Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, is a novel that explores to answer the questions that many philosophers have pondered upon. This book is mostly famous for the richness of ideas it asks mankind to confront—how the uneducated and deprived people are treated, how knowledge could be used for good and evil, and how the influence of technology affects mankind. The novel is about Victor Frankenstein, who is a young, talented scientist obsessed with discovering the secret of creating life. While studying in a university, he works alone in his apartment and creates a living being by recycling old body part from deceased people. At first, the creature created seems gentle and harmless, but because of its grotesque appearance, he is forced to hide away from civilization. This “Monster” feels frustrated and angry towards mankind, which leads him to seek revenge on his creator. The author presents an exceptional character in Victor Frankenstein and his creation, the Creature. They are almost like two halves of a
Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, is about one man’s desire to create life, and how it later becomes his demise. Parallels can be drawn between Shelley’s life and her novel. One distinct connection between Shelley’s life and Frankenstein is the resemblance of Shelley’s husband, Percy Shelley, and Victor Frankenstein. While the connection between Victor and Percy has been previously made by literary scholars, this essay will further explore the idea.
Though, the creature is often referred to as the monster, he cannot be viewed as one-dimensional. He is responsible for the murders of William, the younger brother, Henry Clerval, Victor’s friend, and Elizabeth Lavenza, as well as being responsible for the hanging of Justine, the maid of the Frankenstein’s. Although the creature took revenge because of his anger and bitterness, it can be said that he was not born with those character traits. He became such a being due to Victor’s rejection. He experiences hate from the very beginning as Victor is horrified by his creation.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a story of revenge and destruction . Shelly takes the audience through satisfying, yet emotional adventures throughout the book. A confrontation between a creator and a creature. In a novel by William Styron, a father tells his son that life “is a search for justice.” A character within the book that responds in some significant way to injustice is Victor Frankenstein. The character Frankenstein responds to injustice throughout the book with actions and by revealing the truth.
Most people know who Frankenstein is—or at least they think they do. Because of the way Mary Shelley’s brilliant 1818 novel has been adapted to f ilm, most Americans think that Frankenstein is a towering, scar-faced monster who brings terror wherever he goes. In Shelley’s novel, however, the real monster is Victor Frankenstein, the scientist who is the monster’s creator. In her story of how Victor Frankenstein creates the monster and what he does after the monster comes to life, Shelley conveys several timeless messages about the dangers of science, the dangers of isolation, and the importance of being a good parent. It is a novel that everyone should read. In the story, Frankenstein, eager for glory, wants to discover the “elixir of life”
“At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification”(Shelley 80). The Creation of Frankenstein woke up in a world of hate. Since he looked different, the Monster never fit in with normal people. He would become isolated and feared because of his looks. Because the Monster was a hideous creation from Frankenstein, he was isolated and hated by his looks and behaved in an ethical manner when he began his path of vengeance.
This theme reiterates when Victor is finishing his creation and he ponders “I had worked so hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body” (57). It is clear that Victor has devoted a large portion of his life building the monster, including all of the time that Victor spent learning before he could even begin his experiment. Thus, it is evident that Victor is devoted to his creation, and he spent time to carefully craft the monster. What is also discernible is that Victor loves his creation at least initially because he has spent so much time working on it. More support for this claim comes from Victor’s personal commentary while at Ingolstadt; “My cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had
In Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, Dr. Victor Frankenstein is an ambitious scientist who seeks to discover the wonders of the dead. Victor wants to become the first person to give life to the dead but lets his lust for resurrecting the dead consume him and forgetting reality to focus on one goal. However, once Victor completes his task of resurrecting the dead, his whole world falls apart because of the monster he created. Victor’s monster is a hideous human being that frightens even death itself, causing society to reject him as a person. The monster was born with no knowledge of the world, and Victor abandoned the monster resulting in the monster trying to find his own path. However, only to be exiled from humanity instilling a rage inside the
As the novel Frankenstein progresses, the idea that Victor and the Monster grow ever so similar becomes highly pertinent. Victor’s ultimate demise is a direct relationship to the amount of people that have been murdered by the monster. As the Monster destroys everything Victor loves, Victor begins to be in a similar, if not worse position than the Monster initially is. Throughout this, the Monster develops into a more bitter and spiteful character.
Victor has failed his duties as the creator in his relationship with the monster. By providing life to the monster, it is Victor’s responsibility to care for him and to do his best to provide what is necessary for his happiness. Victor, however, proves to be inadequate to provide happiness for the monster. Soon after he created the monster, he was “unable to endure the aspect of the being [he] had created,” wishing to banish his creation only because of outer appearance (58). When the monster had escaped, Victor had no intentions of finding it, much less caring for it. Victor’s shallowness refrains him from loving and supporting his creation; as a result, the creation lacks a parental figure to love and guide him. The monster recognizes that
Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, is about one man’s desire to create life, and how it later becomes his demise. Parallels can be drawn between Shelley’s life and her novel. One distinct connection between Shelley’s life and Frankenstein is the resemblance of Shelley’s husband, Percy Shelley, and Victor Frankenstein. While the connection between Victor and Percy has been previously made by literary scholars, this essay will further explore the idea.
Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, is about one man’s desire to create life, and how it later becomes his demise. Parallels can be drawn between Shelley’s life and her novel. One distinct connection between Shelley’s life and Frankenstein is the resemblance of Shelley’s husband, Percy Shelley, and Victor Frankenstein. While the connection between Victor and Percy has been previously made by literary scholars, this essay will further explore the idea.
You can become who you are and explore in ways that were never before thought to be possible. Here, at the university, Frankenstein became so infatuated with his studies and thirst for knowledge that he became neglectful of those he held dear. His friend Clerval, and his wife suffered the most because of Victor’s self isolation. This isolation is something that destroys connections to the world that one may call familiar. But one strange thing about the creation of life, is it brings people together. Such as the birth of a child and how the family unit truly reconnects on an emotional level. But Frankenstein created his own monster when he decided to run from the creature. Victor willingly neglected the companionship that was his duty, to care for the creature. This choice left the creature to the hands of mother who isn’t always know to be
The story of Frankenstein and his monster is one of the most famous horror stories of all time. This story has been retold extensively in numerous cinematic productions. However, the original book Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, may differ from the tale so many think they know. Shelley tells the story of a man, Frankenstein, who lets his scientific ambition lead him to create something unnatural. However, the creature Frankenstein creates, known commonly as his ‘monster’, is not a mindless being. This can be seem in the rest of the book which tells how the monster learns and interacts with the world after his creation. Through this telling one can see it is only when the monster feels rejected or betrayed that he resorts to violence. This correlation leads into one of the main themes of the book which is the importance of companionship.
---ADD NEC’S NOTES --- According to A.C. Bradley, “There is not a syllable in Macbeth to imply that [the witches] are anything but women,” if one were to take a psychological perspective of Macbeth’s behavior, as if he is a patient on Freud’s psychoanalytic couch , one can conclude that Macbeth wasn’t in control of his own mind and, therefore his actions, ---ADD NEC’S NOTES ---