The Common Dilemma

Countless writers love to address the issue of society’s obsession with appearances. Even Abraham Lincoln states that “Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think it is and the tree is the real thing.” So of course, a great writer like Mary Shelley brings up this point even from the beginning of her prominent novel Frankenstein.

It is evident that the creature in Frankenstein suffers from severe ostracism due to his “unusual appearance”. Every person he encounters runs away from fright or berates him when they behold his not-so-normal features. (He’s eight feet tall and made of decaying body parts!) One over-the-top reaction to the creature’s appearance comes ironically from his creator, Victor. Upon seeing the creation for the first time, Victor states that “breathless horror and disgust filled [his] heart” (Shelley 51).  What makes his reaction more dramatic is that he runs away from his own creation and falls into a “nervous fever, which confined [him] for several months” (55).From this, we can definitely infer that Victor is overreacting since the creature who had “a grin wrinkled [to] his cheeks” at that time obviously did not pose as a great danger (52). As a result of society’s unjust bias, the creature becomes isolated, spurned by the De Laceys and even gets shot for saving a girl’s life. All of these extreme events lead to the creature’s realization that he will be truly alone in this world. However, there is good news for the creature: he is not alone. There is a special individual who isolates himself to conceal his deformed face, The Phantom. 

            As many people know The Phantom is the main character of the famous book/musical The Phantom of the Opera. The Phantom serves as an epitome of an isolated being who is driven to “unconventional” acts. (I must admit that I am euphemizing his actions since most people consider his acts as insane.) One instance, he murders a man and displays his body in front of a crowd who were just simply trying to enjoy an opera! Yes, I’m not kidding but thankfully he too has a pretty good reason for his unscrupulous acts. The Phantom also known as Erik was born with a deformed face which even aroused disgust from his own mother. Like the creature, the Phantom is abandoned by his own parent and is led to believe that his appearance is of cursed ugliness” (Leroux). The Phantom faces even more adversities when he joins a circus. The circus takes advantage of the naïve Phantom and locks him in a cage where he is displayed to the audience. At the circus he is treated like an animal which destroys his self-esteem and his sense of morality. He eventually escapes the circus and makes the Paris Opera House his home fully aware that society will reject him. He creates a lair in the Opera House and conceals his face with a mask driving him into deeper isolation.

            Despite the revelation that the creature and the Phantom share the same dilemma, they are both destined to an unhappy ending. (The creature decides to kill himself and the Phantom is forced to let go of his love). Hence, it can be assumed that Shelley and Leroux employed these two characters to represent society’s unjust bias towards people who are simply different. Also, they are alluding to the assumption that this bias is a cycle of human nature since we are still cursed by this oppressing issue.