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Ambition in frankenstein
Times where ambition is presented in frankenstein
Times where ambition is presented in frankenstein
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In Mary Shelley’s gothic tragedy Frankenstein, the creature’s vengeance towards its maker is justified. This is through the novel’s ideas of abandonment, loss of innocence and the dangers of ambition: all effects of the actions of Victor Frankenstein. Furthermore, Shelley incorporates her personal ideology of romanticism into the text to give the narrative extra depth and meaning, as well as strengthen the resentment of the natural creature against the nature-defying Victor. It is in these ways that the author presents the beast’s retribution towards its creator as necessary.
The narrative’s idea of abandonment clearly illustrates the way in which the wretch’s revenge against Victor is right. Unwillingly brought to life, the fragmented beast,
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constructed from several corpses, is immediately abandoned and rejected by his creator when Frankenstein realizes the crime against nature he has truly committed. Furthermore, Shelley integrates religious symbolism into the text through one of the beast’s first actions in which it has “one hand… stretched out” towards the titular character, referencing Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam. This conveys that the beast is not only rejected by his creator, but that the wretch is not a creation of God’s but a disgusting creation of man, reflecting the disgusting innate desires of an ambitious man. This also allows Shelley to convey the beast and Victor are similar as God made man in his image- just as Frankenstein makes the beast in his own image. Moreover, the abandonment of the creature occurs again when the beast is not accepted into society due to who and what it is. “Do not desert me”, the creature begs as it internally knows the people with sight will see him only as a stereotypical monster constricted by social ideals rather than being viewed as a being with a soul from the blind man. From this, the novel’s romantic undertones are present as the narrative presents a tortured soul rejected from humanity who must face a tragic fate, foreshadowing the beast’s self-directed contempt and promised suicide. Likewise, upon being viewed by Felix, the creature is brutally beaten, his “heart [sinking] within” him not from the physical pain but the realisation that because of Victor’s doing, it is a monster subjugated to a life of rejection and tragedy: never to be truly welcomed into society, always to be an outcast. Similarly, from his rejection, the beast must submit to a lonely life outside of society, morally being destroyed and losing his innocence.
It is this loss of innocence that leads the wretch to internal suffering and resentment towards life itself – all because of its creator’s lack of responsibility and severe indulgence in his goal for success. Following society’s exclusivity, the wretch is subjected to a “miserable life in the woods”, falling victim to the “injustice and ingratitude of their infliction”. This corruption of innocence illustrates Shelley’s criticism of society due to her romanticism: society being perceived as a plague to unrestrained and unadulterated nature. Moreover, this internal decay of the wretch develops “feelings of kindness and gentleness” into “hellish rage”. From this, the wording of this allows the author to present the beast as demonic, his turn from love to revenge making him resemble “a thing such as even Dante couldn’t conceive”. In doing so, the “filthy daemon” resorts to savagery, living a tortured life he did not want, a puppet to the machinations of Victor Frankenstein. From this, the beast’s actions are not only justifiable but also aid in presenting the wretch as sympathetic and tortured in comparison to the vilified Frankenstein. Expanding upon this, the wretch symbolically serves as the external corruption of Victor’s innocence from his ambition for godhood, conveying it is a dangerous obsession for success that leaves natural …show more content…
innocence and unrestrained forces constricted and corrupted. Furthermore, the wretch reflecting Victor also symbolically conveys that from his ambition, he has turned himself into a social outcast and monster capable of destroying his life, love and family. And so, Victor Frankenstein’s death at the hands of the beast is reasonable as narratively the two characters are intertwined reflections of each other who lose their innocence as a result of ambition: Victor’s ambition to join Gods and the wretch’s ambition to join men. Furthermore, the text’s idea of the dangers of indulging in ambition explain the actions of the wretch’s vengeance as Victor’s “instruments of life” leads to an existence of tragedy.
It is from being consumed by his drive for greatness that Frankenstein creates a being which “filled [his] heart with great horror and disgust”, illustrating it is the irrationality of desires that lead to self-mutilation and destruction. Moreover, the wretch symbolically attempting to join man reflects the ways in which Victor attempts to join gods, as it clearly conveys the tragic protagonist is too demonic and corrupted by the destructiveness of man to be anything greater. The wretch’s ambition to join humanity to satisfy its unwanted existence only to be excluded and beaten provokes its realisation that it must ultimately be “lost in the darkness” and descend back into the depths it derives from. It in this death with its creator that it finally achieves meaning in its existence: the teaching of Robert Walton that he will not commit the same mistakes the wretch and Victor has. From this, Shelley conveys the destructive nature of ambition serves as impetus behind tragedy and despair, the beast yearning only to be accepted in a society in which he is the only one of his kind. Being denied joy, acceptance and love, it is only justified that a force of nature such as the creature would deteriorate into savagery and hatred - fully developing into a lifeless husk of pain and anguish. In presenting
this, the author explains ambition is only capable of creating dangerous fantasies that cannot exist in a world plagued by the despair of reality and an unforgiving society, once more alluding to her romantic undertones. And so, it is in Mary Shelley’s gothic tragedy Frankenstein that the author justifies the retaliation of the wretch by presenting the ways in which abandonment, loss of innocence and the dangers of ambition force humanity to descend into the savagery of the beast, forcing the reader to consider whether their dreams for success shall make them a man: or a beast?
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
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
We are shown that this ‘monster’ is a ‘creature’ and more of a human than we think. It is in the complex structure of the novel that Mary Shelley creates sympathy. We shift from Robert Walton to Victor Frankenstein to the monster and finally back to Walton. With each shift of perspective, the reader gains new information about both the facts of the story and the reliability of the narrator. Each perspective adds pieces of information that only they knows: Walton explains the circumstances of Victor’s last days, Victor explains his creation of the monster, the monster explains his turn to evil.
Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, illustrates the Romantic idea of the sublime naturalworld as an emotional experience for the characters of the novel. Within the text, Shelleyutilizes an allusion to the John Milton’s biblical story, Paradise Lost, to make a parallel betweenthe characters. Within the passage, the monster compares himself, as well as his creator, Victor,to the characters Adam and Satan. He comes to realize that he is more similar to Satan;ultimately, leading him to his reign of terror and the revenge he wishes to impose on Victor. Themonster realizes that he is similar to Adam in Paradise Lost in that they both do not want to bealone. The monster also realizes that there is good in the world that is deeply contrasted with
...hat he harbors no resentment against him who condemned him to a life of misery. This a far cry from Victor’s dying plea for Walton to carry out the death of the creature.
Tragedy shows no discrimination and often strikes down on those undeserving of such turmoil. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a creature more repulsive than one can imagine is brought to life by a young scientist. Although this creature is horrifying in sight, he is gentle by nature. Unfortunately, the softer side of the creature is repeatedly overlooked and the so called “monster” is driven to a breaking point. Even though the Creature committed many crimes, Mary Shelley’s Creature was the tragic hero of this story because of his efforts rescue the life of a young girl and helping destitute cottagers.
Rather, it is others who alienate it because of its grotesque appearance. The monster is quite literally ‘born’ into perpetual isolation beginning with Victor’s abandonment of it. He denies it domestic safety when he flees to his bedchamber. Victor disregards the monster’s utterance of “inarticulate sounds while a grin wrinkled his cheeks,” then escapes its outstretched hand “seemingly to detain [him]” [Shelley 49]. Examining the monster’s body language as though an impressionable infant, its actions can be read as a child-like plea for its father though the absence of speech not yet learned. Instead, its unattractive appearance causes Victor to run, leaving the creature alone with no information about himself or his surroundings. Therefore, Victor’s abandonment is a crucial justification of the monster’s negative experiences with society and nature and actions in desiring community. The monster’s alienation from family is the missing first school of human nature, and the first lesson where he learns he does not belong. The creature leaves into the wilderness to learn about the world and himself on it own, only to understand his interactions are
Mary Shelley’s world renowned book, “Frankenstein”, is a narrative of how Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant chemist, succeeds in creating a living being. Although Frankenstein’s creation is benevolent to begin with, he soon turns murderous after being mistreated by humans. His anger turns towards Frankenstein, as he was the one who brought him into the world that shuns him. The Monster then spends the rest of the story trying to make his creator’s life as miserable as his own. This novel is an excellent example of the Gothic Romantic style of literature, as it features some core Gothic Romantic elements such as remote and desolate settings, a metonymy of gloom and horror, and women in distress.
...s creation as a way of revenge and payback for all the distress he brought to the creature. The creature, beginning as the most innocent, is alienated by his creator and every individual who witnesses his presence. Finally, Victor isolates himself from his beloved ones in order to fulfill his ambitions. All these misfortunes are caused by the lack of moral decision making. Unfortunately, these decisions ruined the life of many people involved in Victor’s life. All these events are the proof of what people’s actions can result into when isolation is a major theme in one’s life.
Frankenstein describes all the bad things that he doesn’t like about his creation when it first comes to life, ‘yellow skin scarcely covers the work of his muscles’, ‘watery eyes’ and ‘straight black lips’. These things all explain things that most people would consider ugly and unpleasant to a person or creature. Frankenstein also thinks of his creation as a monster and wonders what, he feels is, a terrible thing he has done, ‘rain pattered dismally’ refers to the awful way Frankenstein felt when the creature came to life, Frankenstein felt as though he had done a terrible thing and that what he had created should be destroyed, ‘the wretch, the miserable monster whom I had created’ also refers to the way Frankenstein felt about his creation and what he sees it as. Frankenstein’s Monsters first experiences of life are confusing to him as his vision is blurry and his senses are not very good, almost like an infant, ‘dark, opaque bodies’, ‘oppressive light’, and ‘tormented by hunger and thirst’ all describe what the creature was going through and tells us that he is like a young child, who can’t get food for themselves and is adverse to bright direct light.
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.
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein centers around a creator who rejects his own creation. The plot thickens as Victor Frankenstein turns his back on his creation out of fear and regret. The monster is cast out alone to figure out the world and as a result of a life with no love, he turns evil. Shelley seems to urge the reader to try a relate with this monster and avoid just seeing him as an evil being beyond repentance. There is no doubt that the monster is in fact evil; however, the monster’s evilness stems from rejection from his creator.
Within Mary Shelley’s gripping novel “Frankenstein”, Victor’s creation is a complex character due to his two dominant characteristics being in conflict with each other. Throughout, it is clear the creation’s greatest desire is to be loved by another. When he sees his creator is unable to do so, he ventures into the world looking for someone to show compassion toward him, only to be rejected over and over again. As anger arises from getting virtually no acceptance and Victor fails to build him a companion, the creation seeks revenge on those close to Victor. His battle to locate a balance between love and hatred during his existence defines him as a seemingly threat who is a truly good person.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein promotes the truly violent reality of the natural world through its deployment of gothic literature styling, primarily death and gloom. Victor’s creature evolves through its struggle to survive after its escape from Victor’s apartment, its initial care for humanity eroding into the most natural and primitive solution present in nature - violence. Shelley’s novel also touches upon the medieval code of chivalry, making use of high levels of emotion to portray Robert Walton as a chivalrous knight who dismisses the concerns of the lower classes in pursuit of personal glory, only to have his glory denied by said commoners.
When explaining the scientific interest that separated him from his peers, he recalls "I threw myself into the chaise I, who had ever been surrounded by amiable companions, was now alone" (Shelley 34). Without the protection of his loving parents, Victor’s unbridled fervor for discovery leaves him with no one to turn to. Consequently, the inevitable loneliness that comes with such separation drives him only further into his scientific pursuit. Similarly, his creation (the wretch) is ostracized and even attacked whenever he presents himself to those around him. The creature lives without a friend in the world, and tries to further isolate his already dejected creator by killing his closest friends and family. Upon looking in a mirror and seeing his horrible physical disfigurements that attracted only hatred, the wretch remarks, “Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?" (Shelley 52). By the tale’s end, both characters bitter rejection of society brings them to death. By detailing the parallel downfall of both unique characters, Shelley shows the