The Theme Of Thirst For Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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. The death of his mother leads Victor into denial. As a result of his mother 's death, Victor’s emotions falsely lead him to believe that he could have some control over the fate of peoples lives. Thus, Victor’s beliefs soon equated to a set of rules that he himself must follow. Consequently,

Knowledge can be Blessings and Curse A teenage girl Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein in the 18th century. A Gothic novel Frankenstein deals with two genres, Gothicism and science fiction. Victor, one of Mary Shelly’s characters represents man’s pursuit of knowledge which ultimately leads towards the path of destruction while another character Robert Walton implemented his knowledge wisely to get benefits for the society. Mary is indicating to the society that mankind has to pay full attention to science and scientific innovations in order to avoid the catastrophic events due to misuse of knowledge.

Victor wanted to play the role of God and be a creator of a new species. He took life into his hands and was amazed but scared of the outcome (35). Victor was so happy that all of his hard work had paid off and that the creature was alive, but, at the

Since Victor has moved away from his hometown, and decided to leave behind his friends and family he was able to focus on what he loved most, science. He was able to dedicate his studying and doing research. He was able to fulfill his desire, and do what he had always dreamt of. Although his creation turned out to be a monster, he was able to create life. His devotion to his studies acted as a basis to the story.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein criticizes the human quest for knowledge through science and it highlights the moral implications of such undertakings. By following the story of the “mad scientist”, Victor Frankenstein, we see how a man’s ambition can be his downfall. However, Shelley notes that although it is dangerous to partake in immoral science, this curiosity to know more about the world around us and who we are is human instinct. This essay will consider Hindle’s premise that Frankenstein is a criticism of the “lofty ambition of man”.

The Dangers of Knowledge Frankenstein, a novel written by Mary Shelley, is notoriously accredited for its development and implication of multiple themes. Set in the 1700’s, Frankenstein is a gothic fiction telling of isolation, knowledge, and nature. The biggest of these being knowledge and inevitably its consequences. With knowledge comes question; What poses the most danger? The knowledge itself, or the journey to gain information?

Knowledge is power and power is what leads to self destruction of Victor Frankenstein; an easily influenced man who sows he is not the male figure he wants to be. Victor lived a simple life, starting as a child who has everything he possibly could possibly want; a family, a house, an above all happiness. However, it all alter when he loses his mother, the traumatic event causes the family to switch gear and face he heart ache to something else. Escapism through knowledge is what led Victor's secrecy. " The world was to me to secret which I desire to divine, curiosity, earnest research to learn hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they were unfolded to me, are among the earliest sensations I can remember.

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.

Frankenstein: From Benevolent to Feind “I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend.” (Shelley 69) Said by Frankenstein’s monster, this quote truly defines him: initially an affectionate, love-seeking creature, he transformed into an enraged killer, angry at humanity for the undeservedly poor way he was treated. Victor Frankenstein is an unique, complex individual who encounters a similar change of nature for similar reasons. The quote—though spoken by the monster—encapsulates the evolution of Victor Frankenstein’s personality; misery—a product of isolation and loneliness—aroused a deterioration of temperament from an initially benevolent Frankenstein.

Dangerous Minds- Rough Draft Knowledge has the capability to be used for both good and evil. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, there is a consistent message throughout the novel showing the dangerous and destructive power that knowledge can have. Two key characters, Victor Frankenstein and his monster, are shaped through their obsessions with knowledge and the power and responsibility that it brings. Ultimately, Victor’s downfall is a result of his uncontrollable thirst for knowledge, and is brought about through the monster which is the embodiment of his obsession. Victor is a brilliant scientist who figures out a way to create life from death using galvanism, or electricity.

Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein wrote the novel as an attempt to be involved into a group ghost story writing competition what she did not know was the effects it would have on literature for the rest of time. The story Frankenstein is about a young man named Victor Frankenstein who is obsessed with discovering something that has never been seen or done. In seeing a tree being stricken by lightning he gets the idea to create life out of dead skins and body parts of the dead to create this being. What he did not know was going to occur was that this monster would be the death of him. Mary Shelley uses the idea of progress which is the consequences or effects of a person or a thing in another one’s doing. Throughout the book Mary Shelley

Victor begins to use his knowledge of anatomy and natural decay to find a way to restore life upon the Creature: “To examine the causes of life, we must first have recourse to death. I became acquainted with the science of anatomy[...] I must also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body” (30). Victor uses his knowledge to research and develop a way to reanimate the Creature, using his knowledge for the wrong reasons, which is to gain the God-like power of life and death. This unnatural use of knowledge creates many consequences, the main one being isolation from society and righteousness, which throws him into a dark depression and sways him off the path of good.

The idea of knowledge in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley interprets knowledge as an evil pursuit. The knowlege is misused, due to Victor, the monster, and the interference with nature. Theses reasons are different perspectives that lead to tragedies. The novel Frankenstein identifies Victor's desire to gain knowledge as misusing it.

Victor questions why men so instinctively attempt to become superior to nature when men are also a product of nature. He criticizes that if humans reverted to our primal instincts, “hunger, thirst, and desire” (67) that we’d be free, or content with our lives. This is his subliminal self-reflection as he understands that seeking the secret to life, by creating the monster, did not bring him happiness but rather brought him misery and self-loathing. In this last line of the passage, Shelley highlights a major morale and theme of the story which is using science to tamper with nature, a critique against the enlightenment period. The consequences of Frankenstein’s creation have not only caused the death of William and Justine but will also become the reason for his own inevitable doom

The monster took over his mind before it was created, affected his life while it was alive, and was the reason Victor died. When Victor was a child, he became obsessed with science. The death of his mother created a fire in him which prompted this yearn for the secret to live. He studied alchemy, and went to university when he could. At university, Victor’s professors told him that everything he had learned was wrong.