Strangeness, Community and Hospitality in 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley

Essay from the year 2020 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7, Humboldt-University of Berlin (Department of English and American Studies), course: Worldly Romanticism, language: English, abstract: In this essay I want to take a closer look at the social communities in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein while especially considering the creature's strangeness as a deciding factor in his confrontation with human society. When engaging in the social interactions of the Creature, I will also employ the idea of hospitality, which was shaped primarily by the French philosopher Jaques Derrida. At first, I will look at how the creature is perceived by the other characters in the novel, focusing on the question what his monstrosity is based on. Then I will examine the creature's attempts to join social communities, taking the DeLacey family as an example. Afterwards I will deal with the novel in relation to the idea of hospitality, which can be applied in Victor's laboratory and in the DeLacey's cottage.