The word monstrosity means a thing which is outrageously evil or wrong. In Frankenstein, Victor is in the wrong when he rejects his creation, as his is horrified at what he has made, and the Monster is good but also evil as it’s heart has been broken and does not feel loved, so it kills everyone who Victor loves and cares about. In The Tempest, Prospero is evil by using his powers to control Caliban as he will not listen to him. Even Caliban is in the wrong by planning to kill Prospero with Trinculo and Stephano, by getting rid of his powers and slitting his throat.
Victor has created the monster and sparked him with life, as the monster moves around he is horrified by what he has created. “How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or he delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains…” He has realized that he should not have played God in creating the monster and runs away from the monster by disgust and is the start of his rejection of the monster. This experiment has been related to the Aldini experiment, as Aldini used dead parts of an animal e.g: a frogs’ leg. has a shock pulsed through the nerves and that the nerves would react to it as it would be as the brain telling the muscle to flex and that the muscles would flex due to the shock pulse.
In Chapter 15 The Monster, is discovering that his own creator is horrified by his existence and faces the tragedy of his existence. “Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even YOU turned from me in disgusts?” Here The Monster moans in anger and frustration as Victor “His creator” does not want, as he is horrified at what he has created as he looks at the mirror to see how he looks. Later on in Chapter 16, The monster talks about when he was given life by the spark that Victor gave him and that he wished it never happened. “Cursed,cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had no wantonly bestowed?” Mary Shelley has related this to what her father William Godwin had done. In the 1798 Thomas Malthus warned people of over population in the world and would destroy the planet, and one solution was to stop people especially poor people to stop having kids. This links to the quote as Victor and The monster would or could be looked at as a poor people. The word ‘Cursed’ is used as the monster is expressing how irritated he is towards Victor.
Victor thinks the monster’s revenge will never be satisfied. But he was wrong, The monster will stop as soon as he kills off everyone Victor has cared about. “All was again silent, but his words rang in my ears. I burned with rage to pursue the murderer of my peace and precipitate him into the ocean… I shuddered to think who might be the next victim sacrificed to his insatiate revenge. And then I thought again of his words — “I WILL BE WITH YOU ON YOUR WEDDING-NIGHT.” That, then, was the period fixed for the fulfilment of my destiny.” Victor now realises that the monster will not stop until the one Victor loves are dead. But Victor might realise that the monster is going to attack his loved ones and could resolve this by giving him the thing he wants… he wants to be loved and cared.
The problem the monster has is that he has no money or no place to stay and no friends. His appearance comes after, but the way he looks he cannot solve the first problem. “Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant, but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man.” The monster compares himself to everyone saying he is not the same and is ‘hideously deformed and loathsome’ like Victor did not create him in the form of Adam, but as he was made from scraps of dead bodies what would The monster think would happen. Whilst this havoc of revenge just because of love, each time The monster sees Victor why does he not attack Victor and kill him for rejecting him. “The nearer I approached to your habitation, the more deeply did I feel the spirit of revenge en kindled in my heart.” It sounds like the monster has a crush on Victor, he gets nervous and fired up when he gets closer to the love/hate of his life.
The monster vows to punish Victor for rejecting him. Had Victor been involved with the creature, the creature may have felt that he had a being to connect with and one to learn kindness and compassion from. The creature could have become more likeable and less violent. “No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses;” In contrast, Victor’s family is nurturing. Victor is nurtured and achieves great scientific heights. Victor’s family takes in an orphan and creates a woman presented as perfect, Victor’s family is nurturing and caring and takes the raising of even an orphan seriously. Whilst Victor feels unmitigated hatred for his creation, the monster shows that he is not a purely evil being. The monster’s eloquent narration of events reveals his remarkable sensitivity and goodwill. He assists a group of poor peasants and saves a girl from drowning, but because of his outward appearance, he is rewarded only with disgust. Even the death of his creator offers relief of joy because, Victor has caused him so much suffering and sadness but, Victor is the only person with who he has had any sort of relationship with.
In the Tempest Prospero exceeds power to his use of control over Caliban, but as Prospero finds out he cannot control Caliban. As Caliban is treated as an animal even after all the nurturing from Prospero, Caliban’s instinct or nature will override and cannot be contained even over the years of nurture. In Act 1 Scene 2, Miranda and Prospero visit Caliban, Miranda obviously does not care about control over Caliban, “I do not love to look on,” all she wants is to stay away from him. This is not her only vain moment in the play, Prospero however makes a great show of how much power he has, how he can punish Caliban, yet Caliban is completely used to this form of abusive behaviour that he replies with a non-sequester. He is obviously immune to his punishments by now, this shows he ignores Prospero’s commands and has no control over Caliban also that, Caliban does not see Prospero as a threat.
In Act 3 Scene Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo continue to get drunk. Stephano who now calls himself “Lord of the Island,” and commands Caliban to “Drink, servant monster, when I bid thee”. Stephano declares that Caliban will be his lieutenant. Trinculo, who is confused by Caliban’s worship of Stephano. And mocks Caliban, Stephano threatens Trinculo to be hanged. Stephano is drunk on power, commanding Caliban using the celestial liquor. Caliban continues to describe his plan to murder Prospero. He suggests several ways of killing Prospero, and it is clear that he has thought about this before: “Thou mayst brain him … or wit a log batter his skull, or paunch him with a stake, or cut his wezand with they knife”. But it is vital, he says, for Stephano to have Prospero’s books, which are the source of Prospero’s power. He entices Stephano by promising Miranda as a prize once the deed is done. Ariel listens in and makes plans to tell Prospero of the plot.
In Act 4 Scene 4 Prospero is remembers the plot against his life, as Caliban with the help of Stephano and Trinculo gets nearer to the magicians cell. Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo approach the magician’s cell and find magic clothing. After he has drunk the celestial liquor from Stephano and praises him as a God and plans to kill Prospero as the liquor brings up his anger, after all the torture and as he plots he says that after he kills Prospero he will make Stephano king of the island and show him how to survive on the island as well as know all the island.
But as Caliban does not know of, is that Prospero knows his plan and asks Ariel to lure Stephano and Trinculo the low life standard thief’s into a trap consisting of luxury clothes and will make them pay for their work and makes them run in fear as they are ambushed by Ariel and makes them run to the tower as she waits for them. This power makes Prospero very evil as he uses it into controlling Caliban, but Caliban is in the wrong by trying to plot against his master to kill him, even though all Prospero has tried to do is make Caliban a better person but, Prospero now realises that magic is evil and he was using it in the wrong way to salve Caliban and Ariel. Now lets Ariel free as promised, goes back to Milan with Miranda and the rest of the crew but, before going destroys the magic by throwing of the cliff breaking and washed away by the vicious sea.
React!