The legacy of humankind is over two million years old and counting, but the history of literature is only a few thousand years old at most. As humans, we have needed time to create new ideas and evolve into our current world that is filled with wisdom. The amount of literature is diminutive compared to the amount of history because a large storage of background knowledge is necessary to construct the basis and inspiration for English works.
One of such English works is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which discusses the science of raising the dead. Written in the Victorian age, it concerns a scientist who creates a monster that betrays him, ultimately killing all of his family and the scientist himself. When writing the story, Mary Shelley was in a contest against her friends, and she had obtained the idea from a dream. However, the history of science was necessary
…show more content…
for her inspiration. In that time frame, the philosophies of what can be considered “dead” or “alive” were vague; people were astonished in experiments to find frogs convulsing in response to electric impulses. Shelley thus wrote in her book a scene based on said experiment, “ ... I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing ... I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs.” (41) It can be concluded from this passage, that the origin of “new science” and the scientist's experiments conducted over a long time were necessary for just this one piece of literature. Along with science comes a far older philosophy that invoked many stories--religion. John Milton's famous Paradise Lost comes from a story about Satan, a fallen angel who had tried to overthrow God, but failed and was punished in hell instead. Like most other Christian legends, Paradise Lost also comes from the Bible. Even merely the first three lines of the poem were based upon the beginning of the Bible, talking “Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste, Brought Death into the World”. (1-3) This described the first humans eating the Forbidden Fruit of Knowledge, thus committing the First Sin. Without the bible or religious beliefs, there was no method for Sir Milton to have come up with his story about God punishing his Angels, or to even begin with man’s first sin. The inspiration for the book came from the knowledge that was built upon from far long ago, and the religious story needed many years of religious history to be written. Just as science and religion’s histories served as the background knowledge or inspiration for the previous pieces, the events occurring around the time the literature was written can also be essential to create that piece of work.
Written in 1859, Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities was produced approximately one hundred years after the event it describes, the French Revolution. Dickens’ book includes a complex plot, introducing many characters that interacted within the chaos of France. The storming of the Bastille, the highlight of the book, is described with people that “...laboured and strove in the thickest of the uproar." (211) The mood of the situation, or even the origin of the situation, would not be known without the revolution. Indeed, the political story of the corrupted monarch was the stem of the ideas that branched out of A Tale of Two Cities, including people’s fashions at the time, the food that they ate, and the unfairness of the justice system that put many people in jail. The 18th century’s events were crucial in contribution for this 19th-century book to be
written. Whether the book is related to politics, religion, or science, the writer seems to always need some kind of inspiration; a history of some kind. Even a short writing may come from thousand years of history. So whenever one reads a book, he or she should not merely read for plot, or even go only as far as symbolism. To truly penetrate a book, the reader should also consider the history of the book, and ponder over how the knowledge is incorporated into the characters and the settings.
Butler, Marilyn. "Frankenstein and Radical Science." Reprinted in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Norton Critical Edition. 1993; New York: W. W. Norton, 1996. 302-313.
Charles Dickens writes this book explaining the French Revolution, in which the social and economic systems in France had huge changes and the French monarchy collapsed. This causes high taxes, unfair laws, and the poor being mistreated. Charles Dickens shows that cruelty of other people will lead to a revolution and in addition to the revolution more cruelty will occur. He explores the idea of justice and violence through the use of ambiguous characters with positive and negative qualities, meaning that they have to different sides to them; for example, Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton, and Dr. Manette. Throughout the story of A Tale of Two Cities, Charles dickens uses ambiguous characters to shows how violence and cruelty can be stopped through the power of true sacrifice.
Investigating The Ways in Which Mary Shelley Explores the Theme of Knowledge In Frankenstein Mary Shelley explores the theme of knowledge in Frankenstein in many ways; firstly, she uses a frame narrative to show different peoples views of, and reactions to, the same information and to combine lots of different writing styles into one piece, this technique also allows the story to move along fluidly as it can come from many places and people. She uses lots of imagery, personification and metaphors to describe the scenes, which adds a sense of realism to it and allows the reader to picture the scene instead of just being told about it. Shelley portrays that knowledge can empower, but also that it has the power to destroy if not used carefully. In order to fully understand what Mary Shelley has done, we need to firstly study; the portrayal of Captain Walton, Frankenstein’s ambition and how this creates suspense.
The Tree of Knowledge in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley warns that with the advent of science, natural philosophical questioning is not only futile, but dangerous. In attempting to discover the mysteries of life, Frankenstein assumes that he can act as God. He disrupts the natural order, and chaos ensues. Mary Shelley goes to great lengths to emphasize the beauty and order of life when man engages in ìnaturalî pursuits.
In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein seeks knowledge. He thirsts for glory and pursues knowledge for this selfish pursuit. Throughout this, Frankenstein weakens his relationships, such as his relationship with Elizabeth and Henry. In his pursuit, he brings an intellectual being to life making the quest all the more selfish. Motivated by this selfish desire for glory, Frankenstein embarks on a pursuit of knowledge for the “secrets” of life that ultimately weakens his relationships and sanity. Frankenstein’s experience with the monster, his weakening relationships, and his personal philosophy illuminate the consequence of pursuing knowledge for the wrong purpose.
At the beginning of life, humans are exposed to the outside world with an open and blank mind. A newborn has no knowledge, no concerns or worries and it only seeks to fulfill its main necessities. Surrounded by the outside world one lives through many experiences where knowledge is accepted. Encountering other human beings reflects upon one's perception and brings about ones self decisions. Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, written in 1816, demonstrates through characters that an obsessive desire for more knowledge may ruin ones life.
Frankenstein is a book written by Mary Shelley in 1818, that is revolved around a under privileged scientist named Victor Frankenstein who manages to create a unnatural human-like being. The story was written when Shelley was in her late teen age years, and was published when she was just twenty years old. Frankenstein is filled with several different elements of the Gothic and Romantic Movement of British literature, and is considered to be one of the earliest forms of science fiction. Frankenstein is a very complicated and complex story that challenges different ethics and morals on the apparent theme of dangerous knowledge. With the mysterious experiment that Dr. Victor Frankenstein conducted, Shelly causes her reader to ultimately ask themselves what price is too high to pay to gain knowledge. It is evident that Shelly allows the reader to sort of “wonder” about the reaction they would take when dealing with a situation such as the one implemented throughout the book.
Throughout Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, knowledge of the existence of his human creator has a devastating effect on the creature as he struggles to define his own self perception as well as his desire to attain acceptance from this creator. This of course parallels man's relationship to a divine creator in christian mythology. Ironically, however the idea that knowledge must be taught or passed down by a divine creator is deconstructed. In the end, Shelley concludes that moral and spiritual development can be reached without dogmatic belief structures, resulting in the elimination of god as the only vehicle of self realization.
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.
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Shelley shows that the acquisition of knowledge can be dangerous through the characters of Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, and Robert Walton. Knowledge is a good thing to a certain extent but it can consume a person’s life and have negative affects. The unlimited quest for knowledge is a negative flaw in some humans.
Albert Einstein once said, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a lot.” Einstein believes that there is a point where the acquisition of knowledge becomes dangerous for humans. Mary Shelley extensively explores the effect dangerous knowledge has on the characters in her book Frankenstein. Throughout the book, Frankenstein and the creature are corrupted by knowledge that changes their outlooks on life. In both cases, the information that corrupts the characters was not meant for them to be discovered. When Frankenstein is discovered in the Arctic by a sailor named Walton, he is taken on board of Walton’s boat. Frankenstein then tells Walton about his quest for information, and it changes Walton’s perspective on the pursuit of
In the novel Frankenstein written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly, Knowledge is power for Victor Frankenstein. Mary Shelly explains that Dr. Frankenstein’s hunger for the knowledge to create life out of death only leads to Victor’s unfortunate monster. The consequences that Victor Frankenstein experiences from creating a creature from his own madness leads to his death as well as the creature. Mary Shelly explains in her novel Frankenstein that Victor’s need to study life and how it is created is dangerous; furthermore, the abomination that the doctor creates should have never been created; however, the monster that Victor creates is his own monstrosity.
By definition, knowledge is the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association (Merriam-Webster.com). In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley considers knowledge as a “dangerous” factor. The danger of it is proved throughout the actions of the characters Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the creature. The characters all embody the theme of knowledge in different ways. Shelley supports her opinion about knowledge by using references from the Bible and Paradise Lost. She uses these references to show the relationship between God’s Adam and Frankenstein’s creature, and how nothing turns out as great as God’s creation. Mary Shelley’s goal is to teach a lesson on how destructive the desire for knowledge really is.
The free dictionary online defines knowledge as “an awareness, consciousness, or familiarity gained by experience or learning”. Power, on the other hand, means “the ability or official capacity of a person, group or nation to exercise great influence or control and authority over others”. In Voltaire’s “Candide”, Goethe’s “Faust”, and Shelley’s Frankenstein, the quest for more knowledge and power sets the stage for the story yet the characters, Candide, Frankenstein, and Faust remain unhappy after acquiring the much desired knowledge and power. It can be said, therefore, that knowledge, and even money, often times twists and corrupts the mind because of the control (power) it gives people over others.
A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, is a story set in the year 1775 and through the turbulent time of the French Revolution. It is of people living in love and betrayal, murder and joy, peril and safety, hate and fondness, misery and happiness, gentle actions and ferocious crowds. The novel surrounds a drunken man, Sydney Carton, who performs a heroic deed for his beloved, Lucie Manette, while Monsieur and Madame Defarge, ruthless revolutionaries, seek revenge against the nobles of France. Research suggests that through Dickens’ portrayal of the revolutionaries and nobles of the war, he gives accurate insight to the era of the Revolution.