Completely defining the sublime seems to lead to an almost infinite collection of puzzle pieces, filling only a small part of the final image. Edmund Burke attempts to assemble an authoritative definition of the sublime—and the human experience that accompanies it—in A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. Burke's definition proclaims that "whatever is in any way terrible" (Burke 499) invokes the sublime, which he considers "the strongest emotion the mind is capable of feeling" (Burke 499). In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein the monster exemplifies the Burkean sublime. Shelley's descriptions of the monster and his actions are consistent with Burke's definitions and his categories of Darkness, Power, Terror, Difficulty, and Vastness, each of which facilitates sublime experiences. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Furthermore, the monster arouses feelings of extreme fear, awe, and terror (each necessary for Burke) in Victor, Walton, and the De Lacey family, but in no case harms or kills any of them. By not inflicting direct physical harm on the aforementioned characters, the monster keeps its power and dangerousness at a “certain distance” (Burke 500), which satisfies Burke's requirement for the delightful amazement of sublimity. The monster further embodies the sublime due to its perpetual liminal state. The monster is essentially human, but remains an inhuman creation; physically immense, but recounts his experience learning to read and speak like a child would. Liminality contributes to Burke's concept of the Darkness causing the sublime experience. The monster's ultimate end also maintains an air of sublimity, as Shelley never clearly states what happens beyond Walton's point of view. In A Philosophical Inquiry (from Difficulty) Burke states, “When any work seems to have required immense strength and labor to accomplish, the idea is grand” (503). The great effort that Victor makes in assembling and bringing the monster to life in Chapter IV of Frankenstein is nothing more than the difficulty that Burke deems sufficient to create a sublime experience. Victor reflects on the process by which he created the monster and the emotional experience. Shelley writes, “No one can conceive the variety of feelings which carried me forward, like a hurricane, into the first enthusiasm of success” (32). Victor fails to adequately describe the emotional attachment he has to his creation and the difficulty of the undertaking, and defaults to a metaphorical hurricane. The power and strength of a hurricane seems to adhere to Burke's idea of ​​experiencing the strongest possible emotion as a result of the sublime, which alludes to the inherent sublimity of the monster. As the monster comes to life, the sublime effect on Victor becomes evident in the following lines: I had toiled for nearly two years, with the sole purpose of breathing life into an inanimate body but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream it vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart (Shelley 34). The monster's appearance overwhelms Victor, reminding him of the incredible effort - "he worked hard for almost two years" - that he has invested in something he does not see as beautiful. Victor's disappointment with the monster's form fills him with an almost painful fear that recalls the sublime awe that Burke postulates in the section: Of the Passion Caused by the Sublime. Even as the monster lies motionless on the table, Victor brims with a daunting and powerful emotion that is nothing short of sublime. The physical construction of the monster further fulfills Burke's image of the sublime from Difficulty because "His yellow skin barely covered the work of themuscles and underlying arteries" (Shelley 34) corresponds to the concept that "the crudeness of the work increases the cause of greatness" (Burke 503). Although the monster lives his incomplete form with his muscles exposed it takes away any semblance of perfection, and thus makes his creation even more sublimely Burkian. Imperfection seems to be a precept of the horror genre, making a single frightening flaw or eccentricity the root of danger. Darkness is another of the sources of sublime events by Burke. His definition extends beyond the unknown, citing the natural apprehension that comes from the unknown. The monster is ultimately “the dark, confusing, uncertain image” (Burke 501) that has “most power” according to Burke. The monster's body, composed of multiple different bodies stitched together and reanimated, remains a dark example of humanity. It is both a living being and the undead combination of other beings importance of darkness? In volume II, chapter IV of Frankenstein the monster recounts his first months of life in the shack among the peasants and his experience of learning about the world: "I discovered the names that were given to some of the most familiar objects of speech: I learned and applied the words fire, milk, bread, and wood” (Shelley 75). This quote is relevant to Burke's notion of Darkness in two ways. First, considering the monster's size, "about eight feet tall and proportionately large" (Shelley 32), the idea that he still needed to learn the basic principles of language seems problematic. The type of elementary learning that the monster describes participating in indicates that at the point described in the quote he would have had the intellect of a child and the form of a giant man. This confusion between external appearance and internal reality seems representative of darkness in the Burkean sense. Another important aspect of the quote on page 75 revolves around diction. Including the words “discovered,” “speech,” and “applied” indicates an eloquence that readers do not normally associate with monsters. Arguably, the disparity between a monstrous form and an eloquent tongue satisfies the example Burke gives from the darkness. The monster's true nature is uncertain and confusing because it straddles the line between human and inhuman. Furthermore, the monster is literally nameless. Throughout the novel he is only called "the monster". His nameless nature complements the darkness of his form and makes him difficult, if not impossible, to fully discern. Because of the darkness of the monster, it wields great power (as Burke would say) due to the inability of others to discern and understand it, which leads to the fearful thoughts that accompany the sublime. Another Burkian aspect of the sublime is Vastness. Burke states, "The greatness of size is a powerful cause of the sublime greatness of size, the vastness of extent or quantity, has the most striking effect" (502), which intuitively applies to Victor's monster and its form physics. As stated previously, the size of the monster, nearly eight feet tall and proportionately large, a “being of gigantic stature” (Shelley 32), clearly demonstrates the vastness of the monster. Besides being obviously intimidating in size, the monster's proportional size indicates an even greater mass. Only the monster's size demands attention and embodies an undeniable vastness. Imagining any human being or creature of that size, the reader must accept that such a creation would evoke intense admiration and awe. Throughout the novel Shelley returns to descriptions of the monster's size and a notable example occurs near the end of the novel when Walton, a ship captain trapped in the Arctic and Victor's new acquaintance,he sees the monster himself for the first time. that I can't find words to describe it; gigantic in stature, but crude and distorted in its proportions" (Shelley 152). After recognizing the creature's large size, Walton "involuntarily closed his eyes" (152) and attempted to collect himself. The intense physical reaction to the monster that Walton describes is parallel to the type of powerful emotional response that Burke derives from a sublime incidence. Through its appearance, the monster exemplifies the concept of Vastness and fits well with Burke's definition for the sublime by studying the qualities of Power and Terror of the sublime that Burke describes, the monster seems, almost elementally, to characterize them both. Victor's monster is undoubtedly terrible and arouses extreme fear in Victor and Walton, as cited above 34) that Victor feels at first when looking at the living monster clearly amounts to fear, or terror for Burke's sake Walton calls the appearance of the monster "appalling horror" (152) and his reaction cannot be considered anything else. what a terrible fear. The terror that the monster inspires in those people who see it is based on Burke's belief that fear can induce the sublime. Furthermore, Burke argues, “Whatever therefore is terrible, so far as sight is concerned, is also sublime” (501). Considering the monster's hideous, gigantic and disturbing appearance, it easily fits Burke's idea of ​​something visually terrible, which makes the monster inherently sublime. . The monster is also the ultimate “modification of power” (Burke 501) and this intensifies danger and fear, leading to the sublime. The ease with which the monster snuffs out the lives of Victor's friends and loved ones shows the power it possesses. In Volume II, Chapter VII of Frankenstein, the monster describes his encounter with and murder of Victor's brother William, the still struggling child, and burdens me with epithets that brought despair to my heart: I grabbed his throat to silence him, and in a moment he lies dead at my feet (Shelley 97). The monster grabs William's throat only in an attempt to silence him, but due to the great power he possesses the child dies. Although the monster reacts strongly to his murderous work, the way his attempt to silence William went awry seems to indicate that not even the monster can foresee the power he boasts. The monster also moves quickly and forcefully, as it pursues Victor, and Shelley describes it, "advancing towards Victor with superhuman speed. The monster leaped over the cracks in the ice, between which Victor had walked carefully" (65). The term "superhuman" seems particularly relevant in reference to the power that the monster possesses. Surpassing the capabilities normally attributed to humans, the monster demonstrates sublime power. Imagining such an event evokes awe almost instantly and begs the question of how such an astonishingly robust creature could exist. Superhuman speed is one that would also bring terror and fear to the viewer who might wonder if such speed would be used against them. For Burke, the fear intrinsic to the sublime occurs “wherever we find strength, and in what light we ever look at power” (502) which is “the concomitant of terror” (502). Hence, any force that causes fear in the observer is sublime in nature. The monster possesses immense power that intimidates and frightens Victor and thus achieves the sublime. Burke points out at the beginning of A Philosophical Inquiry that the sublime occurs only when pain, danger, and fear are seen or experienced from a distance. Experiencing pain firsthand makes it "incapable of giving any pleasure" (Burke 500), but when pain and danger are implied by Terror, Darkness, Power, Difficulty, and Vastness, then., 1996.