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Prejudice And Appearance In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

832 Words4 Pages

The definition of Prejudice is, “An unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason”(Dictionary.com) The majority of humans tend to judge others by appearance rather than personality. Examples derive from culture and treatment of African American people and how others perceive them to be. Prejudice and appearance are prevalent in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein as well as today’s culture which has consequences regarding race, age, religion, etc.
In Frankenstein, the monster is a hideous, vicious being of large stature who has the potential to cause injury, so he is perceived to be malicious due to these characteristics. The creature desires human interactions to acquire companionship, but later met with violent reactions leading him to depart. The monster recounted,”...but I had hardly placed my foot within the door before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted. The whole village was aroused: some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons”(Shelley 103). This reaction is natural in humans since they have instincts to judge by appearance rather than personality. As the monster stood in their village, they had never seen such a monstrosity, so they reacted with fear. Prejudice towards the monster is strong in that humans create stereotypical judgments about others appearances. The monster’s appearance is one who is eight feet, and could be from a horror movie

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