The Monster Education

The Monster’s Education





By: Jessica˙Celine˙Claire

Amy Chang˙Amy Lin

Ashley Fu˙Ashley Lin

Introduction

 Hello everyone, the two main topic

our group is going to talk about today

is the monster’s education and the

human’s rejection.

 Please sit back and relax …

Outline

 The Monster’s Changes

 The Monster’s Learning, Request and

Victor’s Response

 The Story within the Story

 Humans’ Rejection of the Monster

Changes of the Monster

1. Gaining and distinguishing keen physical

sensations; mobility

2. Learning to use fire and survive outdoor

3. Instinctual responses and affinity to

Nature. (Noble savage)

Physical Responses

 A strange multiplicity of

sensations seized me, and I

saw, felt, heard, and smelt, at

the same time; and it was,

indeed, a long time before I

learned to distinguish

between the operations of my

various senses. (p.102)

 Get used to the light (102)

 Bodily coordination (102)

“dark and opaque bodies had

surrounded me” walk freely

The Moon

 Lonely and weeping  “Soon

a gentle light stole over the

heavens, and gave me a

sensation of pleasure.”

(p.102)



 Confusion of feelings of

“light, hunger, thirst and

darkness.”  “…the only

object that I could

distinguish was the bright

moon…” (p.103)

Defining Romanticism

 The implication of Nature,

personified as female



 Reveals Nature’s maternal

powers to the main

characters



 Shelley uses the female

Nature to redefine

traditional Romanticism

Surviving Outside

Fire --1) beginning of human

civilization; 2) ref. Prometheus

 Distinguishing insect from herb, and one herb from

another. 104

 Fire warmth and pain (physical sensation): “In my

joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly

drew it out again with a cry of pain.” (p.104)

 Raising fire: “…I discovered the cause, and busied

myself in collecting a great quantity of wood, that I

might dry it, and have a plentiful supply of fire.”

(p.104)

 Functions of fire (provides warmth, heat to roast food):

“ …that the fire gave light as well as heat; and that

the discovery of this element was useful to me in my

food…” (p.105)

Shelter

 First finds a hut of a shepherd.

 A hovel joined to a cottage: “My place of

refuge was constructed of wood, but so low

that I could with difficulty sit upright in it.

No wood, however, was placed on the earth,

which formed the floor, but it was dry; and

although the wind entered it by

innumerable chinks, I found it an agreeable

asylum from the snow and rain. (p.106)

 Shelter “from the inclemency of the season,

and still more from the barbarity of man.”

The Monster’s Learning

(Language)

 Through close observation, he discovers the

meanings of the repeated sounds, though he

cannot use them at first.

 “I cannot describe the delight I felt when I

learned the ideas appropriated to each of these

sounds, and was able to pronounce them. I

distinguished several other words, without

being able as yet to understand or apply

them …” (p.112)

 “I ought not to make the attempt until I had

first become master of their language; which

knowledge might enable me to make them

overlook the deformity of my figure…” (p.114)

Learning with Safie

 “The stranger learned about twenty words

at the first lesson, most of them, indeed,

were those which I had before understood,

but I profited by the others.” (p.117)



 “…she and I improved rapidly in the

knowledge of language, so that in two

months I began to comprehend most of the

words uttered by my protectors.” (p.118)

(Reading)

 Ruins of Empires and Plutarch’s Lives

 “Through this work…of its original

inhabitants.”(119)

 “The volume of “Plutarch’s Lives,” which I

possessed, contained the histories of the

first founders of the ancient

republics.”(128)

-----> Higher thoughts.

-----> Knowledge of human civilization.

 Sorrows of Werter

 “In the “Sorrows of Werter,”

besides…..without precisely understanding

it.”(128)



-----> He had emotions, too.

-----> Question his existence.

Paradise Lost  His Desire

for a Mate

“I often referred the several

situations…the bitter gall of envy rose

within me.”(129)

->Identified himself with Adam.

-> Long for a mate.

Victor’s Response to the Monster’s

Need

 The monster ask Victor to create

a female for him.

 Threatening: “You must create a female for

me…which you must not refuse to concede.” (144) 

Victor refused.

 “If I cannot inspire love…so that you shall curse the

hour of your birth.” (145)

 Reasonable: “I would make peace with the whole

kind…do not deny me my request.” (145-146) 

Victor was moved.

 “If you consent…and persuade you to promise what I

so ardently desire.” (146) Victor consent to his

demand.

The Monster’s Learning: A

Summary

 remember the original era of the monster’s

beginning

 the monster didn’t know how to distinguish

between the operation of its senses

 the first time monster heard sound

 the monster found fire left by beggars

 found a small hut and eat the breakfast

 walking through the village the residents there

are afraid of him

 found another cottage and the monster had lived

there for a period of time

 the monster observed the people live in this

cottage

The Monster’s Learning: A

Summary

 The monster heard the old man playing

some kind of instrument(pp.108)

 the first time monster heard

“reading”(pp.109)

 monster do favors to the family (pp.111)

 the monster start to understand some

words are used by the family(pp.112)

 the monster think the cottagers are

perfect(pp.114)

 the monster imagine when the family

accept him(pp.115)

The Story within the Story

The Story of

De Lacey’s Exile

 a story happened to the cottagers excites to the

monster with the feeling of indignation, delight and

wonder.

 a well-off family in France



 Felix wants to rescue the Turkish merchant and falls

for his daughter, Safie



 Turkish merchant promises to the marriage of the two

in order to flee safely



 The merchant actually doesn’t agree with their

marriage because Felix is a Christian

The Story of

De Lacey’s Exile



 French government finds out Felix let him

go so captures his family

 Felix goes back to France, then be jailed

for 5 yrs

 seeking a shelter in Germany, where the

monster finds them

 the merchant flees back to Constantinople

and leaves her daughter to the servant

 Safie finally finds Felix.

Story in story– influence

culture

 ＊knows how to compose fire but don’t

know how to make one：

 --p.104&p.105

 ＊realize that the food will taste better

when it had roasted：

 --p.105

 ＊the first time the monster heard the

music：

 --p.108

 ＊the monster found that human use sound

to communicate：

 --p.112

 the monster learned from the

lessons that Felix taught Safie：

 -learn how to use letter correctly p.119

 -friends and relations p.121

 ＊three books that had taught the

monster a lot：

p.128&p.129

 -Sorrows of Werter

 -Plutarch’s Live

 -Paradise Lost

Story in story– influence

sadness

The emotions he has never experienced p.108

＊Affected by their emotions

-p.110

-p.112 their unhappiness let the monster feel

the same

-p.118

-p.122~127 the story that intrigue the

monster’s feelings

＊Sympathy – compared with himself(the

monster)

-- in action

Human Rejection

A. The reason of being

rejected



 Appearance

 People judges others by their

appearance

 The monster will never be accepted

even he is kind inside

 Even though the monster saves the little

girl, people still regard him as the bad

one because of his appearance

 The monster thought the old man

wouldn’t judge him by his appearance

B. Who reject the monster?



 Frankenstein

 Did not give the monster a name

 His own sin

 Villages

 threw rocks and drove away the monster

 Felix

 drove the monster away

 The man

 used a gun to shoot the monster

C. The influence of Rejection

 Hatred

 Frankenstein

 Creates the monster, but does not have love toward it

 Regretful of creating the monster

 Revenge

 Frankenstein deserts the monster

 The monster killed William

 Loneliness

 No one even tries to accept it because of its frightening feature.

 humanity is that although there are many humans in the

world, each one is alone.

 isolated himself from the world

 shunned by the world

 Disappointment

 The monster lost his hope toward human