Aubree Pattie
English Honors VI
Mrs. Schroeder
Frankenstein
In Frankenstein, the desire for power was key to survival; with the discovery of new ideas the characters claim to drive themselves over the power of others and to free themselves from others. Victor Frankenstein, Robert Walton, and the monster all have desires for power. With the recreation of the monster, gain knowledge with a new passage, and becoming independent each of these drives were to gain power.
As a child, Victor Frankenstein was sophisticated and longed to explore all the possibilities of life. In school, Victor was dedicated to science; this is where his desire for power began. In Frankenstein, Victor says that, “ Natural philosophy is the genius that has regulated
…show more content…
He used skills he learned during his college studies, including chemistry like Chemistry, Alchemy, and Electricity to recreate the dead body. He created the monster but after he brought it to life he felt animosity towards the monster and did not fully comprehend how to treat the monster.Once Victor has brought his creation into the world his response in shock by running away from the monster. When Victor runs away from the monster, the monster was raving against Victor leaving him and murdered Victor’s youngest brother William. It was unknown to the family and friends as to who killed William, but Victor knew the …show more content…
Victor said, “I was alike ignorant; she might become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate and delight, for its own sake, in murder and wretchedness.” (Frankenstein 202) His second thoughts led him to demolished the mate for the monster and is going to dispose of the remains in the sea. The monster was enraged and very vengeful towards Victor with him not upholding the end of the deal. When Victor and Henry set out to sea a storm drags his boat into the sea and they end up in Ireland. Victor washed up on shore unharmed, but Henry died on the shores of Ireland. Victor is convicted of murdering Henry Clerval, a well known friend and is put on trial. Victor was innocent of the
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.
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
He possibly could have located the monster, with the help of others, in a timely fashion, thus averting the many calamities that followed. However, Victor chose to abandon his monster and not inform anyone of its creation, and ignore it for months (Shelly 56). When Victor finally sees the monster again, it is after the monster has killed his youngest brother, william. When an innocent woman is blamed for this crime, and Victor could testify and save her life, he takes no action, saying that he would be thought crazy for his tale (Shelly 66).This in and of itself is an insanely selfish thing to do, with minimal effort Victor could have saved another person's life but because it could jeopardize his own reputation, he chooses not to. Even after two people have perished due to his thoughtlessness, Victor still does not inform anyone of the monster which he has created and still allows it to run loose. Later in the novel, after Victor destroys the companion the monster asked him to build, the monster strangles Victor's innocent friend Henry (Shelley 166). Victor’s actions caused a number of deaths and endangered many people. Henry, Elizabeth, William, and Justine all had nothing to do with the creation and subsequent abandonment of the monster, and yet due to Victors irresponsibility, they paid the ultimate price. Williams death is a turning point in the novel, as it shows victor for the first time that his actions actually do have consequences “Nothing in the human shape could have destroyed that fair child. He was the murderer! I could not doubt it”, and yet he chooses to continue to make irresponsible choices that continue to endanger more people (Shelley
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the main theme revolves around the internal and external consequences of being isolated from others. Being isolated from the world could result in a character losing his/her mental state and eventually causing harm to themselves or others. Because both Victor Frankenstein and the creature are isolated from family and society, they experienced depression, prejudice, and revenge.
..., played God, abandoned his creation, and then hid any relation to the creature. Victor is quite at fault for the murders that take place in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. True, the monster does know right from wrong, the difference is he was not brought up by his parents that way. How to live life is something that is learned and imprinted through experience and guidance. The monster was never fully given the chance to live because upon the day he arrived he was instantly rejected. Victor created the monster physically and emotionally within himself and in turn died by it.
Victor’s lack of compassion and sympathy towards the monster causes him to become angry instead of guilty. His cruelness to his creation made the monster kill and hurt the people he did but “when [he] reflected on [the monster’s] crimes and malice, [Victor’s] hatred and revenge burst all bounds of moderation,”(Shelley 325). Without compassion Victor thinks that the only way to stop the monster is to get revenge on him, instead of just giving him the empathy and kindness that monster craved. Victor realizes that "if he were vanquished, [he] should be a free man...balanced by those horrors of remorse and guilt which would pursue [him] until death. ”(Shelley 731).
Many people know that Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, was part of a family of famed Romantic era writers. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was one of the first leaders of the feminist movement, her father, William Godwin, was a famous social philosopher, and her husband, Percy Shelley, was one of the leading Romantic poets of the time ("Frankenstein: Mary Shelley Biography."). What most people do not know, however, is that Mary Shelley dealt with issues of abandonment her whole life and fear of giving birth (Duncan, Greg. "Frankenstein: The Historical Context."). When she wrote Frankenstein, she revealed her hidden fears and desires through the story of Victor Frankenstein’s creation, putting him symbolically in her place (Murfin, Ross. "Psychoanalytic Criticism and Frankenstein.”). Her purpose, though possibly unconsciously, in writing the novel was to resolve both her feelings of abandonment by her parents, and fears of her own childbirth.
The monster from the novel Frankenstein was brought into society without any sense of intelligence causing him to be a social outcast. The monster was a result of a science experiment conducted by Victor Frankenstein who was striving to achieve greater intelligence. As the monster grows intellectually, it develops a desire to gain more knowledge similarly to its creator. It gains more knowledge allowing it to understand and respond to the way society rejects it leading to the destruction caused by the monster. Walton also experiences the same craving for knowledge which puts many people's lives at risk. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley demonstrates that an obsessive thirst for more erudition may ruin one's life through the book's characters.
Victor ignored the creature and pretended that he did not exist. Eventually the creature matured and wanted to search out his maker. The creature becomes angered when it realized that his maker has abandoned him and does not want him. In pursuit of Victor the creature kills Victor’s brother, William. Victor loses all ambition and hope he had about the resurrection of the creature, but the creature gains ambition. He wants to make Victor love and accept him. The creature sets his mind on the goal of acceptance and will do anything to achieve it. In Act 2 of Frankenstein the creature kills the gamekeeper, William and Fritz to show Victor that he is important. The creature is proving that ambition without morals and foresight hurts those closest to
In the book, Frankenstein, there are many justice and injustice problems. Justice is the opposite of injustice, the way that injustice is unfairness or undeserved outcomes. I believe that the greatest injustice in the book is the creation of the monster. I believe the human kind should not have the right to even try to create life, they are not God. in someway, victor is taking away a major role in a woman's life, in how women are the only one the can “give life”, in the giving birth to a human being.
Locked in a perpetual struggle for dominance, both struggle to gain internal peace. Victor Frankenstein feels obligated to destroy his creation for the good of society, and the Monster wishes to come to terms with his abandonment – both are unable to find happiness. Here there is a contrast of power: Frankenstein’s intellectual power contrary to the Monster’s physical power (this is however, not to say the Monster lacked intellectual power, only that Frankenstein possesses greater fear of the physical aspects of the Monster). The first instance of this battle for power can be seen when the Monster demands of Frankenstein to “create a female…with whom [he] can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for [his] being.” (p174) – here Frankenstein is in control. He is the only one that has the knowledge to create another being like the Monster, and thus, when the Monster asks this favour of Frankenstein he places his happiness in the hands of another. The Monster is dependent on the actions of another. However, there is a power reversal when Frankenstein denies the monster his ‘female’ (p174). Frankenstein dashes the Monster’s last hope at happiness, so the Monster threatens the life of his loved ones. Here, Frankenstein is at the mercy of his creation. For though “[Frankenstein is the] creator… [the Monster is his master” (p205) – here the Monster establishes his dominance over Frankenstein by outwardly stating his power over his creator. This power struggle is most effectively culminated in the chase around the globe. Yet it must be seen that neither Frankenstein and his Monster are in control. The Monster leaves clues for Frankenstein, demonstrating his need for Frankenstein to follow him, for without Frankenstein the Monster has no purpose in life. On the other hand, Frankenstein is following his creation all over the world, through desert, sea, and cold. Thus, it is clear that as a
Victor ignored the creature and pretended that he did not exist. Eventually the creature matured and wanted to search out his maker. The creature becomes angered when it realized that his maker has abandoned him and does not want him. In pursuit of Victor the creature kills Victor’s brother, William. Victor loses all ambition and hope he had about the resurrection of the creature, but the creature gains ambition. He wants to make Victor love and accept him. The creature sets his mind on the goal of acceptance and will do anything to achieve it. In Act 2 of Frankenstein the creature kills the gamekeeper, William and Fritz to show Victor that he is important. The creature is proving that ambition without morals and foresight hurts those closest to
Most people agree that Victor Frankenstein holds the most power in the text. In creating the monster, he not only has the power to create life but also the power to, indirectly, save or destroy others lives. Critics of his character speculate that Justine could have been saved had be only confessed his actions in Ingolstadt.
Victor Frankenstein’s scientific endeavor, Robert Walton’s search for the North Pole, and the creature’s kind heart but scary features creates this whole theme of dangerous knowledge. The search for knowledge is encouraged and at times pushed by others. In Frankenstein is shows quest can lead to too much knowledge and drive him or her to his fate.
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).