Introduction
he literature has always used specific instances about destruction and damage caused by the act of humans to violate and misuse the natural life cycle processes. Instances of the disastrous consequences when humans use their illegitimate powers to manipulate the natural life form are given with respect to the prevalent cultural themes of the respective eras. Shakespeare's ‘The Tempest’ involves the use of magical prowess in manipulating the normal human characteristics and subsequent creation of the man-made devil, named Caliban. Similarly, Mary Shelley's ‘Frankenstein’ explicates the violation of the natural life cycle be creating a life from the remains of the dead by using human knowledge. Both these fictional texts have their unique ways of expressing how the physical attributes and behavioural aspects of the monsters were actually the derivatives of the human efforts to breach the naturality of life.
This essay aims at using the above two texts to delineate the cultural influence on the depiction of monstrosity and its consequent presentation in the theme to explain the impact of the human effort to go beyond the natural life form.
Similarity and differences in the illustration of monstrosity in the two texts
In The Tempest, Caliban’s character was described for its physical notions to be black in skin color, addressed as the ‘‘moon-calf’’ which implied the presence of white spots on the black skin’s surface(Shakespeare “The Tempest Act 2, Scene 2”) . As the tempest is a stage play, this distinctive physical feature was deliberately bought in the plot by Shakespeare so as to enable an easy demarcation of the Caliban with the other characters played by white people. There is specific textual evidence that proves that Caliban’s outer shell (horrifying external appearance) was indeed the prime reason for his character’s monstrosity. Consequently, he was treated as a loathsome wild animal who was not at all human in appearance. Prospero, the antagonist, also quotes about the Caliban for being ‘‘not honoured with human shape’’ (Shakespeare “The Tempest Act 1, Scene 2). This form of representation has actually intended to create a visual imagery for the physical features of Caliban and the perceived notion of his monstrosity. He was looked down by all the characters with disgust and loathe due to his physical experience and Prospero treated him as his slave on the Island.
On the other hand, The Frankenstein also as a unique description of the monster. Victor made him from the remains of the dead and considered the entire experiment as a model to revolutionalize the science with his invention. In his pursuit, Victor focussed on creating each physical attribute of the monster to have better strength than a normal human and ultimately created a resuscitated monster who was least similar to the humans in appearance. He described his work as an act of infusing life into an inanimate body (Shelly ‘Frankenstein Vol I, Ch IV’). The novel explains the extent of the monster;s horrifying image by specifying the incident when Frankenstein’s monster was chased out of the nearby village as the villagers were terrified by his daunting looks. Further, quoting the exact words of Frankenstein’s brother, Shelley has used
some very specific language aspects to literally describe the image of Frankenstein’s monster as he was classified to be an ogre. Another instance of extremely severe visual imagery used to describe the monster when the child saw him and said ‘‘you wish to eat me and tear me to pieces’’ (Shelly ‘Frankenstein Vol. 2, Chap. VIII’).
Both the texts have used extremely terrifying words and horrifying imagery to exaggerate the inherent monstrosity and evilness in the characters of the Monster and Caliban. Derogatory language has been used to compare the characters with some loathed animals and all the characters are either petrified on seeing them or aggravated by their physical presence. However, both the characters are also shown to have some human features hidden with their external monstrosity. Both of them were abandoned by their creators, Caliban was abandoned by his mother due to his monstrous looks and the Creation was relinquished by Frankenstein because he was shocked by seeing the result of his experiment. They both seek compassion from the audience by trying for reproduction and companionship.
Cultural influence on the depiction of monstrosity in the ‘The Tempest’ and ‘Frankenstein’
Mary Shelley wrote the novel (Frankenstein) in 1818 within the European purview for the plot and geographical setup of the happenings in the novel. Still, the racially oppressed entities from the non-white nations and the consequent imperialism in the post-colonial era of the European powers is well explicated in the context of the novel (Ramone 143). Further, the beginning of the 19th century was the time when the medical science was progressing in terms of exploring the dead and sought a possible explanation regarding the various medical aspects of the life cycle and death. The theme of the novel is centrally focussed on death and the disastrous consequences alteration of the natural life cycle dominated overall plot of the novel. Frankenstein was a monster created due to a reckless act of science innovation which aimed at reversing the nature’s cycle of life.
The above-mentioned facts imply specific adaptation of the prevalent culture into the central theme of the novel which is also evident in The Tempest, written in the 1600’s by William Shakespeare. The era was marked by the rising racism in Europe and the portrayed image of Caliban is well in accordance with this fact. The literal description of Caliban’s features says black in skin color, addressed as the ‘’moon-calf’’ which implied the presence of white spots on the black skin’s surface. Hence, in terms of the stage portrayal of the Caliban’s character, it was mandatory to use a black male or a white male who was colored black. Thus, the impact of the prevalent cultural vibes on the literature of the era is extremely lucid in this context. The blacks and other non-whites were assumed to be the aliens and treated with contempt for their presence amidst the white people (Ramone 144). These shades were also implied in the character sketch of Caliban when he was treated with contempt by all others due to his physical appearance and Prospero considered him as his slave for doing menial jobs on the island.
Conclusion
It can definitely be concluded that in both the novels, Shakespeare and Mary use the different types of manipulative effects in the used language to extrude the underlying shades of monstrosity in the two characters of Caliban and the Creation by Frankenstein. Two common forms of language style used to achieve this impact on the readers are those of visual imagery and derogatory remarks for addressing the two characters. It can definitely be inferred that there are strong influences of cultural trends of the two eras on both the novels which can further by testified by their reflection on the illustration of the monstrosity of these two characters, Caliban in The Tempest and the Creation in Frankenstein.
Works Cited
Ramone, Jenny."Postcolonial Theories". Palgrave Macmillan publishers.London, 2011,Print.
Shakespere, William. "The tempest". Entire play. 1611. Web. 22 May, 2016. Accessed Online : http://shakespeare.mit.edu/tempest/full.html
Shelley, Mary. "Frankenstein.Vol.1". London: Oxford University Press, 1818.Web. 22 May, 2016. Accessed Online :http://www.brianmurphy.com/FrankensteinV1.htm#VolIChapter4
Shelley, Mary. "Frankenstein. Vol.2". Second International Student Edition.Norton Critical Edition. W.W. Norton & Company. London, 1818. Print.
