Socratic Seminar Questions: Frankenstein

In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor is fascinated by the creation and decay of life and is relentless to create him one, but turns out to be a horrifying nightmare by bringing a monster into the world. One's desire can be so great that it blinds people from the things in life they truly care about, but would not know till it is gone. Victor Frankenstein goes from an arrogant man who only thinks about his only desires to a guilt ridden man who wants to protect others after his mistake killed innocent people.

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, shows how a character who is portrayed as a tragic hero, in the beginning, can become the monster in the end. Victor and the Monster in Mary Shelley’s captivating novel showed how rival enemies share striking similarities. The similarities between the two tragic characters are driven by their dreary isolation from the secluded world. A large difference is that they were both raised in two completely different environments but understood the meaning of isolation. Physical differences are more noticeable rather than their personalities. At first, Victor is horrified by his creation but eventually becomes more and more like it. With a desire to destroy each other both are left alone to come up with a plan of revenge since they took each other's most prized possessions.

When introducing the family the father was described as, "The father of Safie had been the cause of their ruin. He was a Turkish merchant, and had inhabited Paris for many years, when, for some reason which I could not learn, he became obnoxious to the government. He was seized and cast into prison the very day that Safie arrived from Constantinople to join him. He was tried and condemned to death. The injustice of his sentence was very flagrant; all Paris was indignant; and it was judged that his religion and wealth, rather than the crime alleged against him, had been the cause of his condemnation” (110). A brief history of the cottagers the old man, De Lacey, was once an affluent and successful citizen in Paris; his children, Agatha and Felix, were well-respected members of the community. Safie’s father, a Turk, was falsely accused of a crime and sentenced to death. Falsely accused again Mary Shelley shows that the crime and punishment system in the book reflects the real worlds justice system. “Turkeys legal system was just as bad as Britain’s at the time Civilian and military jurisdiction were separated. While they could also try civilians in times of martial law and in matters concerning military service.” (Miller 3). Citizens could be wrongly accused if the idea of them being a hindrance or problem sprung up. This is exactly what

We also learn in chapter six that Elizabeth is worried about Victor’s illness and keeps nagging him about it. In chapter seven Victor gets a letter from his father with some very bad news. It appears somebody has murdered his little brother William. Victor imdeiatly leaves for Geneva but when he arrives the gates are closed, Victor then decides to walk around the woods near the gates when he sees the monster hiding behind a tree and constantly blames the monster for William’s death. When Victor walks into town the next morning he hears that Justine is being accused of murder, but Elizabeth and Victor both know she is innocent. Victor does not want to tell anyone what he thinks because he does not want to seem crazy. In chapter eight  Justine confesses to her crime so that she can avoid going to hell and is then executed. In chapters nine and ten Victor is feeling down so he takes a trip to Montanvert, hoping that the view of nature and it’s purity will make him feel

In Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s Monster Culture (Seven Thesis), Cohen analyzes the psychology behind monsters and how, rather than being a monstrous beast for the protagonist of the story to play against, “the monster signifies something other than itself”. Cohen makes the claim that by analyzing monsters in mythology and stories, you can learn much about the culture that gave rise to them. In Thesis 1 of Monster Culture, Cohen proposes that “the monster’s body literally incorporates fear, desire, anxiety, and fantasy”, specifically the fear, desire and anxiety of the cultures that gave rise to it;; fFor example, vVampires, undead, represent a fear of death. Monsters are born of an intense fear, desire, or internal conflict, “at this metaphorical

The novel says, “I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were not of rage and revenge. I could with pleasure have destroyed the cottage and its inhabitants, and have glutted myself with their shrieks and misery”(Shelley 97). The cottage that the Monster was near had a family living in it that were kind and polite. The Daemon is telling Frankenstein that after all that he’s been through, he could have killed them all out of anger; instead he didn’t want revenge, he just wanted to be loved. Later, when the daemon met the blind man and began speaking with him, Felix came into the room and pulled De Lacey away from the Monster. He became upset and this action was the last straw. The Monster says, “My protectors had departed, and had broken the only link that held me to the wold. For the first time the feelings of revenge and hatred filled my bosom…”(Shelley 99). The death of William, Henry, and Elizabeth were all caused by the cruel demeanor of the world around him to people or things who look different. Just like in the present, people judge each other based on looks instead of attitude and personality. De Lacey wasn’t afraid of the Monster because he was blind and only knew him based on his personality. When Felix came into the room, he was afraid and pulled the man away from the Monster because he thought that the Monster would harm the

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. Hunter, Paul J. Norton Critical Edition. New York: W.W. North & Company, 2012. Print.

Victor’s suffering is entirely self-inflicted. He brings his problems upon himself through his relentless desire for knowledge. His downfall is brought upon him by his creation, which uses knowledge again to do damage to him and those close to him. Knowledge has destructive capabilities and they were abused by Victor and his creation until their ultimate

Mary Shelley shows the endless amount of revenge and that it is driven by pure hatred and rage. The monster was not created to be vengeful, he was kind hearted but when he was poorly treated by Victor and then by the Delacey family, he turned cold. In her novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley displays the immorality and destructive effects that revenge can have through Frankenstein and his pursuit of the creature.

A timeless human goal has always been to set visionary goals to advance the coming generations. Although many results can be successful, a great number of them can turn out deadly. In the novel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley illustrates the result of a man’s visionary motive of creating life, which consequents into the birth of the deadly creature. The creatures understanding of justice is based on eliminating anyone or anything preventing him from reaching his goal; accordingly, his actions to attempt revenge upon Victor only led to his downfall throughout the novel. The creature’s understanding of justice and it’s revenge against Victor is the driving force of the story because it builds up the anticipation the reader has for the final confrontation.

Oftentimes people are too afraid of what people might think to show their full potential. This is not the case for Victor in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. In Frankenstein we see the journey of Victor and his creation as they separately get rejected and misunderstood by society. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein supports Emerson’s ideas of self-reliance because Victor shows that fearless people can achieve greatness.

An eye for an eye or the law of retaliation is the principle most people live their lives by. For the characters in Frankenstein, this concept is apparent as the main character, Victor, creates a monster and instantly abandons him which sets off the chain of events revolving around revenge. However, as Gandhi once stated, “an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind” (Gandhi). Throughout the novel, the creature and Victor engage in a recurring cycle of vengeance, but these acts of revenge are bittersweet as in the end it destroys both of them. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley reveals how revenge consumes and destroys those who surrender to it.

Rita Felski’s view of tragedy being the failure “to master the self and the world” is at the heart of Nella Larsen’s Quicksand and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Both texts are concerned with the incapacity of defining and accepting one’s identity and the characters’ attempts to resolve this identity crisis by isolating themselves. This essay will argue that the fundamental cause for this tragedy is the lack of emotional connection from one’s family, which in turn prohibits one to sympathize with anyone, including oneself.

This passage taken from Mary Shelley’s horror novel, Frankenstein, on page 66-67 describes the atmosphere and ponderings of Victor Frankenstein as he solitarily ascends to the summit of Montanvert. After feeling grievance and despair as he blames himself for the death of both his brother, William and his servant, Justine, Victor attempts to find solace in the majesty of nature to repair his emotional state. However, his descriptions of the environment are somewhat grim and bleak, contrasting the pleasant and peaceful mood that being in the natural world typically evokes. This scene causes him to question man’s desire for superiority against nature as it reflects upon himself. In this passage,

In the beginning of the novel, his background is explained, “I am by birth a Genevese, and my family is one of the most distinguished of that Republic.” He was going abroad for his higher education, so he comes from noble background. Victor is also a mortal; he is completely human, without any differences. His fault is not completely his, as his father pushed him in early education of science. As a tragic hero, his fall is a result of his own choice and action. These actions lead his family to suffering, and Victor loses his dear ones. Walton said to Victor, “feel his own worth, and the greatness of his fall”. His suffering is not without reason. Victor loses not only family, but also those who he cares for, Elizabeth, Justine and William, and best friend Clerval. Each of them are not only dear to him, but also symbolise the good in the world - love, bravery, morality, kindness, and innocence. Victor describes Elizabeth as “the purest creature of Earth” and “the living spirit of love”; his best friend Clerval was “a boy of singular talent and fancy”; Justine and William as “the most amiable and benevolent of all creatures”, and “a smiling babe full of innocence and joy”. But they all are killed by Victor’s dark creation, the