ipl-logo

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Psychology Of Parenting

1606 Words7 Pages

Frankenstein : Psychology of Parenting When a child is created and brought into this world, it is the parent’s responsibility to nurture, guide, and teach he/she how to develop and strive socially, mentally, and emotionally in this world. Human beings have to be taught everything. Without someone teaching them right from wrong and how to survive, they could end up feral. It is the parent’s responsibility to teach their child socially and morally to help them survive. Mary Shelley uses her novel Frankenstein to analyze the idea of parenting. She compares the two main character's, Victor Frankenstein and his creature, social, mental, and emotional development throughout their childhood. Victor Frankenstein was raised in what he described as …show more content…

“ Children who are good at self-control grow up to be morally mature adults” and when they “can control their impulses [they] are more likely to be intelligent, self-confident, happy, and socially skilled” (Barber 24). Victor was able to develop the kind of self-control that he needed to grow up happy, self- confident, intelligent, and to be a socially skilled adult. His ability to form self-control allowed him to venture out and be able to achieve his “desire to learn” (Shelley). Victory had enough self- discipline to go off to school to learn all that he desired “whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied [him], still [his] inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world” (Shelley). However unlike Victor, the creature never developed the ability of self-control. He was able to develop the intelligent aspect by listening and learning from the De Lacey family, but he did not know how to control his anger against mankind when they lashed out violently towards him. Trying to save a little girl from drowning, her father thought the creature was trying to harm her, and shot the creature. This caused the creature great pain and “[he] vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind”(Shelley). The creature thought if “I am miserable” why shouldn't “[mankind]... share my wretchedness” (Shelley). When he wanted Victor to make him a female companion, and Victor denied him his one request his anger overcame him and he told Victor “not only you and your family, but thousands of others, shall be swallowed up in the whirlwinds of [my] rage” (Shelley). Soon the creature's anger grew until he became the murder everyone

Show More
Related

  • Frankenstein Persuasion Quotes

    695 Words  | 3 Pages

    River Van Norstran J. Black English II Apr 20, 2023 The Persuasion Tactics of Frankenstein’s Monster Family connections play a vital role in the development of children. In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein compiles parts of the body to assemble a creature. Following the creature’s awakening, Victor abandons it, which leads the creature to seek Victor for various solutions. Overcome with loneliness, the creature attempted to persuade Victor to create him a mate. The attempts consisted of utilizing various persuasion tactics, though the prominent ones were appealing to Victor’s humanity, attempting to evoke pity from his experiences; then progressing to invoke fear out of desperation for a familia connection.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Human Needs And Desires In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    80 Words  | 1 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein is a frame narrative of the life of Victor Frankenstein recorded by Robert Walton. It is circled around his creation of a monster that suffered a lonely life and wanted revenge for being created. In Frankenstein, Shelley portrays many big ideas but, one that continues to show importance is the idea of Human Needs and Desires. so, in the novel Mary Shelley presents the idea that all creatures have a basic need for friendship and love.

    Read More

  • Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: The Dangers Of Responsibility

    974 Words  | 4 Pages

    Initially, characters in Frankenstein not taking responsibility show the reader the potential dangers of pain and death in numerous situations in the novel. The reader of Frankenstein sees various examples of Shelley’s warnings of the dangers in not taking responsibility in the first couple chapters in the novel. Shelley first points out the dangers of not taking responsibility when Victor first creates the monster on a stormy November night when he was shocked with the “horror of that countenance [the monster]”(Shelley 44) before he vacated his home, abandoning his creation which fueled the monster with the hatred that he needed to punish his creator. Shelley’s Sliwowski 2 illumination of Victor and the monster as father and son, shows the importance of a parental

    Read More

  • Frankenstein And Brave New World Comparison Essay

    536 Words  | 3 Pages

    On the journey Victor gains interest in electricity and life. With this knowledge Victor goes to creates a creature that learns how to control his emotions. It wasn’t until later in the novel where the creature became uncontrollable and very evil. In the process of creating the monster,Victor does not design him to where he can control his emotions.

    Read More

  • Is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Justified?

    409 Words  | 2 Pages

    The murders and immoral actions of Frankenstein’s monster are justified because he did not have a parental figure, was neglected by the general public,

    Read More

  • The Role Of Parenting In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1617 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Duties a Parent Has Towards Their Children What gives humans the right to create life? Moreover, what responsibilities does a parent have to his child. Multiple philosophies have been formulated that address this question; communism and Christianity being two of the most prominent in the western modern world. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses Frankenstein’s monster to convey her belief that a parent's most basic duty to their child is to be present in their live while caring and nurture them. She does this through a multitude of literary devices.

    Read More

  • Influence Of Parental Figure In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    938 Words  | 4 Pages

    Parents are everyone 's first role models. Regardless of biological relation, those who raise us have a profound influence on the way we perceive and interpret life. Parents lay the foundation of our first sense of morality and empathy, and usher us to the path of our development of social skills. No matter how consciously one may attempt to have no resemblance to their parents, it is an inevitability of life that we will harness aspects of their influence and carry them through our lifetime. In Mary Shelley’s, “Frankenstein”, the influence of parental figures is displayed by the morals and values instilled in the monster.

    Read More

  • Victor Frankenstein: A Deadbeat Father Figure

    1845 Words  | 8 Pages

    When he sees his reflection, he sees the difference in appearance between himself and everyone else around him. He watches a family for a period of time, and tries to communicate with them. They, too, are scared away by his appearance. He becomes angry with humans and further isolates himself (Shelley 91-110). Even though the creature had committed murder, he didn’t know that he was doing wrong.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography On Frankenstein

    1439 Words  | 6 Pages

    Parents should be there to express love and care towards their newborn. Within the novel, Frankenstein disregards the monster, which brings out the violence and turmoil within the monster. If Frankenstein were to give proper parenting to the monster, which he created, the monster would have not acted the same. Levine, George.

    Read More

  • Frankenstein Victor's Relationship Analysis

    879 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein examines how the presence of a mother, negatively or positively, affects the development of a child. Victor’s mother, Caroline Frankenstein, dies while Victor is still a young man (he is about 17 years old), breaking their relationship between mother and son. Because Victor loses his bond with his mother, he is unable to act as a mother would when he creates his creature. Caroline Frankenstein’s absence in Victor’s life creates a disunion between the mother and child bond, which is evident in Victor’s creation and his fragmented relationship with the creature. Caroline Frankenstein, Victor’s mother, portrayed a traditional mother in the Frankenstein household, until her death.

    Read More

  • Victor Frankenstein As A Child In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    578 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein creates an intelligent monster with no name. The creature is thrust into the world to fend for itself when Victor leaves it alone in his lab. The creature has childlike tendencies because he has recently been “born”. If the creature is viewed as a child, then Victor is essentially his father. There are many times in the book where the author elluded to Victor and the creature being like father and son.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Family In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    395 Words  | 2 Pages

    Childhood is a time in a person’s life where the most growing occurs, not only physically but also mentally. The human brain is nourished and maintained by the love and affection children receive from both parents and it continues to do so for the rest of their lives. The creature’s inability to build up courage and try to interact with society as well as his constant questioning of his existence is a direct result of an inexistent childhood as well as the absence of a loving family. Frankenstein’s mother and Elizabeth were both orphans so he was well aware of the importance of love and nurturing for people of all ages, yet he denied the creature the opportunity to receive affection of any sort. “No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles

    Read More

  • Victor Frankenstein Character Analysis Essay

    1220 Words  | 5 Pages

    In 1818 Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, a novel that follows Victor Frankenstein, an ambitious man on his journey to defy the natural sciences. In Volume I of the novel, Victor discusses his childhood, mentioning how wonderful and amazing it was because of how his family sheltered him from the bad in the world. “The innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according as they fulfilled their duties towards me” (35). When Victor brings up his childhood, he suggests that parents play a strong in how their kids turn out, either "to happiness or misery" (35). In particular the main character was sheltered as a child to achieve this “happiness” leading to Victor never developing a coping mechanism to the evil in the world.

    Read More

  • Father And Son Relationship In Frankenstein

    1134 Words  | 5 Pages

    From Son to Satan: Parenting in the 17th century Often in a novel, an author will make the relationship between a parental figure and a child be one of conflict to emphasize their relationship to each other. However, in the 1818 Gothic Romantic novel Frankenstein, author Mary Shelley uses the father and son relationship between scientist Victor Frankenstein and the creature as a tool to demonstrate that one must take responsibility for their actions and that monsters are not born monsters visualized through Victor’s abandonment of the creature, the monsters reaction to being shunned and Victor’s failure to comply with the creatures request to create a partner. The inception of the conflict between the two characters began when Victor became

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Self-Reliance In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    689 Words  | 3 Pages

    Victor fully trusted in himself which gave him the ability to do what he did. Like Emerson says, “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” If you trust yourself you can truly be content with whatever you do. If you work hard you can achieve greatness. Victor shows us that not all that comes

    Read More

More about Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Psychology Of Parenting

Open Document