How does Mary Shelley present the birth of the Creature in Frankenstein?

 To answer this question, you need to have a close textual analysis of chapter 5, using short quotes and unpacking the language and techniques used by Shelley:      'The use of pathetic fallacy at the beginning of the chapter: ‘it was on a dreary night of November’, sets the mood as eerie and sinister. It creates a sense of unease, as November is a time when living things are dying, which highlights further the unnatural nature of the creature’s birth. It also suggests that after its birth, things will only get darker and colder as the season’s progress, which could also act as a metaphor for Victor and the Creature’s lives.'
The answer may also require you to have an understanding of the context of the novel, and of the key themes, e.g. the gothic, the uncanny and the common use of the doppelganger in Victorian literature:      'Shelley uses the gothic concept of doppelgangers. The idea that the Creature and Frankenstein are somehow two sides of the same ego is show when they mirror each other’s actions. ‘A convulsive motion agitated its limbs’ is used to described the Creature, and then later Victor states that ‘every limb became convulsed’. The subtle mirroring of two quite distinctive and almost animalistic actions suggests how the ‘miserable monster’ may be a physical reflection of Victor’s immoral and evil actions of Victor’s inner being.'
In structuring your answer, you should attempt to create about 3 paragraphs each with a different theme or concept, each of which should include a topic sentence, language analysis and how this links to context and themes of the novel.


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