Isolation in "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley. The Perception of Being Isolated and Its Dependence to Endogenous and Exogenous Causes

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,3, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, language: English, abstract: In Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" Victor Frankenstein experiences self-inflicted seclusion which leads him to depression and further isolates him, whereas the creature suffers from exogenous caused isolation which ends in furiousness and grievance. The aim of this paper is to analyse the characters' respective perceptions and handlings of isolation and to put them into dependence to endogenous and exogenous causes to prove if the types of causes truly have an impact. Based on the working definition of isolation for this research paper, the development of isolation will be outlined by identifying inducing incidents and processes. It will be pointed out how the characters respond to their isolation. The examination will proceed chronologically and is structured in certain life phases, so that causes such as certain occasions which set in during the development can be emphasized. Afterwards the respective perception and handling of isolation will be compared.