The Importance Of Education In Frankenstein

Bishop Mandell Creighton once stated that, “ The one real object of education is to have a man in the condition of continually asking questions.” A major theme prevalent throughout Frankenstein by Mary Shelly is the idea of gaining education, through which curiosity is developed. The want and need to discover new ideas and fascinations. Each character’s choice of wanting to gain education leads them to questioning concepts out of the ordinary causing different outcomes for each of them. Victors father plays a significant role on the thought process for his son to decide what he will study. After the death of his mother, Victor leaves his loved ones behind to pursue his education because his passion to preserve life was even stronger after

Most importantly Victors father, Alphonse Frankenstein. He was a wealthy and well-known political face. His interests were not the most common amongst his son:

A new light seemed to dawn upon my mind; and, bounding with joy, I communicated my discovery to my father. My father looked carelessly at the title page of my book, and said, "Ah! Cornelius Agrippa! My dear Victor, do not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash…. It is even possible that the train of my ideas would never have received the fatal impulse that led to my ruin. But the cursory glance my father had taken of my volume by no means assured me that he was acquainted with its contents; and I continued to read with the greatest avidity.” (Shelley 22)

It is clear that Victor and his father have two completely different points of view in their choices of interests. It is often true when they say that a father wishes for his son to carry on his father’s footsteps. However, in this scenario, we clearly see that Victor willfully does not acknowledge that and goes on about studying what fascinates his mind and what makes it

Mary Shelley emphasizes a great importance on the role of education and curiosity in Frankenstein. Both the main characters Victor and the Monster are curious to go beyond what they know. Failing to realize that too much information could be dangerous if not used in the right way. Mary Shelley presents the negative aspects of the increase of information. Both characters create their downfall as a direct result of wisdom. While knowledge is important and a benefactor, we learn that too much of a good thing could be