Compare the ways in which Frankenstein’s monster and Caliban are presented as victims of circumstance within “Frankenstein” and “The Tempest”

 

In both “The tempest” and “Frankenstein” both Caliban and the Creation are presented as victims of circumstance, victims of circumstance means that your situation is a result of the events around you that are beyond your control.

In the case of Frankenstein and the tempest the victims of circumstance Caliban and the Creation are often rejected from society due to their appearance. In the case of “the Tempest” when Trincolo meets Caliban he is confused if Caliban is a “man or a fish? Dead or alive?” due to him being so deformed. He then goes on to say “people would still give a piece of silver to see him”, the language feature found here is dichotomy, where something is thought to be something good or something bad. The language feature means that Trincolo is unsure of what Caliban is and therefore infers that Caliban is utterly deformed. In the case of “Frankenstein”, just as the monster is getting integrated into society through a blind father, the father’s family come home. “Who can describe their horror and consternation on beholding” him”?” language features found here include a rhetorical question which portraits the utter shock the family was in on seeing this “monster”. So in both cases they are not accepted as people because of appearing different, the monsters appearance causes people to faint with a glance and Calibans appearance causes people to want to take him and sell him for “Silver”. This could appear to the reader as quite a sad aspect, the fact that only due to their appearance, people who could be joined into society, are rejected. At the time of the “The Tempest” and of “Frankenstein” people who looked different were heavily discriminated, whether that to do with race, ethnicity or general appearance, especially the black minority. They were abused, put in freak shows and were not able to be united into the white majority. This is one of the ways Frankenstein’s monster and Caliban are presented as being victims of circumstance through their appearance. Their appearance can also cause them to be abandoned at birth.

Another way the Creation and Caliban are presented as victims is through them being abandoned, in the case of Frankenstein’s monster he was abandoned at birth. The “Beauty” of Frankenstein’s “dream vanished and breathless horror and disgust” filled his heart, the language feature found here is irony, the fact that Frankenstein wished to create a beautiful creature, but that creature ended up being disgusting. In the case of “The Tempest” the “blue eyed hag” Sycorax”…did litter” Caliban. Language features found here is metaphoric language comparing Caliban birth to throwing away a piece of “litter”. Both of these quotes infer that both Caliban and Frankenstein were abandoned at birth. In “Frankenstein” this is due to the Creation’s appearance as I have mentioned earlier, which caused Frankenstein to leave him at his birth site. In “The Tempest” it is due to the death of Sycorax that Caliban was abandoned in his deformity on his lone island. Which causes both to be victims of circumstance as they have no control over their abandonment, especially with the Creation as he was abandoned at birth. This factor causes the audience to react sympathetic to the two characters, as people in today’s modern era would feel sorry towards loneliness. However at the time of Shakespeare and Shelly, children were sometimes abandoned due to their appearance or because of their gender, especially towards girls. This act still happens around the world in places like India and China. This abandonment factor is especially linked with Mary Shelly as her mother died on the day of her birth, which caused her father to become very distant from her, which almost caused her family to “abandon” like her Creation. Being abandoned at birth definitely presents Caliban and Frankenstein as being victims of circumstance.

Another way Caliban and the Creation are presented as being victims of circumstance is due to them not having a home. In “The Tempest” Caliban states that “this island is mine, by Sycorax my mother, which thou takest from me.” Language features found here is contradictory language, he states that the island is his, but he then states that Prospero owns it. Which displays that the island was his birth right by his mother, but then Prospero came and took his home and made him his slave. In Frankenstein, unlike in the Tempest, the creation doesn’t have a home in the first place, he says “my mode of life my hovel was uniformed” once again this is contradictory language as it portraits that his “hovel” which is a simple basic constructed dwelling, which could barely be called home and calling it “uniformed which implies that it’s a good home for the creation. I can therefore understand from this that the creation has never had a true home and therefore he constantly tries to find a new place he can call home. Both these examples of homelessness makes both the Creation and Caliban victims of circumstance as in both occasions it is not their fault as they have either had no acceptance or they have been kicked out. To the reader this could relate well with the lower class Shakespearean and 18th century as the majority of them have been affected by homelessness, it would almost put them in the characters shoes, in the olden times people who were homeless were not recognised as people and therefore they too were victims of society. Mary Shelly also relates with the topic of homelessness as due to oppression she was kicked out of her home in England and had to move to Geneva. So therefore homelessness is another way both Caliban and the Creation connote being victims of society.

Yet another way both the Creation and Caliban are portrayed as being victims of society is due to them lacking in intelligent. In “The Tempest” Caliban is treated as “a most ridiculous monster” when Caliban becomes drunk. Language features found here include imagery, it gives the impression of a discombobulated creature by using the word “ridiculous”, this word also creates the feeling of dramatic irony as Trincolo calls Caliban “ridiculous” when they are both drunk and in a state of confusion, because of “The bottle”. In “Frankenstein” the monster states that he learned “The science of letters”. Language features here include connotations, it connotes that Frankenstein like Caliban is confused. The word “Science” connotes something logical and analytical, and the word “Letters” connotes something creative and abstract. Which shows that the Creation didn’t truly understand language, in addition this phrase could symbolise the brain as the left hemisphere of the brain is logical and the right side of the brain is creative and abstract inferring that the creature needs to develop his brain. But how does this make Caliban and The Creation victims of circumstance? Caliban, because of his intelligence already being low and alcohol just makes him even less intelligent, he can be exploited which is exactly what Trincolo and Stephano aimed to do, it wasn’t his fault that he was handed the bottle to drink, but he carries the burden of being abused. The creation is a victim of society because of his intelligence as although he is able to read and write, he is obliviousness to the real word at his infancy, which makes him susceptible to all the events that be-fall him. To the reader this could again relate to lower class people is the 18th and 16th century as people in those times usually weren’t able to read or write, people like this were usually exploited for work by higher class powers, but due to their intelligence they don’t have any other option but to follow them and almost be their slave. Intelligence at the time was costly, so the poor wouldn’t be able to afford the teaching son therefore there would be nothing they could do about, therefore making them victims of circumstance who could relate to Caliban and Frankenstein.

 

 

The final way both Caliban and The Creation are displayed as victims of society is through their power levels. For example in “The Tempest“, Caliban lacks power over Prospero and is taught to “Seek for grace”, This phrase connotes the relationship of a slave and his master, similar to the relationship of Caliban and Prospero. Caliban is a slave to his master Prospero and must “seek for grace”. Oppositely in “Frankenstein” the Creation with one phrase he switches power statuses with Victor, he states that “You are my creator, l but I am your master, obey” This phrase is almost contradictory as if you create something you should have full control of it, but in this case that is far from the truth, with this one phrase, The Creation surpasses Victors power and forces him to obey. This makes both Caliban and The Creation victims of circumstance as in “The Tempest” Caliban should have the higher power but, when Prospero comes to the island he takes power off Caliban rendering him weak, making him a victim of circumstance, to the reader this could connote the colonisation of different countries, for example when Britain came to the Indies in the 16th century, they shouldn’t have been the ones with power, but as they colonised the indies they gained more and more power becoming dominant over the natives in their own country, which is exactly what happened to Caliban, being dominated is no fault of a country if the invading country has an absolute advantage in weaponry therefore making Caliban demonstrate being a victim of society. The Creation is a victim of circumstance as he arguably shouldn’t have the power that he had, but because of the way he was built he was made to have that power, which is, Shelly’s way of saying that a child with huge mental and physical potential, if they were born in a lower class family they wouldn’t be able to unlock their full potential, this is no fault of their own, as no one can control where you are born which would therefore make the Creation connote being a victim of circumstance.

In conclusion through Homelessness, power struggles, appearance, intelligence and abandonment in both “The Tempest” and “Frankenstein” through Caliban and The Creation we can tell that these characters are and represent being “Victims of circumstance”.