Frankenstein: An Echo of Social Alienation and Social Madness

Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’, through the portray of the ‘monster’ hints the uncanny defamiliarization of the familiar role of the society. It shows how the society if anybody does not suit its taste alienates that from itself. The monster’s hideous appearance is the reason of the society’s disliking it and so it is regarded with disgust and hatred. This results not only in the reader’s realization of a defamiliarization, but the monster’s own defamiliarization with society. A minute reading of Frankenstein explores racial overtone carried by the creature’s yellow skin. Moreover, Victor Frankenstein through his scientific research goes beyond the horizon to fulfill his dream to attain the unattainable and thus alienates himself.