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In this extract, Shelley emphasises the significance of love and acceptance to
society as the monster contemplates his last encounter with mankind
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This resurfacing theme mirrors Shelley’s political
views of tolerance, which were influenced by her mother, a liberal feminist who
believed staunchly that men must accept women into society fully
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In
this extract, the monster states that ‘[his] heart yearn[s] to be known and loved’
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Moreover, the monster’s wish is emphasised as he desires to be
‘known and loved’, suggesting that the first step he has to undertake sees him
becoming less repulsive to human beings physically, before they can begin to
understand him as a sentient being
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At this point in time, Victor refers to the monster as a
‘demoniacal corpse’ to which he had ‘so miserable given life’
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Instead, he
inconsiderately decides not to see to his creature’s psychological welfare
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This is since the monster, a product of science, is
metaphorically demon-like due to his being a physical by-product of Victor’s loss of
innocence
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Unlike Satan in Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’, the monster is not accepted by society in
any way
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The fact that kindness and
sympathy are viewed as ‘treasures’ by the monster suggests that his need to be
accepted by his protectors is of greater importance to him than even food and water,
basic requirements needed for any being to stay alive
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This is mirrored when the monster is not accepted by the
villagers that he previously meets
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Satan, who has a
race of many devils to accept him as their leader, states that it is “better to rule in
Hell than serve in Heav’n”
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This implies that being accepted into society is a key part
of day-to-day life, which the monster will never experience
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In this extract, the monster contemplates that affection is
the ‘utmost limit of [his] ambition’
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This need, however, is never
fulfilled
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This action sees Walton, a
supposedly superior being to the monster, unable to display the psychological
maturity of the monster as the monster’s physical hideousness overcomes him,
rather than the monster’s ordeals
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In conclusion, love and acceptance is portrayed as being of paramount importance
by Mary Shelley
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Perhaps this is
symbolic of Rousseau’s Romantic ideals of innocence as bliss and Shelley’s
personal political views, which are influenced by her mother and father’s ideals

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