JAGANNATH BAROOAH COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

Seminar paper on the topic-

Concept of the Self and the Other: A postcolonial reading of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Submitted by-

Name- Dhritishna Jiri Pachani

PG 2nd Semester

Roll no- 46
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Dhritishna Jiri Pachani of PG 2nd Semester,

Department of English, roll number 46, have completed this project under my
careful guidance and supervision.

Teacher’s signature
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my mentor and teacher Lansenlevis Nampui
ma'am, who gave me the opportunity to prepare this seminar paper on the topic, “Concept of
the Self and the Other: A postcolonial reading of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.”. It was a
learning experience for me as I got to know about many new things and also got the opportunity
to study a few new books.

Apart from that, I would like to thank my parents, friends and all the other people who
contributed in some way or the other to make this seminar a successful one.

Dhritishna Jiri Pachani

 SEMINAR ABSTRACT

Topic- Concept of the Self and the Other: A postcolonial reading of Mary Shelley's
Frankenstein.

Edward Said’s Orientalism is the cornerstone of the postcolonial canon. It was this celebrated
work that generated other related materials and texts which were based upon the theory of
Orientalism. The "Self" and the "Other" can be translated to the Occident / Orient, us /them,
The West /the rest, center/margin, metropolitan/colonial subjects, vocal/silent. In all these
cases Western literary and cultural canon defines "its other" in relation to himself, the "other"
is an alien and alter ago to and of the "self", as an inferior reflection of Europe. Orientalism
is a concept on the idea of the “other” and "self" and it is this concept that Mary Shelley's
Frankenstein portrays before it's readers where the creator of the monster can be considered
as "self" and the monster can be considered as the representative of "other".
The aim of this seminar paper is to present the theory of orientalism which is
affiliated with the representation of the Self or Occident and the Other or Orient in which the
Self is privileged and has upper hand to define and reconstruct the passive, silent and weak
Other. How the different characters in the text engage with the idea of the self and other is the
central theme of the paper. Also it will throw light on the concept of "other" by analysing the
role of women in the novel, especially showing how the natural process of birth has been
challenged, thus treating women as "other" and lastly, it will present a detailed analysis of the
character of the monster as the main victim of "othering".
In this seminar paper, primary and secondary sources will be made use of. The
sources will comprise of some reference books and research materials from the internet. This
paper will adapt analytical methodology taking into consideration the theoretical framework
of orientalism.

Keywods- self, other, monster, Frankenstein

INTRODUCTION

Edward Said’s Orientalism is his most celebrated work that got published in 1978. It has been
influential in about half a dozen established disciplines, especially literary studies (English,
comparative literature), history, anthropology, sociology, area studies (mainly Middle East
studies) and comparative religion. In Orientalism, Said examines Western representations
(fiction and nonfiction) of the Middle Eastern societies and cultures. The book won him
universal recognition for innovative and provocative explorations of the interrelationship
between texts—literary and otherwise. Said examines these works with reference to the
social, political, and economic contexts from which they emerged. Orientalism is the multiple
relationships between the act of writing and cultural politics, language, and power. He
attempts to show how Western journalists, fiction writers, and scholars helped to build up a
prevalent and hostile image of the Eastern cultures as inferior, stagnant, and degenerate. He
also attempts to show the extent to which these representations permeate the Western culture.
The West exploited these representations to justify their imperialist policies in the Middle
East.
Orientalism is closely related to the concept of the Self and the Other because as Said
points out in his second definition of Orientalism, it makes a distinction between the
Occident, i.e. self and the Orient, i.e. the Other, since the analysis of the relationship of the
'self' and the 'other' is at the heart of Postcolonialism and many define Postcolonialism in
terms of the relationship of the self and the Other.

AIM

The aim of this seminar paper is to present the theory of orientalism which is affiliated with
the representation of the Self or Occident and the Other or Orient in which the Self is
privileged and has upper hand to define and reconstruct the passive, silent and weak Other.
How the different characters in the text engage with the idea of the self and other is the
central theme of the paper. Also it will throw light on the concept of "other" by analysing the
role of women in the novel, especially showing how the natural process of birth has been
challenged, thus treating women as "other" and lastly, it will present a detailed analysis of the
character of the monster as the main victim of "othering".
HYPOTHESIS
The study undertaken here would go a long way in highlighting the concept of “Self” and
“other” and also analyse the various characters in the text who are representation of these two
classes.

METHODOLOGY
In this seminar paper, primary and secondary sources will be made use of. The sources will
comprise of some reference books and research materials from the internet. This paper will
adapt analytical methodology taking into consideration the theoretical framework of
orientalism.
 TEXT ANALYSIS

Since Edward W. Said proposed the idea of 'the Other' in his work Orientalism the term
became popular in recent cultural and literary studies and this notion of "Othering" can be
found in Mary Shelley's work Frankenstein. The monster that was created by the protagonist,
Victor Frankenstein, is othered in the novel because of his presentation throughout. By
studying the description of the creature's appearance, the language and setting of the novel,
and the interaction with the other characters it can be understood how Victor Frankenstein's
creation is made alien and is denied the status of a human being. Thus, it can be argued that
Mary Shelley uses elements in her novel which other the creature through his portrayal as
inhuman.
An important role for othering the creature plays his visual nature. Inherently, his
creation itself is an unnatural act which paves the creature's further way in life as an outsider.
On the one hand, he can be considered as artificial because he is created and not born, on the
other, as biological because he is made of organic material with “the dissecting room and
slaughter-house furnish[ing] many of [his] materials“(Shelley 43). As a result, Victor
Frankenstein creates a composition of animal and human body parts. Because of this mixture
of species, the reader can not consider him as fully human. Shelley explicitly describes his
facial features. It requires the reader to visualise the creature's appearance. “Yellow skin
cover[ing] the work of muscles and arteries beneath”, “hair (…) of a lustrous black” and
“teeth of pearly whiteness” (Shelley 45) describe his features as distinctively different from
that of human beings. Frankenstein's remarks on the appearance can be seen as an attempt to
differentiate in species. Moreover, he is capable of superhuman strength and can endure more
deprivation than humans, best example being the scene where he is chased by Frankenstein
across the arctic. Frankenstein describes the creature's capabilities as “advancing towards me
with superhuman speed. He bounded over the crevices in the ice, which I had walked with
caution; his stature, also (...) seemed to exceed that of man” (Shelley 85). Thus, he can not be
equated with human capability and, therefore, is outside of the understanding of humanity.
In addition to its appearance, the creature is degraded to an inhuman object by the
diction Shelley uses. His presence is also welcomed with cries of horror, amongst others by
an old man, by the De Lacey family, and by the father of a girl he saves . He is called
deprecatory terms like “wretch", “filthy daemon”, “vile insect” and “abhorred devil”, even
before he commits any acts of violence. He is denied a decent address and, instead, is
degraded by insults. Furthermore, it is frequently addressed as “it”. When Frankenstein first
sees his creation he “saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a
convulsive motion agitated its limbs” (Shelley 45). His exclaim might be intuitive but it still
sets the notion of the creature being an “it” instead of a person right at the beginning of his
existence. Another term which shows dehumanisation is “species”. Frankenstein starts
working in his laboratory with the intention that “a new species would bless [him] as its
creator” (Shelley 42), deliberately creating a distinction between human kind and his
creation. In his last moments he, again, highlights the distinction between “species” by
emphasising his duty towards humanity to prevent further harm by killing his creation
(Shelley 195). The creature himself recognizes that he is different. He knows that “man will
not associate with [him]” and, therefore, demands a “companion (…) of the same species”
(Shelley 126). Being nameless robs him of any connection to humanity, being not a person
but something unworthy of a name The namelessness does not allow it to have an own
identity. Rather, he is defined by the description of others since in the course of the novel the
creature adopts the labelling of the other characters, for example “wretch”, and does not give
himself a name. By using the degrading language of the other characters it actually supports
its othering.
The difference between the other characters and the creature becomes even clearer by
the setting. The novel takes place mainly in several European locations, for example in
Switzerland, Germany, Italy and England. The creature does not fit in this environment. The
creature is aware of not fitting in European civilisation and proposes to “go to the vast wilds
of South America” being “cut off from all the world” (Shelley 128). His massive frame and
deformed body disagree with living a normal life in the society of the novel but rather fit in
untamed places which comply in vastness with his own measurements. The contrast between
civilised and uncivilised regions depicts the creature as the 'Other' to the European characters.
Frankenstein begins from the perspective of Captain Walton. Through the letters addressed to
his sister, the reader is told the story of how Victor Frankenstein was discovered by members
of the ship's crew. Frankenstein's retelling of his story–and the monster's story– is biased, and
the reader cannot be sure whether certain aspects of the story are true, or if any of it took
place at all. This framing narrative is an example of how the British people received news of
the “Oriental” world, and formed their perspectives on the people within those cultures. The
first ten chapters of Frankenstein are told through the perspective of the creator. This
establishes a bias against the monster as the reader can only judge as Frankenstein himself
has judged. This can be interpreted as an analogy for the concept of Orientalism. British
society created an image of Middle Eastern, East Asian, and South Asian cultures, twisting
their people into almost satirical entities, while the cultures themselves had little to no say in
the matter (“What is Orientalism?”). By the time the other side of the story was told, it was
too late; the picture had been painted and the canvas could not be cleared.

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the author characterizes each woman as passive, disposable
and serving a utilitarian function. Female characters like Safie, Elizabeth, Justine, Margaret
and Agatha provide nothing more but a channel of action for the male characters in the novel.
Events and actions happen to them, usually for the sake of teaching a male character a lesson
or sparking an emotion within him. Each of Shelley’s women serves a very specific purpose
in Frankenstein.
First, Justine’s character is a very passive, seldom vocal character in the novel. She is tossed
back and forth between her family and the Frankensteins, until she is ultimately framed for
the murder of William Frankenstein. Justine becomes an inactive, docile victim of
circumstance.
The next female character encountered is the young cottager’s daughter Agatha,
whom the monster studies. Agatha’s purpose, as a kind and gentle female, is to exhibit and
embody all virtue and sensitivity. Agatha’s female character, through its inactive and tender
nature, serves to teach the monster his first lessons on healthy human relationships and love.
The monster’s next lesson comes from another female close to Agatha. When Safie arrives at
the cottagers’ from Arabia, she must be tutored to learn English. As the monster continues his
observances of the happy family, Safie’s lessons become his own as well. Perhaps the most
important emotional channel in the novel is Frankenstein’s betrothed Elizabeth. Described as
a submissive, gentle character from the beginning, Elizabeth has always been a soft spot for
her fiancé. Frankenstein views her as a possession: “I looked upon Elizabeth as mine - mine
to protect, love and cherish. All praises bestowed on her I received as made to a possession of
my own” ( Shelly, 21) Lastly, Margaret’s character has perhaps the most passive role of all.
She is useful to us as an audience because without her, there is no reason for Walton to relay
his story. Yet, we never meet this character nor do we know if she really exists, if she ever
reads the story and gets the letters, or if she has anything to say about it. She is the most
distant and passive female character in the novel and also the most necessary to the novel as a
whole.
Thus, all these women characters in the novel can also be considered as a victim of
"othering" and as other along with the monster.

Victor Frankenstein can be considered to be a self-centred person in the novel and

thus is a representation of “self”. He is portrayed as a selfish character who is only concerned
about his own well-being. Frankenstein wanted to manipulate the power of life. He abandons
his creation because of the creature’s appearance and also withholds information or lies about
his creation. Due to Victor 's selfishness, readers feel sorry for his creation. Frankenstein
created the creature so he could manipulate the power of life, not to learn from the
experience. He is so immersed in his studies that he got fascinated by the creation of life. He
studies what the human body is made up of and how it falls apart. Victor completely
disengages from the world when he was away at school after his mother dies of scarlet fever.
But in reality, he is disgusted by the sight of his creation so he abandons it leaving it all alone
in the world without any guidance and runs away to the next room. Victor himself suffered
from being a social outcast and now he bestowed the same feeling onto the creature by
abandoning him. Not only is Victor selfish for abandoning his creature but he is shallow as
well. Instead of realizing that he achieved his goal of bringing life to an inanimate body he
runs way because of how hideous it is.
 CONCLUSION

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelly has been a perfect example of Edward Said's postcolonialism
as it is able to portray the concept of self and the other in two distinctive ways. In
Frankenstein, Shelley represents the monster not only as a grotesque figure, but also as a
marginalized one. From the moment he comes to life, the monster’s physical
differences mark him as an “other,” an opposite of the European ideals of beauty.
Despite his attempts, the monster is unable to assimilate into the mainstream culture,
becoming “other” because of his bodily characteristics. The book evokes mixed feelings
since it has an ethical conflict in the plot foundation. The Creature was designed as a
scientific experiment and was perceived as a disaster. However, it displayed more expressive
human qualities than the cowardly creator.

Consequently, the book’s main problem is the philosophical perception of individuals

and what conditions determine the human species. This dilemma suggests that it is not only
those beings that are anthropological humans that can exhibit appropriate characteristics and
behavioural patterns. The Creature displayed kindness, fear, and a desire to find public
approval, which is characteristic of an existential crisis. On the other hand, Victor declined
responsibility, although the man could have contributed to the Monster’s socialization. One
of the problem resolutions is studying the book, in which each reader will take a personal
point of view regarding empathy or hate for the Creature.
 WORK CITED

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein, or, The modern Prometheus. London: Penguin
Books, 2003.
Chattopadhyay, Bodhisattva. Theorysims an introduction. Worldview publications, 2015.
Abrams, M.H., and Geoffrey Galt Harpham. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 10th ed.
Australia: Cengage Leaming, 2015.
Nayar, K., Pramod. Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory, From Structuralism to
Ecocriticism. Pearson publication.