Shelley’s Gothic novel, Frankenstein, explores the complex nature of mankind by considering the consequences of an unrestricted pursuit of science. A rise in scientific experimentation with Galvanism during Shelley’s time is reflected through the protagonist Victor as he uses it to bestow life. Shelley portrays Victor and the Creature as complex beings, demonstrating both inhuman and human qualities. Despite this, the subsequent rejection by his creator and the De Lacy family drives the Creature to ‘eternal rejection and vengeance of mankind’. Victor’s initial response when meeting the creature, demonstrates his savage, cruel treatment and lack of responsibility towards his creation.…
In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, she attempts to bring to light the dangers and the amount of responsibility a then new-found age of scientific exploration and discovery could bring to the table. When Technology and Power are used for self-beneficiary reasons, the process in which man tries to move forward with their pursuit of knowledge becomes complex, ending in the corruption of the self. In his attempt to make life, Victor unleashes a ‘Monster’ unto the world, oblivious to the responsibility it comes with. Being ignorant to this, and believing it to be a mere monster, he rejects any responsibility, sealing their fate in death.…
FRANKENSTEIN ESSAY: Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, is arguably one of the most controversial novels of the 19th Century. It discusses the concept of science verses human conscience in a technological world. The Gothic atmosphere of the novel reflects the dark feelings of society at the time, and Shelley utilised pathetic fallacy, her chosen form and imagery to suggest a twist on the real monster of her story. Shelley uses poetical language and perspective to emphasise how the monster is a model Romaticist, and to express the importance of belonging and communication to a judgemental society. Symbols, contrasts and ‘heavenly’ adjectives are used to portray Victor Frankenstein as a God-like figure; expressing how we must never interfere with nature’s course and take on God’s role to the knowledge-greedy culture of the 1800’s, which was consumed with the Industrial Revolution. Shelley has manipulated her writing to convey her personal ideologies, and to reflect her concern for a loss of ethics in a society fixated on the pursuit for answers.…
Cultural, religious and scientific influences are deeply intertwined in Frankenstein. The novel’s cultural aspect is introduced at the beginning of the novel when Victor’s drive for knowledge is introduced, which leads to the introduction of the science aspect, in which Victor animates lifeless matter. The birth of his monster establishes the religious aspect the nature of evil becomes questionable. In this essay, Shelley’s manipulation of the religion, scientific, and cultural aspects of the novel will be analyzed. Throughout the novel Frankenstein, Shelley manipulates…
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein explores the concepts of knowledge and science and the dangers involved with the pursuit and investigation of these ideas. The novel conveys Shelley’s attitudes towards science by portraying it as having the capability to exceed the bounds of human restraint. Through the development of her protagonist Victor Frankenstein, the romantic and gothic aspects of her novel, the period of 1818 and the influences of the world she was living in that are evident in the novel and the exploration of the human need for love and relationships.…
Frankenstein: A Monster Misunderstood Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley's Frankenstein is a novel that was published in 1831. The story seems to center around Victor Frankenstein. As a reader, however, one does not appreciate the creature's perspective until the climax of the book. The monster is abandoned by his creator and is left to fend for himself in world that does not understand him. This paper will focus solely on the opposing side of the story. The creature's path is examined from his creation, outcast, learning process, voyage to locate Victor, request for a mate, and the subsequent revenge against Victor for not upholding his promise.…
There are many different readings of ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley, first published in 1818. The traditional reading sees the novel being about a man getting punished by God for crossing his domain. Many different Gothic themes are used in the novel to create a sense of fear in the audience, not just in the fear of science but the fear of the power of science and the influence this power has on Victor’s character.…
In the spirit of Enlightenment, a large cultural movement in the pre-19th century world, Shelley conceived Frankenstein and, in effect, his creation. The Enlightenment movement encouraged people to turn away from faith and to start relying more on reason and the answers developments in science were beginning to supply. “A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch.” The juxtaposition of the Creatures unnatural image with the romantic values of the sublime and creative genius characterises the monumental shift away from the natural. The death of her protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, represents the expectations the romantic writer has for the enlightenment movement, alluding to the inevitable doom it will bring upon humanity. By creating a juxtaposed image between Frankenstein, who is repeatedly surrounded by pejorative terms such as ‘suffer’, ‘malice’ and ‘bitter’, and his brother Ernest, characterising the latter as ‘full of activity and spirit’, Shelley places Ernest in the role of Romanticism…
Victor Frankenstein’s pursuit of knowledge is deleterious to himself and everyone around him whereas the creature has a genuine desire to become more human. Frankenstein fails to preserve his morality by attempting to attain god-like power. His curiosity for the secrets of life is sinful, like Adam and Eve who ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Frankenstein “seems to have lost all soul or sensation but for [his] one pursuit.”1…
Frankenstein: Technology In Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, written in the late nineteenth century by Mary Shelley, Shelley proposes that knowledge and its…
Chakari Monsanto 12.6.12 AP Literature Frankenstein Dangerous Knowledge From the beginning of time until now the limitless pursuit of knowledge reveals man’s weakness. Modern society provides humans with a wide variety of sources on how to gain knowledge, both good and evil. The thirst for forbidden knowledge beyond what man can essentially handle, causes a tragic life. The protagonist in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley exemplifies the behavior of the ideal man grasping for more knowledge than he can truly bare; in turn this knowledge becomes tarnished. Shelley eludes to the Greek myth of Prometheus allowing the reader to delve deeper into the general theme that those who pursue an insatiable desire for knowledge, if not tamed, will cause destruction.…
Frankenstein, speaking of himself as a young man in his father’s home, points out that he is unlike Elizabeth, who would rather follow “the aerial creations of the poets”. Instead he pursues knowledge of the “world” though investigation. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that the meaning of the word “world” is for Frankenstein, very much biased or limited. He thirsts for knowledge of the tangible world and if he perceives an idea to be as yet unrealised in the material world, he then attempts to work on the idea in order to give it, as it were, a worldly existence. Hence, he creates the creature that he rejects because its worldly form did not reflect the glory and magnificence of his original idea. Thrown, unaided and ignorant, into the world, the creature begins his own journey into the discovery of the strange and hidden meanings encoded in human language and society. In this essay, I will discuss how the creature can be regarded as a foil to Frankenstein through an examination of the schooling, formal and informal, that both of them go through. In some ways, the creature’s gain in knowledge can be seen to parallel Frankenstein’s, such as, when the creature begins to learn from books. Yet, in other ways, their experiences differ greatly, and one of the factors that contribute to these differences is a structured and systematic method of learning, based on philosophical tenets, that is available to Frankenstein but not to the creature.…
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein explores the challenge to normalcy and humanity’s pursuit of knowledge that over powers human morality. The protagonist, Victor Frankenstein grows up with an idyllic childhood, aligning him towards the Romantic ideals of Shelley's time of writing in the early 19th Century. His eccentric childhood foreshadows the great tragedy that overtakes him and unravels, "I will...unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation." The use of first person highlights the acceleration of scientific knowledge that has driven Victor away from Romantic inclinations. Victor’s retrospection “lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit”, uses juxtaposition of “all” and “one” to emphasise his unrestrained pursuit of control over the natural order and insular obsession to conquer death. His time at University prompts his self-corruption in creating artificial life, exemplifying Enlightenment ideals through the use of arrogant tone, "I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter". Therefore Mary Shelley offers insights into the human experience by affirming the romantic agendas of her characters through the implications of challenging the natural rhythms of nature.…
Frankenstein deals with two main social concerns, the level of moral responsibility that a creator possesses in relation to his creation, as well as the issue of the moral boundaries that exists in one's quest for knowledge, including the fine line between good and bad knowledge,…
This change in humanity is something Shelley questions extensively throughout her novel with Victor’s parallellism with society in the way he goes about his science ‘I was left with a Childs blindness added to a student’s thirst for knowledge’ this thirst for knowledge in victor was not accompanied by thought for the future it was the ‘childs blindness’ to go with his ‘ardent curiosity’ that created a ‘monster’. Frankenstein’s arrogance and ignorance is making a statement about humanity’s lust to be enlightened with ‘both eyes open, only to be blinded in one eye’ with the morals and ethics of our society lacking the support and discussion needed. tragic circumstance’s within Frankenstein are made to show what should have happened in the circumstances, which involves thinking of morals and…