Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein shows the progression of maturity in many characters seen in the book. The monster in the book shows a significant amount of maturity at the end of the novel, however, the maturity progression is not seen because story is Victor’s narration. The wretch knows his murders were wrong and ultimately accepts responsibility for his deeds. In the beginning of the book, the monster has the maturity of an infant and knows not of the way humans behave. The monster lacks nurture and self-control and is emotionally disordered (Brown 148). The monster in Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein matures throughout the book, ultimately taking responsibility for his actions, and inflicting upon himself the punishment he believes that he deserves for his sins.
In the beginning of the novel the monster is an infant, incapable of understanding the way humans act. As an infant, the wretch commits numerous misdeeds, showing his initial lack of maturity. The argument can be made that the monster was created with a sense virtue, a benevolent and gentle creature. “I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy and I again shall be virtuous” (Shelley 100). This is Perhaps Godwin’s philosophy of “man’s innate goodness”, considering much of the ideas in this novel are inspired by him (qtd. in Swingle 51). Marshall Brown notes: When it first encounters language, the monster calls it a “godlike science”... the monster’s obviously undependable judgment that humans are “all that can be conceived of noble and godlike” when they aren’t “a mere scion of the evil principle” (qtd. in Brown 157).
Shelley’s monster is incredibly intelligent and “learns with astonishing ease” (Brown 150). Desp...
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Johnson, Barbara. “My Monster/My Self.” Rev. of Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, My Mother/My Self by Nancy Friday, and The Mermaid and The Minotaur by Dorothy Dinnerstein. Cherchez la Femme Feminist Critique/Feminine Text: Vol. 12, No. 2. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Summer 1982.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. 2003 ed. New York, New York, Bantam Dell, 2003.
Sherwin, Paul. “Frankenstein: Creation as Catastrophe.” Rev. of Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. PMLA: Vol. 96, No. 5. Modern Language Association. October 1981.
Swingle, L. “Frankenstein's Monster and Its Romantic Relatives: Problems of Knowledge in English Romanticism.” Rev. of Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. Vol. 15, No. 1. University of Texas Press. Spring 1973.
Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature highlights Frankenstein as the work of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, published in 1818, and it brought into the Western world one of its best known monsters. Elements of gothic romance and science fiction help in telling the story of young Swiss scientist Victor Frankenstein, as he creates a horrible monster by putting together limbs and veins, leading to destruction and his later regret. The creature is left alone in the world, even by his own creator, for his hideous appearance, and through watching humans he learns their ways of living. Haunting Victor due to his loneliness, he forcefully makes Victor agree to make him a female companion, but Victor’s regret and misery enables him to tear up his
Victor Frankenstein’s recollects his past before his mind in youth was plagued by his self destructive passions later on in his life. By reflecting on his past, he becomes keenly aware of the poor choices he has made which inevitably lead to the decimation of the innocence he used to possess in the past. The simile in this text compares the beginning of when he discovers his passions for natural philosophy, and his eventual demise caused by it, to the flow of a river which source was in the mountains. The serene nature of the mountain and river foreshadows the purity of Frankenstein’s being before the discovery of his passions, and the peak of that mountain symbolizes the height of this innocence. The many sources of water at the peak represents
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.
The creature’s moral ambiguity characteristic was a vile ingredient to the construction of this novel Frankenstein because it made the reader 's sympathies with him even after the audience knows he had committed murder because the readers had seen the truth this creature had to face. That he had tried everything within his power to peacefully live with them, to interact, communicate, and befriend them “these thoughts exhilarated me and led me to apply with fresh ardour to the acquiring the art of language”, that even though he was seen as a monster because of the looks he was created with, something he had no control over, he still had hope to be seen as equals, ”My organs were indeed harsh, but supple; and although my voice was very unlike the soft music of their tones, yet I pronounced such words as I understood with tolerable ease. It was as the ass and the lap-dog; yet surely the gentle ass whose intentions were affectionate, although his manners were rude, deserved better treatment than blows and execration;” this hope of his was utterly crushed, and can only set him up for utter disappointment(12.18). Because in the end he only received hates, scorns, violence, and prejudice from his good will. So in the end of the story, Mary Shelley’s forces the readers to see within the creature’s heart and for
“I now hasten to the more moving part of my story. I shall relate events that impressed me with feelings which, from what I was, have made me what I am” (Shelley 92). Frankenstein’s Creature presents these lines as it transitions from a being that merely observes its surroundings to something that gains knowledge from the occurrences around it. The Creature learns about humanity from “the perfect forms of [his] cottagers” (90). Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein offers compelling insights into the everlasting nature versus nurture argument. Her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote, “Treat a person ill, and he will become wicked.” Shelley believes that the nurture of someone, or something, in the Creature’s case, forms them into who they become and what actions they take. While this is true for Frankenstein’s Creature, the same cannot be said about Victor Frankenstein.
In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein the protagonist Victor Frankenstein creates a monster. The monster in the novel is deprived of a normal life due to his appearance. Like the creature, some serial killers today are killers due to the same rejection. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley warns that a childhood of abuse and neglect will often result in evil actions.
Victor Frankenstein, a character in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, decided that he wanted to bring life into this world; a life that would eventually go on to killing the creator himself. The Creature can be seen as either innocent or guilty. The popular opinion of the Creature seems to be that he is guilty considering how he has burned down a house, set up Justine for murder and murdered three others. However, after taking a close look at the text, it can be seen that Frankenstein’s creature is not guilty. He was brought into this world with a child-like innocence, never progressed past the emotional state of a child and was rejected throughout his whole life causing him to do the things he did.
In Shelley’s novel, the final picture of Frankenstein’s monster reveals important qualities of his inner nature; he is shown in the last moments of his life to be felling, fully conscious of his guilt, and firm in his decision to end his life. This is the conclusion of a long series of events providing insight into how the monster changed as a result of his creator’s actions and the actions of the people with whom he came in contact. Up until this final point, he has changed from being good and hopeful to being caught up in the desire for a companion, to being evil and only focused on revenge. All these changes are recounted by the monster himself in this scene. (Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley portrays an individual in a unique situation trying to overcome daily interactions while being faced with inconceivable misfortunes. Created by Victor Frankenstein, who set out on a journey to bring life to scrapped pieces of waste, he was then abandoned and left to fend for himself in a world he was abruptly brought into. After being abandoned by his creator for his less than appealing looks, this then sparked his inevitable desire for revenge. Eventually leading to the destruction of those associated with his creator. Knowing that he will never fit in, the monster began to act out in hopes of getting back at his creator for what he did. His vulnerability due to missing guidance and parental figures in his beginning stages of life contributed to his behavior. The books and article Family Crisis and Children’s Therapy Groups written by Gianetti, Audoin, and Uzé, Victim Of Romance: The Life And Death Of Fanny Godwin by Maurice Hindle, and Social Behavior and Personality by Lubomir Lamy, Jacques Fishcher-Lokou, and Nicolas Gueguen support why the monster acts the way he does. The monster’s behavior stems from Victor’s actions at the beginning of his life and therefore is not to blame. The creature in Frankenstein is deserving of sympathy even though he committed those murders because the lack of parental guidance, lack of family, and lack of someone to love led him to that. All in all his actions were not malicious, but only retaliation for what he had been put through.
In the gothic novel Frankenstein, humans have a bottomless, motivating, but often dangerous thirst for knowledge. This idea was clearly illustrated throughout the novel by Mary Shelley. The three main characters in the novel shared the thirst for knowledge that later lead to their downfall. In the novel knowledge is a huge theme that led to atrocious life to anyone that tried to gain it. Knowledge is hazardous; therefore, I support Dr. Frankenstein’s warning about knowledge being dangerous and that knowledge shouldn’t be gained.
There are many authors that use a well-known historical figure to contrast the protagonist of their novel. One great author that uses this method of comparing a renowned person to a fictional character is Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly. In her novel Frankenstein, she uses the subtitle “The Modern Prometheus.” Prometheus, the Greek god, and Victor Frankenstein, the creator of the Monster, have contrasting qualities and behaviors that allow them to go against God’s will and attempt to create life.
At first, The Monster is very kind and sympathetic. He has a good heart, as shown when he collected firewood for the family on the brink of poverty. Like every other human creation, he was not born a murderer. All the Monster wanted was to be accepted and loved by Victor Frankenstein and the other humans but instead he was judged by his appearance and considered to be dangerous. The Monster says, “like Adam, I was created apparently united by no link to any other being in existence…many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition; for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me” (page 105). This line is an important part of the novel because the Monster lets it be known how like Adam he was created into this world completely abandoned and like Satan he is angry with those people who have found contentment and satisfaction in their lives. The rejection and unwelcome feeling he is faced with, is the main reason the Monster becomes a killer. Watching another family show love towards each other made the Monster realize how alienated he truly was. He did not know how to deal with his pain and emotions so he murders as
For my final project of the novel unit, I chose the novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley and first published in 1818. Frankenstein is a tale about an ambitious young scientist who in his practice oversteps the boundaries of acceptable science and creates a monster which destroys everything Victor Frankenstein loved and held dear.
In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a book about a monster created by Victor frankenstein who falls off his path of innocent purity due to various factors. Victor Frankenstein’s creature was propelled toward the path of destruction considering his continuous cycle of fallen hopes, the fact he never had a role model to teach him right from wrong, and the abuse he endures as a result of his pure intentions. If we were born into the same situation to which the monster was born into, we too would fall off the path of kindness as soon as we would see the treatment that would result from always giving and never receiving.
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).