Frankenstein: Motif

"Poor William! He was our darling and our pride." p. 52
"Victory says that he knows who was the murderer of poor William." p. 53

Just like we witnessed in Othello with honest Iago, another motif arises in Frankenstein. Both quotes above display such motifs. Mary Shelley frequently has characters refer to William as poor William. This creates an aspect of additional innocence to William's already delicate and adolescent character. By using this motif, Shelley is able to create an atmosphere of increased tragedy from the already tragic nature of the event. This affects the reader in recognizing the horrid nature of such an action and creates an irreconcilable villain out of the murderer. With this, the reader can associate an evil nature with who is the actual murderer or even that of the accused. When Victor associates his creation with the murder, it immediately creates a demonic nature to the creature until this is later reconciled when they meet.