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The Best-Known Archetypes In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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Man should never be allowed to play god, but creating life is something that has always been an enticing concept (American Scientist). In order to feed our fantasies about cloning and producing life, we turn to fiction novels to amaze, and sometimes to scare us. One of the best-known archetypes of this is Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Hailed as the eighth most popular English novel in history (The Guardian), the classic story of a mad scientist named Dr. Victor Frankenstein has been the basis of countless movies and parodies (Romantic Circles). Though the name Frankenstein has become very well known, the original story as penned by Mary Shelley has been overwhelmed by the numerous derivatives that were published afterward in different forms of media including movies, plays, and even comic books. (The Frankenstein Movie and Monster Horror Film Site). The plot of the novel depicts the monster as having no other desire in life than to be loved and to assimilate seamlessly into society (Chapter 17). This shows that, contrary to popular belief Victor Frankenstein is the actual evildoer because he did not take the necessary precautions before his experimenting, he abandoned his creation and also because he came from a family that …show more content…

None of his interactions with humans was positive, starting with his master (Chapter 15). Unlike a human baby who is exposed to many types of people, the monster only saw corruption. Thus, when it was his turn to do something, he mimicked the people he saw. Even the De Lacey family, whom he thought to be contrary to the norm, ran away from him (Chapter 16). This ultimate act of repudiation propelled him over the edge, and he ended up committing his first act of manslaughter; he killed Victor’s nephew William Frankenstein (Chapter

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