act 3, page 90). The thought of Macbeth actually murdering his best friend, who's been there with him through it all, is unfathomable. There is; however, the slightest trace of his old self in this action, because he sends people to do it for him; he couldn't stand the thought of murdering his best friend with his own hands. **quote #2** While Macbeth continues to fall throughout the play, Frankenstein, conversely, seems to rise above his mistakes. Although he was repressed by ignorance and irresponsibility, he learns from his mistakes, and attempts to better himself and those around him, rather than giving up completely, and continue to fall into despair. He advises the reader to, “learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspired to become greater than his nature will allow” (2). Frankenstein admits that he wishes he'd never had the knowledge to create something that

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macbeth and frankenstein comparassive essay

Similarities and differences between Frankenstein and Macbeth The stories of “Macbeth” and Frankenstein are two texts depicting the life and tragic flaws of the two main characters, which bring them to an eventual downfall. Despite the different time periods that they were written in, both of the stories contain a dark and supernatural atmosphere that evokes feelings of terror in readers. “Macbeth” and Frankenstein share similar quests and tragic flaws. Macbeth was a ‘noble’ warrior who over ambitious which led to serious consequences. He also is highly influenced by those around him and eventually becomes a monster himself. Frankenstein is a knowledge hungry man who lusts for any new information in the world of sciences. Both characters …show more content…

In his narrative in chapter 4, Frankenstein comes to the realisation that one of his major flaws is the development of his plan that finally destroys him. Frankenstein calls his plan ‘birth of that passion’. The use of the word ‘birth’ suggests that the ‘passion’ is natural as birth is a part of nature, this shows that at the beginning Frankenstein thought that his plan to create life was natural and good. However it also connotes life and growth, which implies that the ‘passion’ started off small but grew and developed into something else with its own personality and mind. This links to Frankenstein finally accepting that he went against the power of nature, but he recognised that nature will always prevail. In the quotation ‘It became the torrent, which in its course, has swept away all my hopes and joys’ the use of the word ‘torrent’ suggests a current of a river, which is ultimately his destiny, which he is getting dragged along by. ‘Swept away’ implies that things are being taken away from Frankenstein like his loved ones, which were his life. This parallels to the way that the monster destroys Frankenstein’s life. Also another flaw of Frankenstein is the unnatural deed he commits, and the consequences of him not taking responsibility. In Chapter 5, Mary Shelley uses hyperbole in describing Victor’s reaction to the monster’s coming to life. For example, at the moment of the Monster’s ‘birth’, Victor describes this event as a “catastrophe.” The

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The Danger of Knowledge (Comparative essay Frankenstein vs Macbeth

In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth and Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein it can be said that both protagonists come to an unfortunate end. What leads to Macbeth and Frankenstein’s premature demise? Victor Frankenstein and Macbeth both demonstrate that acquisition of knowledge is dangerous and to seek it for the purpose of power leads to destruction of life. Macbeth’s and Frankenstein’s knowledge leads to overwhelming ambition, to immoral decisions and the destruction of their reality.

Macbeth And Victor Frankenstein Responsible For Their Own Downfalls

Both Frankenstein and the Tragedy Of Macbeth are pieces of literature with very similar protagonists, whose downfalls are widely considered to be brought about by nobody but themselves. They have determination and chance of greatness, with a selfish side that shows till their end. Despite their selfish similarities and moments of madness, they were written both at very different times, by very different authors. One, a respected male playwright pandering to the monarch of the time, and the other a young female writer with a Gothic horror début that presents the fate of those gripped with excessive ambition. The texts use the usual

Compare And Contrast Frankenstein

I can compare Frankenstein to the movie I saw by Tim Burton, Frankenweenie. They are similar but instead of a human body, it was a dog and the mad scientist was a young boy named Victor Frankenstein. The young Victor Frankenstein brings his dog back to life after being hit by a car for a science fair project while the real Victor Frankenstein wanted to create a real life human. Just like the real Frankenstein monster, the dog brings trouble. In the book, the mad scientist, denies the monster but in Frankenweenie, the young boy convinces his family and friends to like his creation. Some of his classmates had known the young Victor Frankenstein creation and was intrigued to do the same experiment like his but it went out of the standards of

Frankenstein Compare/Contrast Essay

The novel Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley in 1818. This gothic romance novel tells the story of a philosopher who discovered how to create life, without the full knowledge that his actions could cause grave consequences. Universal Studios made the film version of this novel in 1931. Unfortunately, the film version of Frankenstein has more differences than similarities to the novel. In the novel, Victor’s mental obsession seems to be more severe than in the film. The character of Victor Frankenstein was portrayed in both the novel and the film as a veriphobe, or one who is afraid of the truth, in this case, the truth of his actions. He

Comparing Macbeth And Great Expectations

There are more than enough examples from Macbeth and Great Expectations to prove that “subversion of gender roles,” a term that describes someone acting in a way that is not expected from those of their said gender, is evident in both writing pieces. There are a number of connections between the women of the play and novel; this can be seen in their stern, powerful and leader-like and always changing personalities that a number of female characters share. For instance, Miss Havisham’s burning hatred for men that she implemented into Estella 's mind, to Lady Macbeth’s level of ambition to have her husband become king. Others include similarities in levels of knowledge, even though they were considered “commoners” on a part of the social ladder where a lack of knowledge is expected, and examples of how they use their high levels of knowledge to their advantage. This can also be considered evidence of subversion of gender roles; women at the time were not expected to be knowledgeable by society as they are now. Other connections would be based on the topic of visual appearance overall, with connections to how they portray themselves to other characters and the reader throughout. The women of these two works show an exceptionable amount of power, control and capability of holding a family together a number of times throughout the novel and the play. A leading factor in this is their personalities- they spoke their mind, and were not afraid of the consequences. which happen to be

Frankenstein and Macbeth Comparative Essay

Power as a corrupting force has been present from the beginning of time and is often revealed in many works of literature. In the novel Frankenstein by Marry Shelly and Macbeth by William Shakespeare, corruption of power is well brought forth in the characters in both texts. In both stories, characters reveal power as a corrupting force through their thirst of knowledge. Characters also reveal power as a corrupting force through character change. In addition, the character’s action justify how corrupted they really are. Therefore, power corrupts the individuals because of character’s extreme ambition which leads to

Compare & Contrast the Theme of Horror in Frankenstein and Macbeth

The gothic horror genre is a favourite for many readers. We love the suspense and mystery, the desperation, the doom and gloom, the claustrophobia, even the blood. But most of all we love the fear - the feeling we get that gives us pathos with the protagonist that keeps us on the edge of our seats and propels us to turn the page. How do Shelley and Shakespeare provoke our reactions when reading Macbeth (Shakepeare,1606) and Frankenstein (Shelley, 1818)? When comparing and contrasting the two texts an awareness of the different formats is necessary: Macbeth is a play and

Betrayal In Frankenstein Essay

Frankenstein’s creation was lost in the world with no one who could have understood him . It felt sorrowful and unfulfilled emotions as seen in this quote. Betrayal by Victor leaves a large impact the monster carried, which, turned into a monster full of hate and dissatisfaction. Victor’s creation was not a monster , but new born baby in a grown horrific body that was not to be called his own . It becomes a monster both mentally and physically, who will be feared by all . Victor not giving him the love he needed gets the monster enraged, which leads the monster to cause series of events that affects Victor unforgivably. .

Victor Frankenstein Thirst for Knowledge

The idea of pursuing knowledge clouded Victor’s mind and when his creature is born he is shocked to discover that what he has created is far off his own expectations. Not only did the monster destroy his expectations of developing a creature that went beyond human knowledge, but it also affected his life, dignity, and fears. Victor himself admits to his own mistake when he says, “The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature...but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless honor and disgust filled my heart ” (36). Victor Frankenstein realizes what his obsession with pursuing an extensive amount of knowledge has brought him. His destiny to achieve the impossible with no regard for anyone or anything but himself shows that he is blinded by knowledge when creating the monster and is incapable to foresee the outcome of his creation. Victor’s goal was meant to improve and help humanity, but instead it leads to

Biographical Summary On Frankenstein

Frankenstein is a story full of questions and excitement. What is interesting about Shelley’s novel is the absence of God and multiple female characters. She ignores the proper way of conception and birth. Due to this, the science of what Victor accomplished had gone awry. His goal while creating the monster was a perfect race in which they would help mankind, “even though the dream of the new race is...exploded” in the end (Levine 12). Victor Frankenstein

The Evil Of The Monster By Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein

In Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster commits a number of immoral acts out of rage. These actions are directly related to the monsters creation and upbringing. The burden of fault for the monsters actions rests on Victor Frankenstein’s shoulders alone.

Macbeth Compare And Contrast Essay

Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, is about supernatural forces convincing a thane to do abnormal tasks which could get him the title of king. Set in the 11th century, Scotland, the protagonist Macbeth meets some witches who tell him a prophecy, and being the kind of person he is, Macbeth takes it very literally, causing him to kill anyone who gets in his way. As this play is one of Shakespeare’s most famous scripts, several reproductions have been made. One of the main ones is the 2015 film, Macbeth, directed by Justin Kurzel. Although the film follows the same story line as the play, some noticeable scenes are done very differently.

Macbeth And Hamlet Comparison Essay

In some cases, an author will present the same idea in more than one way in order for various types of thinkers to comprehend their work. When analyzing William Shakespeare's’ “Macbeth” and “Hamlet” Shakespeare uses different literary devices to provide his opinion on the same subject. In the tragedy of “Macbeth” the protagonist strives to fulfill a prophecy spoken to him by three witches who plot on his downfall. His greed and paranoia leads to his loss of grace and ultimately his death.The tragedy of “Hamlet” focuses on a young man who in his attempts to avenge his father, constantly contemplates life and becomes obsessed with the idea of death until he leads himself right to his own death. These two stories have contrasting aspects, yet they share the same subject: death. In “Macbeth” and “Hamlet” Shakespeare uses included and omitted details to convey the theme of insignificance after death.