So you plant your own garden and decorate Your own soul, instead of waiting For
someone to bring you flowers... (Unknown poet) The short story “
Transformation” by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley is a confession of a man, who
experiences supernatural adventure that completely changes his personality. One
of the most important themes of the story is the struggle of good and evil in a
soul of a person. This theme is topical at all times. Every person has his own
sins, and he is able to estimate them only if he manages to take a detached view
of himself. Happiness of a person depends on weather he is able to fight against
dark side of his soul or not. Love and selfless feelings help him in this fight.
To convey this theme successfully the author uses the concept of doppelganger.
It helps her to develop the character of Guido (the narrator), and to divide his
good and bad features. She stresses the importance of what the character sees
through his own eyes, how he perceives himself and others around him. In the
beginning of the story the narrator characterizes himself as an extremely
selfish, elate, careless person, who is not able to control his wild emotions
and passions. He looses his father’s money only because of that. More than
that he is not able to keep the most important person of his life – his
innocent and fragile bride Juliet. Unfortunately, at the moment the narrator
does not understand all his mistakes and just continues his wasteful life. Only
at the edge of his life, when he is sure that he will die in a while “I shall
soon die here on these lonely sands, and the limbs he covets will be mine no
more...” he meets this ugly malignant dwarf and finally realizes all his
mistakes. The dwarf actually forces him to find the way out, he shows him all
the ugliest sides of his soul and it makes the narrator revalue the meaning of
his life. His beautiful appearance and gracefulness is not really important for
him any more. He is ready to lay it down for a chance to keep his love. The
theme of love is the central one in this story. For me it seems to be very
complicated. I have a feeling that in the beginning of the story the narrator
does not truly love Juliet. He easily leaves her in Genoa and goes traveling. He
comes back in a while, but only because of his pride, he can not accept an idea
that she might belong to someone else: “Another will call her his! – that
smile of paradise will bless another!” His true feelings become clear to the
reader only when he starts to fight the dwarf to save Juliet: “to-morrow my
bride was to pledge her vows to a fiend from hell! And I did this! – my
accursed pride – my democratic violence and wicked self-idolatry had caused
this act.” The real “transformation” of the character begins at the same
moment. Being infirm and helpless it is easier for Guido to “transform” into
a better person. At the darkest moment of his life he sees the dream that guides
him to fight for his love: “ What did it mean? was my dream but a mirror of
the truth? was he wooing and winning my betrothed? I would on the instant back
to Genoa...” He is sure that he wants to destroy the fiend, but at the same
time it is hard for him to accept an idea that he has to kill his own body. His
fear disappears when he sees Juliet with this terrible man, who is nice and
handsome outside, but cruel and ugly inside: ”Now I was no longer master of
myself. I rushed forward – I threw myself on him – I tore him away...”
Only true love made the character involve in this deadly action, and he is ready
to loose his life for it. Guido wins this fight. Only at the very end of the
story the narrator understands that this ugly dwarf is nothing but himself from
the inside: “ knowing that him whom she reviled was my very self”. I think
that Mary Shelley wants us to understand that a man’s soul like the Moon has
its two opposite sides – the bright and the dark one. We all are to fight
against our bad features during the life. This fight is the most successful when
a man’s life is unstable, when a person looses his wealth, beautiful body, and
health. In such moments only the divine love helps him to become better, purer
and to exhibit the best features. A man will be a winner in the struggle against
“draft” only if he does not regret for the past, does not afraid of the
future and does not blame somebody else in his misfortunes. In this case a
person would accumulate love in his soul through the whole live, and this
feeling would help him to become happy and to provide successful future to his
children.