Frankenstein - Volume 2 Chapters 1 and 2 in Relation to The Handmaid's Tale

 Victor draws into himself in his chapter due to his guilt, which isolates him from his family and friends. When Elizabeth speculates on the possible whereabouts of the murder, saying she hates the idea that “he walks the world free, and perhaps respected”. Shelley uses Elizabeth’s voice to make Victor pained and ashamed, meaning he feels alienated from his family by the truth. As a result he physically isolates himself by “suddenly left home” to go be alone in nature. 

Victor’s personal monster is very much his ambition, something the ancient Greeks would have referred to as his hamartia or fatal flaw. He is feeling the repercussions of that monster taking over now. The metaphor of the “wounded deer” sitting and looking at “the arrow that pierced it, and to die” shows this well, as deer are preyed upon by larger beasts. By likening himself to a deer wounded by his own actions (creating life) he introduces the idea of a second part of his person; his monstrous side.

The setting of this chapter is very based around ideas of the romantic and gothic sublimes. These very much show the extremes of emotional reaction that Victor is prone to. In Belrive he describes his wish to “plunge into the silent lake, that the waters might close over [him] and [his] calamities”. The idea of a setting closing is very much to do with the gothic sublime, and shows Victor’s isolation and feelings of being trapped by his secret. When he goes into the mountains and experiences the romantic sublime with “white and shining pyramids” and “immense glaciers” it represents how he feels that the world is brighter now that his troubles are out of sight (demonstrating his childish out-of-sight out-of-mind mentality).

Shelley’s creation of setting very much links with the themes of her novel. She is fond of using pathetic fallacy to point out and create Victor’s various moods, for example on the mountain “The weather was fine” which shows he is feeling more at peace. The “ruined castles” on the mountain are also important, as they are symbolic of a fall from glory into rubble and ruin, representing…