The Pursuit Of Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

¨You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been…(Shelley 12)¨. The pursuit of knowledge has always been a weakness of man throughout history, even though it has been encouraged to be ¨knowledgeable¨, there has been a fine line of danger that accompanies any amount of knowledge that can be acquired. In the story of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, expresses this idea as the main character Victor Frankenstein is in pursuit of information and knowledge that can change the nature and even the purpose of life and death. Mary Shelley expresses themes such as the idea that forbidden knowledge can be dangerous, as displayed through the actions and nature of Victor, as well as expressing the faulty idea that the natural man can bend nature to his will, even the idea of conquering death, and finally, the moral lesson
As he finally pursues his dream, he enters a state of self imposed isolation cutting off most of his social ties to the world except for the ones he maintains in his family. He then becomes addicted to his studies, relentlessly working despite his needs for the basic human necessities of sleep and food. When Victor final gives birth to his so called ”monster”, he is ashamed of it, as it represents, in his eyes, “...the fruit of his unnatural labor and the true representation of his darker side..(Johns 2)”. The pursuit of knowledge in the name of human advancement or for the sake of knowledge is defined as something honorable and good by society, but it became destructive and ruinous to Victor as he became addicted to it and decided to tread down a darker path of this particular