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Imagery
Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Frankenstein's Creation:
Highly ambitious, Victor Frankenstein channels his extensive scientific knowledge in order to create a “new and improved” version of man. However, the exact opposite occurs, as he creates a degraded version of man instead. In a twist of fate, Victor ends up repelled by his creation. In Chapter 5, he states:
How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?
Related Themes:
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Justine:
Through Justine’s arrest, trial, and execution, the novel presents an instance of dramatic irony. This is exemplified in the following passage from Chapter 8, in which Victor describes witnessing Justine’s reaction before she succumbs to her tragic fate:
Unlock with LitCharts A+She was dressed in mourning, and her countenance, always engaging, was rendered, by the solemnity of her feelings, exquisitely beautiful. Yet she appeared confident in innocence and did not tremble, although gazed on and execrated by thousands, for all the kindness which her beauty might otherwise have excited was obliterated in the minds of the spectators by the imagination of the enormity she was supposed to have committed.
Related Themes:
