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Ambition in frankenstein
The consequences of ambition
What was frankenstein ambitions
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The Pursuit of Endeavors Through Ambition Ambition drives many individuals to put all their effort and resources into achieving their goals; but, instead of leaving the sense of accomplishment one wishes to feel- it leaves remorse or a need for far more. Human greed is the cause of the satisfaction one feels while working up to meet a goal and the emotions that go along with it, but when that goes unchecked the pursuit of the goal is far more enjoyable than the accomplishment of it. The most famous character in Frankenstein, the Creature, represents the corruption that human greed and ambition can cause. The Creature is conceived by Victor’s ambition and much like his creator, he thirsted for knowledge of the world and its’ workings; “I perceived that the words [...] spoke[n] sometimes produced pleasure or pain, smiles or sadness, in the minds and countenances of the hearers. This was indeed a god-like science, and I ardently desired to become acquainted with it” (Shelley 78). He was abandoned at birth, which left him ignorant and vulnerable and ultimately served as the catalyst to his fascination with the …show more content…
He took whatever he needed with any means necessary without consideration of the effects his actions could have; “No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success” (Shelley 32). Many individuals take life experiences and use them as inspiration to pursue their wants, much like Victor did; yet, combined with ambition and obsession, this can be a fatal combination;“I had desired it with an ardor that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart”(Shelley 35). Realization and guilt cause the euphoria of accomplishment to turn into disgust and in turn opens the door to
In Volume 1 and 3 of Frankenstein, Victor’s reason for creating the “monster” changes drastically; however, ultimately leading to the same consequence of suffering and depression. Through this change in Victor, Shelley argues that all humans have an instinctive notation of right from wrong and learn from their mistakes. Victor left his friends and family to go to college; when there, he had no friends and social life. His top and only priority was his schoolwork; he read all he can about the sciences, especially chemistry and anatomy. When finished with his studies, Victor is ready to start his creation when he confirms his proceedings aloud, “Winter, spring, and summer, passed away during my labours; but I did not watch the blossom or the expanding leaves-sights which before always yielded me supreme delight, so deeply was I engrossed in my occupation. The leaves of that year had withered before my work drew near to a close; and now every day shewed me more plainly how well I had succeeded.
Although humans have the tendency to set idealistic goals to better future generations, often the results can prove disastrous, even deadly. The tale of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, focuses on the outcome of one man's idealistic motives and desires of dabbling with nature, which result in the creation of horrific creature. Victor Frankenstein was not doomed to failure from his initial desire to overstep the natural bounds of human knowledge. Rather, it was his poor parenting of his progeny that lead to his creation's thirst for the vindication of his unjust life. In his idealism, Victor is blinded, and so the creation accuses him for delivering him into a world where he could not ever be entirely received by the people who inhabit it. Not only failing to foresee his faulty idealism, nearing the end of the tale, he embarks upon a final journey, consciously choosing to pursue his creation in vengeance, while admitting he himself that it may result in his own doom. The creation of an unloved being and the quest for the elixir of life holds Victor Frankenstein more accountable for his own death than the creation himself.
As a tragic hero, Victor’s tragedies begin with his overly obsessive thirst for knowledge. Throughout his life, Victor has always been looking for new things to learn in the areas of science and philosophy. He goes so far with his knowledge that he ends up creating a living creature. Victor has extremely high expectations for his creation but is highly disappointed with the outcome. He says, “I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley 35). Frankenstein neglects the creature because of his horrifying looks, which spark the beginning of numerous conflicts and tragedies. At this point, the creature becomes a monster because of Victor’s neglect and irresponsibility. The monster is forced to learn to survive on his own, without anyone or anything to guide him along the way. Plus, the monster’s ugly looks cause society to turn against him, ad...
As Frankenstein is enroute to his pursuit of gaining more knowledge, he states, “I wished, as it were, to procrastinate all that related to my feelings of affection until the great object, which swallowed up every habit of my nature, should be completed” (Shelley 41). Frankenstein’s decision in allowing his intellectual ambitions to overpower everything else in his life leads him to be blinded to the dangers of creating life. He isolates himself from his society when creating the monster, letting himself be immersed in his creation while being driven by his passions, allowing nobody to be near him. The fact that he allows this creation of a monster to consume his total being reveals how blinded he is to the immorality of stepping outside the boundaries of science and defying nature. His goal in striving to achieve what wants to in placing man over nature makes him lose his sense of self as all he is focused on is the final product of his creation. He starts to realize his own faults as after he has created the monster, he becomes very ill and states, “The form of the monster on whom I had bestowed existence was forever before my eyes, and I raved incessantly concerning him” (48). His impulsive decision to make the monster leads him to abhorring it as it does not turn out to be what he has expected. Because he chooses to isolate himself in creating the
When Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein is analyzed, critics comes to a conclusion about Victor Frankenstein's creation. The creature invokes the most sympathy from the readers than any other character in the novel. Because he is abandoned by society which manipulates the creature to do evil things despite his good heart. Therefore Shelley's message throughout the novel is that a person is not born evil, they are made evil.
“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly explores the concept of the body, life, ‘the self’ and most of importantly humanity, which is repeatedly questioned throughout the novel. The definition of humanity is the quality of being humane or in other words someone that can feel or possess compassion. Despite all the facts against the “monster” in “Frankenstein” he is indeed what one would consider being human. Humanity isn’t just about ones physical appearance but also includes intellect and emotion. Some people argue that the “monster” is not a human for he was not a creature that was born from “God” or from a human body. That being said, the “monster” is not only able to speak different languages, he can also show empathy - one of many distinct traits that set humans apart from the animals. Both the “monster” and his creator, Victor, hold anger and feel a sense of suffering throughout the novel. Victor is a good person with good intentions just like most individuals, but makes the mistake of getting swept up into his passion of science and without thinking of the consequences he creates a “monster”. After completing his science project, he attempts to move forward with his life, however his past – i.e., the “monster” continues to follow and someone haunt him. While one shouldn’t fault or place blame on Frankenstein for his mistakes, you also can’t help but feel somewhat sympathetic for the creature. Frankenstein just wants to feel accepted and loved, he can’t help the way he treats people for he’s only mimicking how people have treated him, which in most cases solely based on his appearance. Unlike most of the monsters we are exposed to in films past and present, the character of the “monster” ...
After Frankenstein discovered the source of human life, he became wholly absorbed in his experimental creation of a human being. Victor's unlimited ambition, his desire to succeed in his efforts to create life, led him to find devastation and misery. "...now that I have finished, the beauty of the dream had vanished..." (Shelley 51). Victor's ambition blinded him to see the real dangers of his project. This is because ambition is like a madness, which blinds one self to see the dangers of his actions. The monster after realizing what a horror he was demanded that victor create him a partner. "I now also began to collect the materials necessary for my new creation, and this was like torture..." (Shelley 169). Victor's raw ambition, his search for glory, has left him. His eyes have been opened to see his horrible actions, and what have and could become of his creations. As a result, Victor has realized that he is creating a monster, which could lead to the downfall of mankind. His choice is simple, save his own life or save man.
Victor Frankenstein was the creator of the monster in the book. He was an ambitious man who had high hopes and dreams for himself, but this characteristic was the cause of his downfall. He had a ruthless desire to obtain forbidden knowledge- a knowledge that only God was worthy of having. This lead him to lock himself in his laboratory, disregarding his family, friends, and health. His one purpose was to create life. In his quest to create a human being and bestow the power of life, Victor eventually did create a creature, but this lead to a situation
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a nineteenth century literary work that delves into the world of science and the plausible outcomes of morally insensitive technological research. Although the novel brings to the forefront several issues about knowledge and sublime nature, the novel mostly explores the psychological and physical journey of two complex characters. While each character exhibits several interesting traits that range from passive and contemplative to rash and impulsive, their most attractive quality is their monstrosity. Their monstrosities, however, differ in the way each of the character’s act and respond to their environment. Throughout Frankenstein, one assumes that Frankenstein’s creation is the true monster. While the creation’s actions are indeed monstrous, one must also realize that his creator, Victor Frankenstein is also a villain. His inconsiderate and selfish acts as well as his passion for science result in the death of his friend and family members and ultimately in his own demise.
The practice of criticizing literature through psychoanalysis centers around Freud’s belief that authors, readers, and even characters are motivated by unconscious yet controlling desires. These desires are filtered, made to be as societally acceptable as possible, and rationalized by their keeper’s mind all while keeping the original motives secreted away within the unconscious. Since filtering has disguised the desires, literary criticism is utilized in order to find that which has been unconsciously chosen as acceptable representations for them. The critic then deciphers aspects of the characters, like dreams, personal relationships, sexual habits (or lack thereof), or obsessions. Reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein through a psychoanalytic lens, it is apparent that the death of Victor’s mother combined with his quick, solitary departure to parts unknown brought to life the damning aspects of the dependent yet self-involved personality his upbringing instilled within him.
Frankenstein created his creature, and to his shocking surprise the creature came alive with full human emotions. The reader also discovers the want for compassion within the creature, and as I mentioned in the previous paragraph Shelley tries and does a fantastic job in creating a sympathetic feeling towards Dr. Frankenstein’s creation. Now, it’s also easy for the reader to relate to the community as well. The creature attacks the people multiple times and strikes fear into their lives. An account between Dr. Frankenstein and the creature in chapter 20 displayed a decision Dr. Frankenstein had to make. Shelley wrote “…You can blast my other passions, but revenge remains -- revenge, henceforth dearer than light or food! I may die, but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the sun that gazes on your misery. Beware, for I am fearless and therefore powerful. I will watch with the wiliness of a snake, that I may sting with its venom. Man, you shall repent of the injuries you inflict" (149). In this moment the creature expresses to Victor that he could lose everything if he goes against the creature’s wishes. But Victor remained firm in his self-sacrificing, realizing the danger to the world is much larger than the danger to himself. Seeing both sides of this issue within Victor Frankenstein community allows the reader to try and pick if they are sympathetic to the creature or the people who wishes to destroy the creature. Either way the stigma of this situation is
In the classic horror Frankenstein, Mary Shelley distorts the role of the antagonist and protagonist. By depicting her antagonizing character known simply as the creature or at times the monster as a lonesome unnatural being, reluctantly existing outside of society a sympathy is provoked and the murderous creation though frightening, becomes more of an underdog than a villain. In a similar fashion, Shelley's protagonist the mad scientist Victor Frankenstein, who's ambition to create life artificially is fulfilled only for his cruel and superficial behavior to gradually manifest displaying his neglect and distain for his child, becomes less of a hero and more of a villain. Although distorted, the opposing forces of antagonist and protagonist remain true throughout this tragic eighteenth century tale. Though Shelley’s literal monster is not a hero he is made so only when compared to her ruthlessly determined man of science, the monster’s villainous father, Victor Frankenstein.
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley highlights on the experiences her characters undergo through the internal war of passion and responsibility. Victor Frankenstein lets his eagerness of knowledge and creating life get so out of hand that he fails to realize what the outcome of such a creature would affect humankind. Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, highlights on how Frankenstein’s passion of knowledge is what ultimately causes the decline of his health and the death of him and his loved ones.
At first glance, the monster in Frankenstein is a symbol of evil, whose only desire is to ruin lives. He has been called "A creature that wreaks havoc by destroying innocent lives often without remorse. He can be viewed as the antagonist, the element Victor must overcome to restore balance and tranquility to the world." But after the novel is looked at on different levels, one becomes aware that the creature wasn't responsible for his actions, and was just a victim of circumstance. The real villain of Frankenstein isn't the creature, but rather his creator, Victor.
Victor Frankenstein proves his ability of holding ultimate knowledge by creating life, but as a whole, the society shows a greater impact over others. The Creature 's physical strength plays a vital role in the novel as well. Through the Creature’s many murders, he showed his strength and mental drive to accomplish the things he wanted. The desire for power plays a vital role within the novel, pushing the characters to act out in either a positive or negative manner. Victor Frankenstein, the Creature, and the society all show a different type of influence over others within the novel, creating different desires of