The debate of nature versus nurture has been argued for a long period time. The concept of tabula rasa was popularized by John Locke; it stated that babies are born into this world without innate knowledge. Knowledge and personality are developed through experiences and environment, emphasising the nurture in the nature-nurture split. At first blush, Frankenstein avidly supports the theory but in some other parts it does not.
The novel’s support of tabula rasa is easiest to see through the creature’s emotional development. The creature himself is of the opinion that he became who he is through his relations with his surroundings. His development also has many parallels to a child’s; after being created, he “could distinguish nothing; but,
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Also akin to a child, the creature didn’t know how to speak immediately; the only things that he could utter were “uncouth and inarticulate sounds” (69). A big step in the emotional development of the creature is seeing the cottagers; these are the first humans that he develops a bond with, even though it is one-sided. Before, humans are something to be feared, with the creature being “still more [miserable] from the barbarity of man” (Shelley 71). Even, at first sight, the cottagers evoke a very positive response from him; he states that “the silver hair and benevolent countenance, won my reverence; while the gentle manners of the girl enticed my love” (Shelley 72). Though the creature doesn’t yet show the level of loathing that he would come to feel towards humanity at the end of the novel, he does still shows signs of caution from the cruelty shown beforehand. The creature has learned from its past experience, as when he says “I longed to join them, but dared not. I remembered too well the treatment I had suffered the night before from the barbarous …show more content…
Considering the common definition of intelligence, which is that it “…represents the ability to solve problems” (Sternberg 712), the creature is showing very high-level functioning. No one has shown the creature how to solve this problem or how to even begin approaching making this display is almost oddly instinctual. The creature’s intelligence should be tied to the richness of his environment and the quality of schooling he receives; this is something that is suggested both by the tabula rasa, which places very high importance on teaching, but also current research; neglected children, such as ones that are feral, often have problems communicating and reasoning in an abstract manner. Even in low socioeconomic environments children experience profound effects; a study on the effects of lone motherhood found that “for the most part, household and community circumstances seem linear in their effects on mothers’ reports of child difficulties; for example, as deprivation increases, the likelihood of reported difficulties also increases” (Zagel 13). Considering how utterly deprived the creature’s early environment was it is already impressive that he could achieve basic functionality. However, he doesn 't just function but does it at a higher level than some humans; when hearing the language lessons given to Safie, the
Tiffany Solorzano Professor Garrow LIT232-Sect.03 March 2, 2014 Essay #1: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Mary Shelley states towards the end of Volume 2, Chapter 5, “Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent, yet so vicious and base? 83)”. The. In the context of Volumes 1-2, the narrator is asking this question because the question revolved around Victor Frankenstein and his creation of the monster due to his admiration of the relationship between nature and knowledge.
In Frankenstein, various themes are introduced. There are dangerous knowledge, sublime nature, nature versus nurture, monstrosity, and secrecy and guilt. I chose a main theme as nature versus nurture. Nature is some traits that a person is born with, and nurture is an environment that surrounds a person. The novel indirectly debates whether the development of individual is affected more by nature or by nurture through Victor and the Monster.
As the creature explores the teaching form the history book and the story and communication of the De Lacey family he insists, “I ought not to make the attempt until I had first become master of their language; which knowledge might enable me to make them overlook the deformity of my figure” (Shelley 95). Because the humans run away with fear in response to the creatures looks, he believes that the best way for him to relinquish their fear is by learning how to speak their language. Not only does he want to learn how to communicate with them, but he wants to become the “master of their language” so that his words overshadow the effects of his features. As many humans do, they judge the creature immediately without giving him an opportunity to explain his story. The creature is similar to humans in the way he responds to the judgment by others.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as a Complex Character "Frankenstein" is a gothic horror novel which was written by Mary Shelly in 1818. It was inspired by a biological scientist named "Luigi Galvani". He had experimented with electricity and deceased frogs, and discovered that a charge passing through a inanimate frog's body will generate muscle spasms throughout its body. Frankenstein is about a man on a pursuit to create a perfect being, an "angel" however his experiment fails and his creation becomes an atrocity compared to an "angel". The creature is created using Luigi Galvani experiments of electricity and dead corpses of criminals, stitched together to form this creature.
“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.
American psychologist and well renowned author Jerome Kagan states “Genes and family may determine the foundation of the house, but time and place determine its form.” The topic of nature vs. nurture is highly known to the English literature community and is classified as a major aspect of gothic works. In the novel Frankenstein the author Mary Shelley uses the monster’s constant rejection from society to demonstrate that an individual’s traits are affected more by their environment and their surroundings than by nature.
On the contrary, this demonstrates how human the creature really is. On the contrary, the creature also experiences the deficiencies of human emotion through rage and vengeance after he is attacked for rescuing a little girl. “The feelings of kindness and gentleness which I had entertained but a few moments before gave place to hellish rage... I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind.” (Shelley 121).
...all human kind sinned against me?" (Shelley 160) The creature also believes that society treated him poorly and he blames all of his mistakes on society. Though what happens in the book is a fantasy, Mary Shelley’s message applies to the real world. For example, if a child is abused by his parents, he might have a harder time connecting to people. People who are abused are more likely to abuse their own children. The creature is never treated well by any humans so it is hard for him to treat them well back. John Locke and Jean Jacque Rousseau explain that if humans are treated well than there is a higher chance that they will turn out to be good, and if treated poorly then there is a chance for evil. (Gale Reference Library) Mary Shelley wants people to give people who might seem evil a chance because the people around them changed them to make them who they are.
In any novel the author is free to create and shape their characters in whatever way they see fit. In Frankenstein, Shelley does an excellent job of shaping her characters, be it however minute their part in the story, so that the reader gets a clear picture of Shelley's creations. It seems that each character in Shelley's Frankenstein is created by Shelley to give the reader a certain impression of the character. By doing this Shelley creates the characters the way she wants us to see them. She tells us certain things about them and gives them certain traits so that they will fit into the story the way she wants them to. In particular I will examine the characters of the monster, Elizabeth, and old man De Lacey.
Andrew Lustig proposed a great question to the readers of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, “How far should we go in out efforts to alter nature, including human nature? As stewards of God’s creation what are our responsibilities?” (Lustig 1) This question results in theme of nature vs. nurture in the novel. The nature vs. nurture debate is an important topic in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. The two central characters, Victor Frankenstein and the creature that he creates; both, characters were raised differently. The nature and the nurture of their upbringing can be a cause of why they are, the way they are. Victor and his creature are subject to very different nurturing styles. Shelley also incorporates the representations of light and fire. This representation is key to the nature vs. nurture discussion in the novel.
In the novel "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, the relationship of external apperence and internal feelings are directly related. The creature is created and he is innocent, though he is seaverly deformed. His nature is to be good and kind, but society only views his external appereance which is grotesque. Human nature is to judge by external apperence. He is automatically ostracized and labeled as a monster because of his external apperence. He finnaly realized that no matter how elequintly he speaks and how kind he is, people will never be able to see past his external deformities. Children are fearful of him, Adults think he is dangerous, and his own creator abandons him in disgust. The creature is treated as a monster, therefore he begins to internalize societies view of him and act the like a monster.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a gothic science fiction novel written in the romantic era that focuses on the elements of life. The romantic era was sparked by the changing social environment, including the industrial revolution. It was a form of revolt against the scientific revolutions of the era by developing a form of literature that romanticize nature and giving nature godliness. This element of romanticized nature is a recurrent element in Frankenstein and is used to reflect emotions, as a place for relaxation and as foreshadowing. Frankenstein also includes various other elements of romanticism including strong emotions and interest in the common people.
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.
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).
Tabula Rasa meaning “blank slate” in Latin, refers to the epistemological theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that all of our knowledge comes from experience, perception and reflection. The Blank Slate theory asserts that thoughts are formed first through exposure to different sensations followed by reflection on the experience. Simple things, such as colors and shapes, are gathered passively, while more complex ideas, such as the relationship between cause and effect and individual identities, are actively contributed. Tabula Rasa is a promising theory in epistemology, Locke’s arguments presented in “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” in collaboration with the views of educationalists, empiricism, the nature vs. nurture theory, 20th century debates, and the upbringing of feral children present strong support for the accuracy of this concept.