Many, when they think of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, think of a horrific, green-skinned monster made from an amalgamation of dead and rotting parts crudely sewn together with deadbolts sticking out the sides of his neck. To them, the Monster and Frankenstein are one and the same. One could blame the dozens of Halloween classics based on the story for this twisted view of the creature that is the Monster and the creator that is Victor Frankenstein. Despite the widely popularized and demonized view of the monster, in reality, he is so far from the heartless experiment gone wrong that he is often portrayed to be. Rather, the Monster is a being the same as all other characters in the story, more human even than most. In his rushed journey through childhood and adolescence, the Monster finds himself a model of humanity and idolizes it, putting said idol on a pedestal and aspiring to be what he sees. Through this idolization and the rose-tinted view he develops, the Monster builds a world just high enough to destroy him when he falls from it.

Frankenstein is a tale of gothic horror that follows Victor Frankenstein on his journey to create a monster. While the bulk of the story recounts Frankenstein’s life, from childhood to adulthood, towards the end of the book, the Monster gets a chance to tell his story when they encounter each other in a climactic meeting on a mountain, a symbolic peak in the plot. Frankenstein, who is beyond enraged to see his horrid creation standing animate in front of him, and the Monster, who is desperate to tell his story, manage to strike a deal with each other: Frankenstein listens to the story, and the Monster lets him decide his fate as his creator. This marks the beginning of the Monster’s spoken autobiography. From that point on, the Monster dictates the life he’s lived so far in its entirety, telling Frankenstein about the first time he opened his eyes to the first life he took and everything in between. Towards the middle of the story, he tells Frankenstein about the Cottagers, a family living in a cottage in the woods. The way he speaks about them is reverent, holy, even. This infatuation with the Cottagers lasts a sizeable amount of the story, eventually building up to his transformation into an honest monster.

The Monster’s view towards the Cottagers was that of a fervent worshipper towards a deity. In his story, the Monster describes his view of the Cottagers in a very romantic way, painting them as pure, guileless, almost angelic beings who can do no wrong. He almost sees them as pillars of humanity, a portrait of human perfection. This view is one he has not only of their actions and demeanor but also of their physical appearance. These beings, whom he sees as perfect, are his only present form of human contact and ‘interaction’, if it can be considered such. He sets them as the standard for human living and conduct in spite of the fact that, from a hierarchical perspective, they would be pretty close to the bottom of society, as they live in the woods with meager resources. In his narration, he describes them using phrases such as “... my beloved cottagers.” (Shelley, 90), displaying his high adoration of these people who don’t even know he exists. This almost godlike status that they have in his eyes exaggerates their alleged perfection and allows him to turn them into characters within his fantasy. The dreams he has of being loved and accepted into society consistently star the Cottagers as main characters. He starts viewing them as much more than they are, assigning them the highest kindness without ever having met them face-to-face, referring to them as “my protectors…” (Shelley, 92), which very obviously displays his unhealthy idolization of the Cottagers. His language when describing them, again, is very reverential, making it seem almost that he views them as godlike and almost as a collective deity. This romanticization allows him to convince himself that they will be the ones to ultimately save him from himself and his monstrosity. This marks a notable point in the story, given that his creator is Frankenstein, yet he is seeking salvation from a God he has created for himself. From a biblical standpoint, this creation and worship of his idol marks the moment he falls. In turning away from his creator, the Monster fates himself for what is yet to come. The idolic image of the Cottagers that the Monster made makes way for him to reflect negatively back upon his own appearance and humanity, which is the biggest contribution to his surrender to monstrosity.

Putting the Cottagers in the place of god greatly tarnishes the Monster’s self-image and causes him to loathe his existence. He sees the Cottagers in an elevated perspective, even though at the end of the day, he’s just as human as they are. The way that he was treated by Frankenstein as an ‘infant’, helped to set the stage for his growing insecurity as well. Frankenstein’s blatant disgust towards him in the very beginning of his life was the basis for his self-hatred, but ultimately, it was the Cottagers and his worship-esque attitude towards them that made it what it was. In his monolouge, he speaks of the first time he caught a glimpse of himself in a pool of water, saying that with the image of the Cottagers in mind he “...became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification.” (Shelley, 80). From this point forward, with the newfound discovery of his utter monstrosity, he begins comparing himself in all aspects with the perfect, beautiful Cottagers. His self-comparison creates a dynamic similar to that of God and Satan, in which the Monster himself labels himself the Devil and the Cottagers God. Because of his rampant fantasies surrounding the Cottagers, he sees them as God; a perfect, untouchable, faultless collective that is itself the definition of what is ‘right’, while seeing himself as Satan; the fallen, desecrated monster that is simply, and will always be, less than God. However, he considers himself even lower than Satan, exclaiming that “‘Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred.’” (Shelley, 93). His feeling of being an outsider is created from the idyllic view and fantasies that he has of the Cottagers. This deep self-loathing, coupled with the loneliness he feels watching his perfect human examples from the outside, destroys the humanity that was growing with him and opens the doorway for what is painted to be his true self to take over.

The Cottager's rejection and shunning of the Monster causes him to embrace his monstrosity and vow revenge on mankind, despite his prior benevolence. Being denied his heart's deepest desire by those he considered to be his ‘protectors’ is the final weight that tips the scale and causes him to be consumed by negative feelings. In the same way that Satan was shunned by God and thrown from heaven, the Monster was completely rejected by those he deemed divine and shut out. And, in the same way Satan vowed to bend his rage against God, the Monster declared war against all of mankind because of his being dismissed. The Monster recounts the feelings of rage and despair that he had felt after being forsaken by the Cottagers, telling Frankenstein, “I, like the arch-fiend, bore a hell within me… from that moment I declared ever-lasting war against the species…” (Shelley, 97). This initial reaction, although very much inspired by the immediate events, remained with him for the remainder of the story, revealing his true nature as a monster. His diminished self-image caused by his idealization and fantasization of the Cottagers was the ultimate catalyst for his ruination. Because he had put the Cottagers in a place of such high status and had placed himself at a significantly lower status, their ostracism stung worse than it might have if he had seen himself as an equal. Had he viewed them as they were, his self-image might have been better, and the rejection likely would have had less of an impact on him, which would have saved him from his downfall. But because he fell victim to the trap of comparison, he ended up truly a monster.

In spite of his demonstrated monstrosity, though, the Monster was hardly a monster at all. His later acts of murder and revenge were merely the result of bad circumstances. Had he been taken care of by Frankenstein and shown affection, he would have turned out as he saw the Cottagers to be. Many times in his story the Monster speaks of his kind heart, shown mostly through well-meaning acts towards the Cottagers. In observing that stealing their food caused them harm, he stopped and turned to gathering, an act of true and pure humanity. Never would a true monster commit such an act of consideration. In another instance, he chops wood for them after seeing that the son, Felix, would rather be doing something else. Time and time again the Monster demonstrates the characteristics of a model citizen, and yet is still viewed as a Monster. In expressing his longing for familial love, the Monster reveals yet another element of his humanity. When speaking about his desires, he says “It was as the ass and the lap-dog; yet surely the gentle ass whose intentions were affectionate, although his manners were rude, deserved better treatment than blows and execration.” (Shelley, 138), in an attempt to reason with his own feelings. Seeing himself as the ‘gentle ass’; the well-meaning creature with pure intention. But in the manner of real humanity, he was turned away from this provision because of subjective judgment. The comparison between reality and the Monster’s thoughts reveal that he is, in fact, kind beyond the levels of the Cottagers and thus a far more human character at heart.

Mary Shelley uses this part of the story to speak to many real-world occurrences such as the idolization and idealization of figures, comparing oneself and the effects it has on self-image, and people’s reactions to rejection. This reflection of real-life happenings goes to show that in spite of the Monster’s monstrous appearance, his experiences, values, and desires were nothing but completely and utterly human. From his idolization of the Cottagers to his deep self-esteem issues to the bitter rage he felt after being rejected for no solid reason, the Monster is a model example of the human experience. In addition to the real-world ties, the Monster also displays the dichotomy of man between apparent good and evil. Starting out as a good, benevolent creature, he is turned evil and spiteful in reaction to being shunned and shut out. To conclude, Shelley uses the Monster’s experiences of idealization, self-concept, and rejection to examine the real world through an alternate perspective.

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. New York, Dover Publications, 1994.