Parental Influence In Frankenstein

What do parents owe their children in terms of education? In modern times, belief of society is that parental influence is a key factor to a child’s educational success. Parental and authoritative figures serve as role models and provide discipline and resources that are essential to a child’s educational development and prosperity. Mary Shelley refutes this notion in her novel Frankenstein, where she examines the educational success of characters without proper parental roles and who rebel against the authoritative figure’s guidance. Said characters include Frankenstein’s creature and Robert Walton, who become masters of their discipline without any parental nourishment. Moreover, Victor Frankenstein becomes a master of a philosophy which

his father and professors discouraged. In total, Mary Shelley argues that as long as one has a drive for knowledge, it is not necessary that parental figures encourage or nurture their child’s education in order for their child to be well-educated and possess determination.
Captain Robert Walton, first introduced in the letters written to his sister, is an ambitious sea captain who desires to be the first to sail to the North Pole no matter the risks he and his crew encounter.

Robert Walton first develops this dream while reading the many books in his uncle’s library as a young boy. Mary Shelley discusses his passion when she writes, “My education was neglected, yet I was passionately fond of reading. These volume were my study day and night, and my familiarity with them increased that regret which I had felt, as a child, on learning my father’s dying injunction had forbidden my uncle to embark in a sea bearing life” (28). Robert Walton disobeyed the minimal parental guidance he received and extensively studied the sea bearing lifestyle. Due to his great drive for discovery, he dedicated his life to this cause. Robert demonstrates that parent nourishment is not necessary to accomplish one’s goals of success. As seen in the past, people who make great discoveries push society’s conceptions of what is correct. However, this is usually discouraged by general society. Robert’s father’s discouragement is a reflection of this view held by the society of the time. Robert’s drive for defiance demonstrates that one does not need a parental figure in order to be well-educated and embark on new

discoveries.
Just as Robert Walton rebelled against his father’s wishes regarding seafaring life, Victor Frankenstein ignores his father’s and his professors’ opinions on the works of Cornelius Agrippa and similar philosophers and becomes a master of pseudoscience.

Though Victor Frankenstein received a formal primary and secondary education, he was forced to extensively study these works in his spare time. Mary Shelley describes Victor’s hunger for knowledge when she writes, “I took their word for what they had averred, and I became their disciple. It may be strange that such should arise in the eighteenth century; but while I followed the routine of education in Geneva, I was, to a great degree, self taught in regards to my favorite studies. My father was not scientific, and I was left to struggle with a child’s blindness, added to a student’s thirst for knowledge” (57). This quotation demonstrates Victor’s desire to learn said sciences despite the lack of encouragement from his father. Victor’s defiance and thirst for knowledge even led him to create life from the dead. This rebellion demonstrates his unrelenting determination. Although Frankenstein’s actions are irredeemable, his immense desire to master the philosophies of pseudoscience led to remarkable scientific discoveries. These discoveries demonstrate that parental guidance is not necessary in the mastery of a discipline; solely the thirst for knowledge and determination is

needed.
In contrast to Victor Frankenstein, his creation had absolutely no parental figures or guidance to aid him in his mastery of language. Victor abandoned his creation and left him to acquire knowledge on his own. The creature managed to learn the art of language while listening to Felix teach Safi French from the holes in the old farmhouse. Mary Shelley introduces the monster’s desire for language when she writes, “My days were spent in close attention, that I might more speedily master the language; and I may boast that I improved more rapidly than the Arabian, who understood very little and conversed in broken accents, whilst I comprehended and could imitate almost every word that was spoken” (230). Shelley shows that due to the creature’s immense desire to communicate, he was able to learn and master language quite rapidly. The monster wanted to speak and write in order to communicate with humans, as he greatly craved their acceptance and love. Although his desire did not lead to a great scientific discovery, he became well-educated only through his need to communicate and his child-like curiosity about how the natural world functions. This thirst for knowledge led to him surpassing his so-called parental figure, Victor Frankenstein, in the mastery of language. Overall, the creature is a prime example that parental guidance is not needed to become well-educated.
In his efforts to become well-educated, Frankenstein’s creature learned language from books and the journals of Victor Frankenstein himself. This is similar to Mary Shelley herself, as she learned the teachings of her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, through the novels and works her mother had written. Wollstonecraft was a feminist of her time who produced influential works advocating for the education of women. The ideas which Wollstonecraft wrote are reflected in the novel in the parallel between Frankenstein’s monster and women in society at the time the novel was written. Society discouraged women from receiving a formal education, so women had to educate themselves through books, just as the creature and Robert Walton did in the novel. Women in society, just like these characters, rebelled against the authoritative and societal guidelines and boundaries set for them and became scholars who were self-educated.
Through Frankenstein, Mary Shelley advocates for free thought outside of the guidelines set by society or authoritative figures. She accomplishes this by demonstrating that parental guidance is not necessary for a child to be well-educated, as seen in characters like Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and Frankenstein’s monster. Each of the characters becomes a master of their own discipline without the nourishment of a parental figure and, in Victor Frankenstein’s case, by rebellion against authoritative figures. Shelley parallels the male figures in the novel to women in society, as both self-educated through books and other resources not provided in a formal educational setting. By implementing gender reversal in the text, Shelley demonstrates that different groups of society are equal and endure similar struggles of education. Despite the difficulties of gender, Shelley advocates that with drive and thirst for knowledge, one can become well-educated regardless of parental limitations and boundaries placed by society.