The Ethical Dilemmas Of Oppression In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

1329 Words3 Pages

Oppression stems from a person’s need to satisfy their self interests rather than worry about others’ needs. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Frankenstein is oppressed by the ethical boundaries placed by society since he acts out to satisfy himself without thinking about how his actions will reflect on people besides himself. The glory of gaining knowledge intrigues Frankenstein. Frankenstein’s desires consume him in work. The creature weighs Frankenstein down in an ethical dilemma. The fear instilled by the creature takes over Frankenstein’s life. The goals Frankenstein wishes to accomplish consume his life. Frankenstein’s lifelong dream to become a glorified scientist becomes the most important goal in his life. Frankenstein is not …show more content…

Frankenstein’s work breaks natural law. M. Krempe tells Frankenstein that “every instant that you have wasted on these books is utterly and entirely lost. You have burdened your memory with exploded systems and useless names,” (Shelley 41). Frankenstein’s professor tells him that his studies are useless and will show no results or glory since the ancient scientists studying alchemy did not conduct many studies pertaining to the natural order of science. Frankenstein’s studies convince him to create life. After two years of work, Frankenstein sees “the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs,” (Shelley 51). Frankenstein brings his creation to life but faces the issue of the unethical problem with creating life from dead flesh since he created the creature to prove he can create life without caring about the ethicalness of bringing life to dead flesh. The results from his creation do not match Frankenstein’s expectations. The creation Frankenstein worked on for two years goes to ruin when he sees that “the beauty of the dream vanished, and the breathless horror and disgust filled my heart,” (Shelley 51). The beautiful creature Frankenstein imagined is replaced with a creature of horror that Frankenstein is ashamed of creating, and he cannot benefit himself with glory. Frankenstein disregards his professor and bends the natural law of science to commit is life to …show more content…

Frankenstein goes ill after the creature comes to life. After running away, Frankenstein becomes ill “and did not recover my senses for a long, long time. This was the commencement of a nervous fever, which confined me for several months,” (Shelley 55). The shock that the creature brought to Frankenstein causes him to become ill for several months, keeping him from of being able to continue his studies. Frankenstein wants to forget about the creature. Once seeing the horrid appearance of the creature, Frankenstein “rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bedchamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep,” (Shelley 51). The creature’s appearance shocks Frankenstein and he rushes out of the room to run away from the creature, wanting to keep away from the creature. Frankenstein must live his life with the creature ruling over his life. The creature tells Frankenstein “You are my creator, but I am your master; obey!” (Shelley 149). Frankenstein’s self interest to create life and become glorified gets ruined once he realizes that the creature holds a tight grip of his life until death. The initial shock of the horrid creature turns Frankenstein into a nervous wreck who falls ill for several months trying to shake off the horror of the creature who now controls his life. The stress brought by the creature turns into

Open Document