Frankenstein

Blindness in Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein"

Edward Larrissy highlights in his book "Blind and Blindness in Literature of the Romantic Period" how, in literature, the physical incapability to see is often used to exemplify the existence of figurative blindness. 

As a renowned and quintessential example, "The episode where Frankenstein's creature hides in the house of the blind De Lacey and his family is highly significant for the meaning of the book, as is ensuing one in which he makes himself known to the old man, whose blindness means that he cannot react with prejudice to the creature's hideousness" (Larrissay, 2007). 

Indeed, we see that the old man treats the monster kindly, illuminating the idea that perception and literal sight are not as intertwined as one might necessarily believe. Ultimately, Shelly uses De Lacey's literal blindness in "Frankenstein" to highlight how able-bodied individuals are often blind to the innate individual and dissolve themselves into their discriminatory preconceptions.