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Compare and comtrast mary shelleys frankenstein to voltaire's candide
Compare and comtrast mary shelleys frankenstein to voltaire's candide
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In both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Voltaire’s Candide, there is a common theme of the main characters as well as other figures pursuing or receiving knowledge. Some of these characters can be seen as students who receive or seek knowledge from other characters. In Frankenstein, tragic events happen to characters like Victor Frankenstein, the creature and Henry Clerval who pursue knowledge. In Candide, Candide goes through a series of tragic events while listening to Pangloss and Martin’s teachings, which proved to be flawed. These stories give us insight on the human compulsion to learn and through the actions of the characters in both books we see that there is a price to pay for the pursuit of knowledge.
In Frankenstein, the Creature constantly wondered why he had such a hideous appearance and why everyone he approached ran away from him. After various encounters with people who seemed to be terrified of him, he became motivated to learn more about his creator and why he was abandoned. After finding out who his creator was, he was set on finding him and in the process killed many people that Victor Frankenstein loved. Before setting out to find Victor, the creature
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made it a priority to learn how to speak in hopes that people wouldn’t run away from him anymore. He spent a while observing the De Lacey family in their cottage and learned how to speak from them. He also read multiple books and learned about the De Lacey family’s history and their familial relationships. By doing all of this and gaining all of this knowledge the creature was trying to make himself seem more human so that people would actually interact with him. However, the cost of all of this didn’t get him very far, because his anger took over and the deaths he caused made him even more of a monster. From the very start it was clear that Victor Frankenstein had the desire to learn and explore new things. Before he started his creation he thought to himself, “yet when I considered the improvement which ever day takes place in science and mechanics, I was encouraged to hope my present attempts would at least lay the foundations of future success” (58). His curiosity and drive for success led him to defy nature and create something that was unnatural. He created a living being out of already dead bodies. As great of an accomplishment as this sounds, his desire to learn and pursue science and knowledge cost him the death of many people he loved and cared about. After seeing what his creation looked like he abandoned him, which left the creature in rage. As a result of his actions the creature killed his brother, his friend and his wife. It is evident throughout the story that Henry Clerval, a friend of Frankenstein’s, wanted to be like him.
He had the same desire to learn and explore science and wanted to pursue his own research. Some may say this eagerness and curiosity was the cause of his own death. Referring to Clerval, Frankenstein said, “But in Clerval I saw the image of my former self; he was inquisitive and anxious to gain experience and instruction” (139). Even Frankenstein saw that Henry was becoming more and more like him in the sense that he wanted more experience and knowledge in the field of science. Later on in the book the creature killed him because he was someone close to Frankenstein. It can be assumed that Clerval’s similarities to and desire to be like Frankenstein are what led to the event of his
death. The pursuit of knowledge has proven to be dangerous for Frankenstein, Clerval and the Creature. Through all three characters it is clear that there is a heavy cost to pay for one’s curiosity. If Frankenstein hadn’t been so eager to explore and defy nature, it wouldn’t have started this whole mess in the first place. If Clerval didn’t have the desire to be like Frankenstein in that he wanted to gain experience and explore science, it might’ve saved his life as well. As for the Creature in particular, if he followed the cliché phrase “what you don’t know can’t hurt you,” it would’ve saved a lot of lives and trouble. If he didn’t seek to find the reason why his creator created and then abandoned him he wouldn’t have harbored so much hatred and killed so many people. In Voltaire’s novel, the main character, Candide, seemed to be searching for a reason as to why all the tragic things in his life happened to him. He received guidance from Pangloss, the philosopher, who is overly optimistic. His theory is that we all have “the best of all possible worlds” and that there is good in everything that happens. Candide took this philosophy with him and tried to apply it to every bad situation that came his way, but things didn’t seem to get better. He even tried going to Holland to teach people what he had learned from Pangloss; that “there is no effect without cause” (21). After doing so, human waste was dumped all over him by an orator’s wife. In Candide’s situation, looking for an explanation to his problems didn’t make things any better. Still in search for an explanation as to why the things that happened to him happened, Candide realized that Pangloss’ theory was flawed and that there isn’t good in everything that happens. He begins to receive guidance from Martin who is the opposite of Pangloss because he’s overly pessimistic. Martin had a lot of terrible things happen in his life and those things shaped his negative view of the world. It appears that since Candide was now lost again and figured out that Pangloss’ theory was flawed, he needed another teacher. He needed another explanation for all the tragic things happening to him and decided to hang around Martin and his philosophy that there is no good in the world. Martin makes a point to Candide during a conversation when he says to him, “if hawks have always had the same characters, what makes you think men may have changed theirs?” (76). He says this to him to prove that men haven’t changed and they aren’t all good. In both works of literature, it is clear that there is a price to pay for gaining or pursuing knowledge. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, three of the important characters in the novel have the drive to explore and discover new things and as a result, tragic things happen to them all. The Creature, Frankenstein and Henry Clerval all suffer from their curiosity and desire to gain knowledge. Similarly, in Voltaire’s Candide, Candide sought to find a reason as to why all the tragic things that were happening to him happened. Through searching for an answer he considered different philosophies from two very different people, one who is overly optimistic and one who is overly pessimistic. Both of these philosophies proved to be flawed and didn’t do him any good.
Knowledge can be the key to success and can lead people to happier life. However, there are some instances that you can not gain any more knowledge because of how it would change your whole life. The drive of wanting more and more knowledge is best portrayed through two well -known books. In Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein, and in Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon, both the creature and Charlie are ostracized by society because they are different from everyone else but this distinction gave way for distinct fallouts because of their quest for knowledge beyond their reach to achieve happiness.
In Volume 2 of Frankenstein, the Creature’s repeated experiences of rejection unleash the “monster” in him and lead to the destruction of the De Laceys cottage. Through the portrayal of the “monster” inside the Creature, Shelley argues that loneliness caused by lack of human relationships will drive an individual to do harmful actions. Throughout volume 2, the Creature had been secretly living alongside the De Lacey family. He grew attached to them the more he spied. The creature finally decides to reveal himself to the De Laceys. As he does that, the family runs away in fear. After all that happens the creature says “My protectors had departed and had broken the only link that held me to the world. For the first time, the feeling of revenge
In conclusion, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein shows readers how irresponsibility and the excessive need for knowledge can cause suffering among others as well as oneself. Victor never intends to cause such harm; however, he is not cautious and observant with his actions, which ultimately leads to his classification as a tragic hero. The desire to learn is most definitely a wonderful trait to have, as long as one’s knowledge doesn’t reach the extent that Victor Frankenstein’s unfortunately does.
The creature displays his hatred toward Frankenstein for leaving him immediately and not providing guidance and protection in this harsh, new world by murdering his family and friends. While seeking his creator, the creature first murders Victor Frankenstein’s youngest brother William and exclaims, “I too can create desolation; my enemy is not invulnerable; this death will carry despair to him, and a thousand other miseries shall torment and destroy him” (Shelley 144). The creature wishes for Victor Frankenstein to suffer taking his own companions away, forcing him to be miserable as well by destroying his personal relationships with others by murdering loved ones. Through the rejection of the creature because of his physical appearance, he learns what is accepted as well as how you can treat another being as he succumbs to his anger and proceeds with his crimes. The creature tells Frankenstein, “your hours will pass in dread and misery, and soon the bolt will fall which must ravish your happiness forever.
The creature was created with the intention of goodness and purity but because of this, he wasn’t equipped to deal with the rejection of his creator. After Victor Frankenstein’s death, Robert Walton walks in to see the creature standing over his friend’s lifeless body.
Victor Frankenstein was the creator of the monster in the book. He was an ambitious man who had high hopes and dreams for himself, but this characteristic was the cause of his downfall. He had a ruthless desire to obtain forbidden knowledge- a knowledge that only God was worthy of having. This lead him to lock himself in his laboratory, disregarding his family, friends, and health. His one purpose was to create life. In his quest to create a human being and bestow the power of life, Victor eventually did create a creature, but this lead to a situation
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.
There was no one left to provide the creature with companionship and was forced to isolate himself from society once again. When the family moved out of their cottage, the creature decided to go on his own adventure and seek out his creator. Upon doing so, the creature encountered a young girl who was about to drown near a lake. When the creature successfully saved the little girl, an older man confronted the creature and shot him in the shoulder. Because of what happened, the creature explained to Frankenstein that his, “...daily vows rose for revenge-a deep deadly revenge, such as would alone compensate for the outrages and anguish [he] had endured.” (Shelley 61). With this burning rage, the creature decided to take his revenge out on his creator, Frankenstein. One by one, Frankenstein’s relatives and closest friends were murdered by the creature, but his father’s death, was the final push. Frankenstein believed that he was the cause for all the murders and that he had to destroy what he created. He told Walton that, “...as [he] awakened to reason, at the same time awakened to revenge.” (Shelley 88). The only way to stop future deaths, was to hunt down the creature and kill him. Fueled with hatred, Frankenstein traveled for months in hopes of finding the creature. However, in his final days, Frankenstein was no longer able to continue his search, and passed away due to malnutrition. Upon discovering what had happened, the creature came out from hiding, and decided to explain his side of the story to Walton. Now that Frankenstein was dead, the creature decided to wander off and slowly die, isolated from the
There was no one left to provide the creature with companionship and was forced to isolate himself from society once again. When the family moved out of their cottage, the creature decided to go on his own adventure and seek out his creator. Upon doing so, the creature encountered a young girl who was about to drown near a lake. When the creature successfully saved the little girl, an older man confronted the creature and shot him in the shoulder. Because of what happened, the creature explained to Frankenstein that his, “...daily vows rose for revenge-a deep deadly revenge, such as would alone compensate for the outrages and anguish [he] had endured.” (Shelley 61). With this burning rage, the creature decided to take his revenge out on his creator, Frankenstein. One by one, Frankenstein’s relatives and closest friends were murdered by the creature, but his father’s death, was the final push. Frankenstein believed that he was the cause for all the murders and that he had to destroy what he created. He told Walton that, “...as [he] awakened to reason, at the same time awakened to revenge.” (Shelley 88). The only way to stop future deaths, was to hunt down the creature and kill him. Fueled with hatred, Frankenstein traveled for months in hopes of finding the creature. However, in his final days, Frankenstein was no longer
Comparing Voltaire's Candide and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Voltaire's Candide and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein are classics of western literature, in large part, because they both speak about the situation of being human. However, they are also important because they are both representative of the respective cultural movements during which they were written - the Enlightenment and the Romantic Era. As a result of this inheritance, they have different tones and messages, just as the Enlightenment and Romanticism had different tones and messages. But, it is not enough to merely say that they are "different" because they are linked. The intellectual movement from which Frankenstein emerged had its origins in the intellectual movement
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 Frankenstein, an 1818 novel written by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein is intrigued by natural philosophy as a little boy. As he grows up and goes to college, Victor Frankenstein’s achievement goals being to change; instead of finding the philosopher’s stone and creating the elixir of life, Victor Frankenstein focuses on finding the secret of life. With the discovery of the secret of life, Victor goes on to create the Creature. Once the Creature is created, Victor Frankenstein is horrified and runs away. Because Victor Frankenstein is immature, the Creature is left alone to learn the ways of life and fend for himself. Progressing through the novel, you learn Victor Frankenstein and the Creature never spend time together, unless they are
Mary Shelley uses Victor Frankenstein’s and the creature’s pursuit of dangerous knowledge in Frankenstein to question the boundaries of human enlightenment.
The creature runs away, and Victor follows him. Victor gets on a boat with Walton. Victor dies and the creature comes and is very sad that his creator has died. The creature says that he must end his suffering, and he jumps into the ocean. In the novel Frankenstein, Shelley uses the theme of nature to show how it is like the characters of the story and how it affects the characters.
Dr.Frankenstein was essentially a father to the creature , similar to a relationship like Adam and God. The person that creates you is supposed to be the person that loves you the most and Dr.Frankenstein didn’t provide that love , eventually leading the creature into a crippling depression. The creature was always seen alone by eye witness sources so what can be surmised is that Dr.Frankenstein abandoned the creature. The creature was never given love , the creature murdered every person Dr.Frankenstein loved ultimately making Dr.Frankenstein feel what he had felt. The way that the creature killed every victim was very peculiar.