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Throughout Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, the author stresses the theme that “one should be careful as the loss of innocence is destructive”. In “Frankenstein”, Victor Frankenstein and the creature he creates undergo a loss of innocence. As a young adult in the university, Victor has lofty ambitions and a curious nature. He is young, and he sees the world and the possibilities for success that it offers, and so he sets forth the goal of animating an inanimate assemblage to life. Upon doing so, Victor is quickly stripped of his innocence. Mere seconds after bestowing life unto his creature, Victor says, “Breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley 43). He rushes from the room, abandoning the creature out of fear, which, unbeknownst to him at this time, will act as a catalyst to the monster’s own fall of innocence. …show more content…
The creature, at its origination, is the embodiment of innocence.
He views the world through a lens of childlike wonder, and he must learn what is right and wrong in this world he is in, as at first, he has no qualms with walking into a complete stranger’s home out of curiosity. All he wants in the world is to love and be loved by the humans around him. As the creature experiences rejection and prejudice from all who lay eyes upon him, and as learns of God and how he does not have such a loving creator, he experiences the emotions of anger, depression, and discouragement. The more that the creature learns of how he can never be accepted in the human world, the more he loses his position of blissful ignorance and whole-hearted innocence. There comes a point when the creature renounces his humble, guiltless roots, and he throws the blame on his prodigal creator, Victor. “‘Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live?’” (Shelley 125). His eyes are no longer shielded with a rose-tinted lens, nor are
Victor’s. Victor sees the destruction that his monster brings forth, and he is tormented and plagued by the murderous deeds of this living science experiment that exemplifies the flaws of humanity. Victor’s days of innocuous discovery and experimentation are gone, never to resurface. Laying on his deathbed, Victor warns his newfound and only remaining friend, “‘Seek happiness in tranquillity and avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries’” (Shelley 208). No innocence remains, yet he does not want the same fate to befall his friend. Through the characters of Victor and the creature, author Mary Shelley presents an important theme: the loss of innocence brings about no positive consequences, resulting only in gradual destruction.
Previously portrayed through Frankenstein’s letters as the sole cause of both his and society’s despair, the monster’s use of the word “abortion” instead demonstrates Victor’s individual contribution towards his creature’s destructive path. Since the definition of abortion serves as the premediated act of terminating life, Frankenstein’s deliberate decision to desert his artificial creature exhibits society’s lack of sympathy for those with uncontrollable differences such as the monster’s physical deformities. Nevertheless, the textual irony of the monster’s frustrations eventually becomes apparent when the creature exclaims “Was there no injustice to this?”. Setting off a chain reaction of several more questions, Shelly’s text further mirrors the monster’s bafflement with the careless actions of Victor Frankenstein. That is, although Frankenstein gave his creation the “gift” of life, the monster has been perpetually denied every chance to live happily because of mankind’s relentless and inescapable hatred. More so, explained as the abandonment or failure of a process, Frankenstein’s ultimate refusal to love his own creation typifies how the creator’s ironic choices remain accountable for failing both the monster and
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
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...
“Allure, Authority, and Psychoanalysis” discusses the unconscious wishes, effects, conflicts, anxieties, and fantasies within “Frankenstein.” The absence of strong female characters in “Frankenstein” suggests the idea of Victor’s desire to create life without the female. This desire possibly stems from Victor’s attempt to compensate for the lack of a penis or, similarly, from the fear of female sexuality. Victor’s strong desire for maternal love is transferred to Elizabeth, the orphan taken into the Frankenstein family. This idea is then reincarnated in the form of a monster which leads to the conclusion that Mary Shelley felt like an abandoned child who is reflected in the rage of the monster.
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.
Victor Frankenstein, the monster’s creator, is the victim of his own pride. An ego unchecked is a dangerous thing. But in truth, it really just shows Victor’s humanity. He is privileged, educated, talented, loved, adored, but he is not perfect. His flaw is his own ego and pride. Without doubt, this is the result of a childhood where he was overindulged. Overindulged to the extent he was given a little girl “Elizabeth” as a “present”, whom he considered from childhood “mine only” (Shelley 21). Little wonder the twenty year old Victor would think he could create, control and command life. But Victor as with any indulged child did not take the time to learn much from his parents about parenting and fath...
In gothic novels tragic figures are symbols of pain to the characters. Victor Frankenstein brings misfortune to his loved ones, which concludes to his overall tragedy. Ironically the monster in this novel is Frankenstein the creator not the creature. He has seven victims including himself and his fall is due to his ambition to be superior.
In Frankenstein, Shelley creates two very complex characters. They embody the moral dilemmas that arise from the corruption and disturbance of the natural order of the world. When Victor Frankenstein is attending school, he becomes infatuated with creating a living being and starts stealing body parts from morgues around the university. After many months of hard work, he finishes one stormy night bringing his creation to life. However, “now that [Victor] had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled [his] heart” (Chambers). Right after Victor realizes what he has done, he falls into deep depression and must be nursed back to health by his friend. Victor spends the rest of the story facing consequences and moral problems from creating unnatural life. When he realizes that the ‘monster’ has killed his brother, even though no one believes him, he feels responsible for his brother’s murder because he was responsible for the existence of the ‘monster’. Also feeling responsible, Victor...
Victor Frankenstein and his creation are alike in several ways, one of them being their appreciation of nature. Victor embraces the nature for the quick moment that he escapes the creature as it “filled me with a sublime ecstasy that gave wings to the soul and allowed it to soar from the obscure world to light and joy” (Shelley 84). Vict...
Unlike the Romantic who revered and honored nature, Victor wants to use it for his own gain. He expects “happy” and “excellent natures” to obey him, and he doesn’t dwell upon the consequences of his actions. His outlook changes after the creature comes to life. As Victor stares into the watery, lifeless eyes of his creature, he finally realizes his mistake in trying to disrupt the natural order of the world. Scared by the outcome of his actions, Victor attempts to run away and find comfort in nature.
beings that he felt that his creation was not perfect, and decided to just get rid of it. The
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.
Victor Frankenstein brought the creature to life with a child-like innocence, but since Victor were never by his side, that innocence never progresses past the emotional state of a child and additionally the creature was rejected throughout all his encounters with humans causing him to do the things he
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.
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).