Agrippa's Passion In Frankenstein

Throughout history, humans draw towards different passions that leave them driven to discover more about it or to embrace it. Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, offers multiple examples of how one’s passion often leads them towards their demise. Through Robert Walton’s, the creature’s, and Victor Frankenstein’s point of view, the novel describes each main characters’ persistence to achieve their dream and where it takes them in their life at the end of the story.

Within the novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein pursues his passion for natural philosophy and chemistry by focusing on breaking the barriers between life and death. His passion began at an inn in the town of Thonon; where a book about the works of Cornelius Agrippa introduces Victor to the subject of natural philosophy. Agrippa was a German physician that believed that supernatural powers enable a union between oneself and the world. However, between Agrippa’s time and Victor’s,

As soon as Victor’s father notices his son’s peaked interest in the physician’s work, he attempts to discourage his son from learning the nonsense. Victor, instead, claims that “the cursory glance [his] father had taken” from the book “by no means assured [Victor] that [his father] was acquainted with its contents” and continues “to read with the greatest avidity” (Shelley 22). By ignoring his father, Victor further establishes his newfound passion for natural philosophy and continues to indulge in Agrippa’s works. Victor then undertakes the knowledge of other authors of the subject, such as Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus, which in turn make him realize his ambition to make a discovery of the world rather than becoming wealthy. When Victor turns seventeen, he continues his education at the University of Ingolstadt, where his passion for natural philosophy grows. His persistence to learn more and to ignore people who could have stunted