In the world, every day is different from the previous one. Something new might be learned or observed. This pattern of continuous learnings is particularly evident in the science and medical fields. While this is still true of our world today, there was a notable peak of scientific learning in the 1800s. In addition to these scientific breakthroughs in the 1800s, there were many great cultural works created during this time, such as Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Although Frankenstein, a story about scientific discovery, was written during a period of great scientific and medical discoveries, it is inaccurate to the times in which it was written.
One of the greatest scientific advances of the 1800s was the successful transfusion of blood
…show more content…
In the novel, a living monster was created, which is very inaccurate to the times in which it was being written. A fully functioning human has twelve systems, each with a very specific role to contribute to the overall being. One of these systems is the cardiovascular system. The cardiovascular system is responsible for the transportation of many materials throughout the body, through blood. However, in Frankenstein, the absence of mentioning any sort of blood inside the monster creates many questions of accuracy. Shelley (or Victor?) recognizes many of the human systems, as she (or he?) writes, “Although I possessed the capacity of bestowing animation, yet to prepare a frame for the reception of it, with all its intricacies of fibres, muscles, and veins, still remained a work of inconceivable difficulty and labour” (Shelley 58). Despite this recognition, Shelley still does not mention blood or the circulatory system, one that is as intricate and important as any of the ones to which she does refer. Since one cannot make blood, James Blundell’s discovery of blood transfusion would have been extremely useful to the creation of the living monster. Victor Frankenstein, the main character, could have transfused blood from one living individual to his monster, giving the being life. However, such a successful transfusion is extremely unlikely considering it was never mentioned, and, because Victor was the only person who knew about his monster, he would have been the only one able or willing to donate blood. Based on how new Blundell’s discovery was, and Blundell’s limited initial success rate in transfusions, it is immensely unrealistic to hypothesize that even if Victor did donate his own blood, it would have
To begin, in the first story "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley it is about the Dr. Frankenstein who is creating his monster. This passage is Frankenstein talking to another person about the creation, but not fully telling him what he has made. This creation is a breakthrough in the science world in this quote it shows how he thinks this is a major break through, "After days and nights of incredible labor and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless
Victor Frankenstein could have helped the creature form to be accepted by society. Within the first moments of the creatures “rebirth”, Victor could have acted in various other ways that would have impacted the creature’s initial response to human contact. Throughout the entire story, Victor could have aided the creature’s actions to allow him to acclimate to this new life style. Some examples of actions he could have taken are not running away from the creature, acting as a teacher or father figure to the confused creature, and teaching him ethics and self-control. The smallest acts of different attitudes can affect the outcome of any beings transition into society.
Frankenstein created the creature so he could manipulate the power of life, not to learn from the experience. He is so immersed in his studies, fascinated by the creation of life. He studies what the human body is made up of and how it falls apart. Victor completely disengages from the world when away at school after his mother dies of scarlet fever.
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.
Victor Frankenstein chooses to create this monster to help mankind transcend death, but also because he is so fascinated in the science department. On page 77 of the novel, Victor states “and make myself useful to my beings” (77), which backs up the fact that he does it for the good of humanity. At the very beginning of the novel he talks about his enthusiasm and fascination with science. Hence, it was the combination of Victor 's obsession with creating life and the many new discoveries taking place around him such as chemistry that made Victor suppose that he could use all the resources he did to construct his monster.
ENG-3U0 November 20 2015 Frankenstein: The Pursuit of Knowledge Throughout the course of their individual journeys, Victor Frankenstein’s extreme passion for gaining knowledge about creating life, Robert Walton’s curiosity to discover land beyond the North Pole and the monster’s eagerness to obtain knowledge about humans was the principal cause of each of their suffering. As such, In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the pursuit of knowledge is a dangerous path which leads to suffering. Victor Frankenstein develops a keen interest in discovering knowledge about living beings which ultimately results in his personal suffering as well as others suffering. To begin with, Victor embarks on an assignment through combining body parts and following various
Numerous research has concluded that several emotional bonds exist between humanity and nature that can impact everything from attitude to anxiety. Novels of the romanticism period, a significant literary era that encompassed most European works written in the early 1800’s, are most known for describing the impacts that nature has on people and implying that unexpected consequences can arise out of this relationship; Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example of such a novel. The prime conflict of this 1818 science-fiction story occurs between the titular character, Victor Frankenstein, and a monster he creates through his own scientific innovations. Because of Victor’s abandonment of the monster, it becomes intent on destroying the scientist’s
Before the modern defibrillator, there was no solution to this dilemma and an ample amount of people died from cardiac arrest. The plot of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein coincides with resuscitation in the idea that electricity can put life back into the deceased. However, the main character of Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, did not want to save lives. The monster that he created yearned to expunge lives instead.
It is another liability that he brought onto himself. First, Victor, being a scientist, should have been aware of the precautions of creating a new life. He did not think of the aftermath that the monster might create. For example, it is stated, “The death of William, the execution of Justine, the murder of Clerval, and lastly of my wife… my father… he died in my arms” (87). Additionally, everyone that Victor ever cared about or loved died because of the creature murdering them.
When writing any piece of fiction, an author 's choice of narrative voice has a huge impact on how readers experience the story. From the slightly less personal yet versatile third-person to the narrow, limited view of first-person, the narrative voice literally provides the voice of literature. It affects which characters the reader really connects with, the opinions that influence them, the knowledge they have, and numerous other aspects. While most authors stick with only one tense, Mary Shelley challenged that standard in Frankenstein. In Frankenstein, Shelley changes her narrative voice numerous times in order to fully develop all aspects of the story through Walton 's letters, Frankenstein 's story, the Monster 's story, and also the
Written during the ninteenth century, the gothic Frankensteinnovel by Marry Shelly, tells the story of a young educated student Victor Frankenstein, who creates a grotesque but fantastic creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment, which leads to different tragic events. Shelly writes about the creation of the creature and how he is first introduce to his livelihood and this world. In this novel Shelly uses different types of literary techniques to convey the expression of the creature as a baby just learning about life and the world, and by employing innovative literary techniques such as imagery, setting, theme, and characterization, she creates a feeling of sympathy on the readers. This feeling is created through Shelly establishment of pity on the readers by reavealing the creature’s loathsome creation, habitat, or even existence.
Victor Frankenstein, blinded by ambition or driven by madness? In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley embodies a cloud of characteristics that follow Victor along for the entirety of the novel. As a young scholar, Victor was driven to invest in his interests of chemistry and science. Hence, Victor soon became enamored with the ideas that lie in between life and death. Further pondering led Victor to become obsessed with the idea of bringing inanimate objects to life.
Would you hurt or abandon a baby? In the fictional novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley the main character Victor Frankenstein believes that he can bring life to a body he makes from human parts. He does successfully create this creature but ends up being terrified and disgusted by it so he runs and abandons it. The creature then departs in solitude and later sets out for revenge against Victor for abandoning him. Shelley conveys the creature as a child learning about life using several different techniques in order for the audience to feel sympathy towards it.
As the book progresses, Frankenstein becomes more engrossed in the different aspects of science, and Shelley no longer uses natural scenes to describe what is happening around him, because of his disconnection with ‘appreciation of the unknown’. This aspect of his life is shown in this quote, “days and nights of incredible labor and fatigue... my cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement... my limbs now tremble, and my eyes swim with the remembrance... I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit.”
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a cautionary tale of man's dangerous ambition when testing the boundaries of technology. It combines Shelley’s intuitive perception of science with the vast scientific discoveries of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, specifically the discovery of the nature of electricity. In Frankenstein, electricity serves as the technological tool which creates the monster, giving life to an assemblage of lifeless body parts. Medical experiments of the time demonstrated how a dead frog leg would jolted with the injection of electricity. This phenomenon served as a bridge between science (electricity) and nature( biology).