CLOSE reading of the Text Essential Passages: Frankenstein Literary Elements Essential Passage 1: Chapter One From Italy they visited Germany and France. I, their eldest child, was born in Naples, and as an infant accompanied them in their rambles. I remained for several years their only child. Much as they were attached to each other, they seemed to draw inexhaustible stores of affection from a very mine of love to bestow them upon me. My mother’s tender caresses, and my father’s smile of benevolent pleasure while regarding me, are my first recollections. I was their plaything and their idol, and something better—their child, the innocent and helpless creature bestowed in them by Heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot fulfilled …show more content…
Victor’s Father: Victor’s Mother: Victor: Making Predictions: Based on the context of Victor’s childhood and what you learn about the characters of his mother and father from closely reading this passage, how can the reader assume Victor will treat something that is a creation of his being based on the lessons he learns as a child? Essential Passage 2: Chapter Two ...We possessed a house in Geneva, and a campagne on Belrive, the eastern shore of the lake, at the distance of rather more than a league from the city. We reside principally in the latter, and the lives of my parents were passed in considerable seclusion. It was my temper to avoid a crowd, and to attach myself fervently to a few. I was indifferent, therefore, to my schoolfellows in general; but I united myself in the bonds of the closest friendship to one among them. Henry Clerval was the son of a merchant of Geneva. Literary Focus: Setting What do the details of the setting here tell us about the main characters in our …show more content…
Yet my heart overflowed with kindness, and the love of virtue. I had begun life with benevolent intentions, and thirsted for the moment when I should put them in practice, and make myself useful to my fellow-beings. Now all was blasted: instead of that serenity of conscience, which allowed me to look back upon the past with self-satisfaction, and from thence to gather promise of new hopes, I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures, such as no language can
As a response to the Enlightenment movement in 18th century Europe, Romanticism gradually began to undermine the way people thought about human consciousness and nature itself. Appreciation of the natural beauty of the world and pure, human emotion bloomed in Europe as Romanticism’s influence grew ("Topic Page: Romanticism”). Romantics valued Individualism and thought that being close to nature would make them closer to God (Morner and Rausch). People also searched for solace in nature to overcome the adversities and cynicisms that followed the French Revolution ("French Revolution."). Romanticism and Romantic ideals influenced Mary Shelley, and that influence can be seen throughout her novel Frankenstein. The two main characters, Victor Frankenstein
These chapters focus mainly on Victor Frankenstein's back-story as he was growing up. He describes his cousin Elizabeth, who he later becomes married to, and about how they came about finding her. Later we are introduced to Victors best friend, Henry Clerval. We also learn that Frankenstein became fascinated with the sciences by the 16th century author Cornelius Agrippa. This along with many of the other philosophers of that time inspired him to become a scientist. Later he also witnesses the power of electricity when a bolt of lightning strikes a tree nearby where he is staying. At the start of chapter three we learn that Victor is in the process of leaving for college when Elizabeth gets sick. In an effort to save her Victors mother nurses Elizabeth back to health yet manages to contract her disease. As she dies she continues her dream about Victor and Elizabeth getting married and passes that on to Victor just before she dies. Victor then goes about leaving to his college and after spending his last days hanging out with his friends finally departs. In his first days there however he meets the teacher of Natural Philosophy at the school M. Krempe, who informs him that all that Frankenstein had learned from his 16th century hero's was rubbish and should be thrown out the window. Although saddened by this information he attends a lecture of chemistry and decides to become a scientist. Yet throughout these chapters we see the seeds of Victors downfall. His unwillingness to take others opinion and experience into account becomes evident when he call Mr. Krempe a "little squat man with a gruff voice and a repulsive countenance; the teacher, therefore, did not prepossess me in favour of his pursuits." (...
Frankenstein was born in the family of the most eminent citizens of Geneva. His father married the daughter of his friend Carolina Beaufort, and became the father "in his old age." Victor was their favorite and long-awaited first-born, but Carolina would like to have a daughter. One day relaxing on the shores of Lake Como, the woman went to the poor hut and saw a lovely blonde girl, is very different from the other kids, black-eyed and dark-haired. She was a child of the Italian patriot and Germans. Her mother died in childbirth, his father was sent to prison, and she remained in the family nurse. Frankenstein persuaded farmers to give them the girl and adopted her. In the future, Elizabeth was to become the wife of Victor.
A first impression of Walton would be to say that he is extremely ambitious. He desires to go to the North Pole to "accomplish some great purpose". He has his own theories on what should be there, and will not rest until he has proved them. This is somewhat a 'Godlike' ambition, in that he wishes to be praised for discovering something new which will benefit everyone else in the world. The language used is also very much like Old Testament, Biblical; "Heaven shower down blessings on you". The image of Walton being 'Godlike' is enhanced by this.
abandoned; this made him feel as if he was the only person with out no
Victor Frankenstein may be the leading character in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but a hero he is not. He is self-centered and loveless, and there is nothing heroic about him. There is a scene in Chapter twenty-four where Captain Walton is confronted by his crew to turn southwards and return home should the ice break apart and allow them the way. Frankenstein rouses himself and finds the strength to argue to the Captain that they should continue northwards, or suffer returning home "with the stigma of disgrace marked on your brows." He quite obviously has alterior motives and if he were not the eloquent, manipulative creature he so egotistically accuses his creature of being, he might not have moved the Captain and the men so much that they are blind to the true source of his passion. Unfortunately for Frankenstein, the crew, (however "moved") stand firm in their position. Yet the things he says in his motivational speech are prime examples of the extent to which Frankenstein is blind to his own faults and yet will jump at the chance to harangue others. He is so self-centered that his lack of interaction and love for others after his experiment has been completed, would barely qualify him as a person, if the difference between being human and being a person lies in the ability to have relationships with others.
Mary Shelley uses irony in the development of Frankenstein and the creature in order to create more dynamic and complex characters who are foils of one another.
terror but I couldn’t understand why my creator was horrified at my sight I was devastated all I remember was charging at him My farther was running for his life when my farther thought I was dead he left town without me keeping his secret in his attic.
Mary Shelley’s text, Frankenstein is a text, which is highly regarded in today’s society for its outstanding literary worth. However, the text as it was seen during the time of Shelley and its appearance and appeal today, most certainly differ. The most significant difference is that over a hundred years ago, the text was seen as a popular text, our modern day Simpsons, if you like. Conversely, today it appeals to the cannon of high culture. Its gradual change over time has been based on a number of deciding factors.
Frankenstein, speaking of himself as a young man in his father’s home, points out that he is unlike Elizabeth, who would rather follow “the aerial creations of the poets”. Instead he pursues knowledge of the “world” though investigation. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that the meaning of the word “world” is for Frankenstein, very much biased or limited. He thirsts for knowledge of the tangible world and if he perceives an idea to be as yet unrealised in the material world, he then attempts to work on the idea in order to give it, as it were, a worldly existence. Hence, he creates the creature that he rejects because its worldly form did not reflect the glory and magnificence of his original idea. Thrown, unaided and ignorant, into the world, the creature begins his own journey into the discovery of the strange and hidden meanings encoded in human language and society. In this essay, I will discuss how the creature can be regarded as a foil to Frankenstein through an examination of the schooling, formal and informal, that both of them go through. In some ways, the creature’s gain in knowledge can be seen to parallel Frankenstein’s, such as, when the creature begins to learn from books. Yet, in other ways, their experiences differ greatly, and one of the factors that contribute to these differences is a structured and systematic method of learning, based on philosophical tenets, that is available to Frankenstein but not to the creature.
Relevancy of Frankenstein “The most miserable people are those who care only about themselves, understand only their own troubles and see only their own perspective.” This quote from an unknown source perfectly describes how selfish people are not always happy and they are not helping anyone except themselves. Victor Frankenstein shows many qualities that he is a very selfish person, and Frankenstein has been relevant for almost 200 years, but why? One of the major reasons is that we can learn from and understand that Victor Frankenstein was selfish and only cared about what he thought was right.
The Philosophy behind Frankenstein Frankenstein is a revolutionary novel of its day but also revered for its deep complex meaning behind the story even until this day. There are a lot of topics that can be taken from this book and really analyzed and make the reader think if these boundaries are crossing moral and ethical lines. Moreover it's important to understand how much philosophy and sophisticated thinking is put into this novel, it challenges a higher level of thought. Frankenstein is an early work of what science fiction could be but it also challenges real world issues that still hold up today, whether it be if experimentation is ethical, stem cell research or even the preservation of life.
The use of reader response in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein shows the different types of opinions formed by the readers on many different topics such as whether they liked the text, agreed or disagreed with the author, what they thought of the book and/ or what they thought the purpose of the book was and what their critiques of the book are (Daryl Smith O' Hare and Susan C. Hines). The purpose of the book is believed to be one of the most important discussion topics of the book. The purpose of Frankenstein was to analyze humanity in The Creature. Does The Creature have a soul? In the religious point of view Gidley states that “Not only has the creature learned to speak, he has also read books.
Mary Shelley in her book Frankenstein addresses numerous themes relevant to the current trends in society during that period. However, the novel has received criticism from numerous authors. This paper discusses Walter Scott’s critical analysis of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in his Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine Review of Frankenstein (1818).
The novel Frankenstein is a one of the first Gothic novels that entails both gothic and romantic elements in its plot. The novel explains how Victor creates Frankenstein, the process by which he collects body parts and how life is given to Frankenstein. Its plot is in old scary European buildings and is filled with war between good and evil. It also shows how the characters are able to connect both the mortal and supernatural world. This novel is about the war between good and evil that will eventually get to have Frankenstein on their side (Donawerth). On the other hand, the novel on Jane Eyre is a gothic novel that takes place in Europe. It is filled with old buildings and shows how a young orphaned Jane Eyre is neglected by her adopted family especially after her adopted father dies. She undergoes through periods of success and hurting in her life until she meets a man by the name Edward who later breaks her heart. This leads her to the quest of finding her spirituality (Adams). This novel shows how one gets to know their spirituality and how it leads to their strengths and succe...