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The Literary Importance of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Frankenstein literary analysis
Psychoanalytic interpretation of Mary Shelley's frankenstein
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“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” (Albert Einstein). Mary Shelley does a fantastic job leading readers down the rabbit hole of ambiguity. She leaves the meaning of her famous novel Frankenstein for her readers to discern. Critics have mixed reviews about the actual meaning of the novel and are eager to support their theories with ample evidence from the text itself. Regardless of the actual meaning of the book, several majors themes can be glimpsed in the text. Frankenstein delivers this plethora of themes that exemplify the human tendency to commit evil deeds. For example, Doctor Frankenstein cannot even see the evil that he creates until it stares him in the face. Once he realizes what he has done, he immediately tries to cover
Critics use all of the overwhelming evidence that they can find within Mary’s life and Frankenstein to back up their claims for the real meaning of the text. Mary even wrote in a later edition of Frankenstein that she would leave the meaning behind the book up to the ones who read it. Another aspect that critics look for while reading happens to be the technique in which the book was written. In the case of Frankenstein, the writing style can be likened to traditional gothic horror. Manuel Aguirre states, “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has been studied as an instance of science-fiction horror; ….” (“Gothic Fiction….” 3). The science fiction aspect comes from the use of new technology to create the monster, or horror. Gothic horror best describes itself as a multiple step technique that always involves a twist between hero and villain. The best gothic writers never denote the real hero or villain, and Mary makes herself no exception (British Council 332). The real monster gets named by the reader, not the
Mary lets the reader know why Victor Frankenstein decides to create his monster through ambiguous soliloquy like ramblings and critics make sure to let others know their theories behind the motives for his heinous actions. Nevertheless, Victor wants to be famous and he intends to do so by creating a superhuman ‘monster.’ He discovers the hidden secret of creating life and starts right away into a delirious like state of work. The actual abuse of power that he commits can be seen through the lack of thought about the repercussions behind his actions (Shelley 48-51). Victor refuses to acknowledge that he usurps the power reserved to God only. A famous saying I have heard recently states ‘Play God, Pay the Price’; Victor tries to play God and he definitely pays the price by creating a monster who would destroy his whole family. The thought process does not match up with the outcome. Why did Victor think that he could create life, usurping God’s power, and not have room for error (Hunter, J. E.D. and Mary Shelley 302)? Mary Shelley tends to tell us no through her writing. Victor thought whole-heartedly that he could create human life and be a famous, ground breaking scientist. He shows his true colors by the cold way he treats the creation. Instead of the proud feeling of accomplishment, Victor feels the cold back hand of failure. What kind of scientist
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.
As a tragic hero, Victor’s tragedies begin with his overly obsessive thirst for knowledge. Throughout his life, Victor has always been looking for new things to learn in the areas of science and philosophy. He goes so far with his knowledge that he ends up creating a living creature. Victor has extremely high expectations for his creation but is highly disappointed with the outcome. He says, “I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley 35). Frankenstein neglects the creature because of his horrifying looks, which spark the beginning of numerous conflicts and tragedies. At this point, the creature becomes a monster because of Victor’s neglect and irresponsibility. The monster is forced to learn to survive on his own, without anyone or anything to guide him along the way. Plus, the monster’s ugly looks cause society to turn against him, ad...
Using gothic conventions Frankenstein explores Mary Shelley’s personal views on the scientific developments, moral and economical issues that occurred during the 19th century and Shelley’s personal emotions and questions regarding her life. As an educated person, Mary Shelley had an interest in the development of the world such as political and moral issues and she challenged these issues in the novel.
Although some critics say that the monster Victor has created is to blame for the destruction and violence that follow the experiment, it is Victor who is the responsible party. First, Victor, being the scientist, should have known how to do research on the subject a lot more than he had done. He obviously has not thought of the consequences that may result from it such as the monster going crazy, how the monster reacts to people and things, and especially the time it will take him to turn the monster into the perfect normal human being. This is obviously something that would take a really long time and a lot of patience which Victor lacks. All Victor really wants is to be the first to bring life to a dead person and therefore be famous. The greed got to his head and that is all he could think about, while isolating himself from his friends and family. In the play of Frankenstein, when Victor comes home and sets up his lab in the house, he is very paranoid about people coming in there and finding out what he is doing. At the end of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor says:
Victor Frankenstein, blinded by pride, remained unaware of how his experiment would affect not only him, but the world around him as he formed his new discovery. His secret to creating life only caused more life to be lost. Because of Victor’s reckless behavior, he caused the depressed and lonely world around his own creation, one who, in the end, Victor did not want to take responsibility for making, no matter how remarkable. The Creation, a being of unfortunate circumstance, exemplifies how knowledge has dangerous and everlasting effects if not used safely or for good intentions. Unfortunately, The Creation leaves his own damage behind as well, again showing how knowledge is harmful, by killing Elizabeth, Victor’s wife, Henry Clerval, his dearest friend, and other members a part of Victor’s family and friends. This demonstrates how knowledge, if not used wisely, can lead to death and suffering. The power of knowledge, in Mary Shelley’s writing, is a gift bestowed on those who can handle the power responsibly, as opposed to using it for selfish boasting. In contrast, she uses these two characters to show the importance of being knowledgeable in both science and responsibility and the unforgivable mutilation that comes if you fail to overcome
The literary elements of remote and desolate settings, a metonymy of gloom and horror, and women in distress, clearly show “Frankenstein” to be a Gothic Romantic work. Mary Shelley used this writing style to effectively allow the reader to feel Victor Frankenstein’s regret and wretchedness. In writing “Frankenstein” Mary Shelley wrote one the most popular Gothic Romantic novels of all time.
...as made of different people, so he had different personalities, and therefore could not be expected to act as a normal person. Upon his creation, he was left not receiving the protection and guidance he desperately needed. His feelings were the same as any other humans: grief, and distress, anger. But, instead of calmly diffusing his anger, he chose to destroy that which made his “enemy” happy. There was never a good reason to bring the dead to life, despite all of Victor’s claims. Because of his arrogance, and lack of a functioning human heart, he disregarded everyone’s opinions and advice and sought to do what was right for himself and not even attempting to protect his family, regardless of how he claimed he did. His incompetence cost his entire family’s life, but fortunately, saved that of Walton and his crew mates. So, at least, he did one good.
middle of paper ... ... Generally in the novel, most readers tend to sympathize with Frankenstein because of the way in which he is mentally and physically harmed by his creation. However, one must also realize that while Frankenstein is a victim in the novel, he also exhibits features that make him a monster. These monstrous qualities, however, stem from his passion for science and his desire to create life. Not only does the reader criticize and pity Frankenstein, but the reader also empathizes with Frankenstein’s creation.
Mary Shelley discusses many important themes in her famous novel Frankenstein. She presents these themes through the characters and their actions, and many of them represent occurrences from her own life. Many of the themes present debateable issues, and Shelley's thoughts on them. Three of the most important themes in the novel are birth and creation; alienation; and the family and the domestic affections.
Mary Shelley, with her brilliant tale of mankind's obsession with two opposing forces: creation and science, continues to draw readers with Frankenstein's many meanings and effect on society. Frankenstein has had a major influence across literature and pop culture and was one of the major contributors to a completely new genre of horror. Frankenstein is most famous for being arguably considered the first fully-realized science fiction novel. In Frankenstein, some of the main concepts behind the literary movement of Romanticism can be found. Mary Shelley was a colleague of many Romantic poets such as her husband Percy Shelley, and their friends William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge, even though the themes within Frankenstein are darker than their brighter subjects and poems. Still, she was very influenced by Romantics and the Romantic Period, and readers can find many examples of Romanticism in this book. Some people actually argue that Frankenstein “initiates a rethinking of romantic rhetoric”1, or is a more cultured novel than the writings of other Romantics. Shelley questions and interacts with the classic Romantic tropes, causing this rethink of a novel that goes deeper into societal history than it appears. For example, the introduction of Gothic ideas to Frankenstein challenges the typical stereotyped assumptions of Romanticism, giving new meaning and context to the novel. Mary Shelley challenges Romanticism by highlighting certain aspects of the movement while questioning and interacting with the Romantic movement through her writing.
The monster of the novel is often misattributed with the name, “Frankenstein.” However, Victor Frankenstein can ultimately be considered the true monster of this tale. His obsession would lead to the corruption of his soul and the creation of two monsters—one himself, and the other, the creature. In attempting to take on the role of God, nature would become a monster to Victor and destroy his life. These elements of monstrosity in Frankenstein drive the meaning of its story.
In Frankenstein, Victor is very intelligent and responsible leading up to the birth of his creation and obtains all the information he can absorb into his mind, yet he finds himself struggling to take care of this monster. Victor puts everything he has into his creation because he must obtain his vision, “I had worked hard for nearly 2 years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation” (Shelley). Victor’s desire to obtain the role of God parallels the scientists working in labs throughout the world, trying to obtain the unimaginable, creating life from a single human cell. The outcome of Victor’s work and efforts of the cloning scientists share similarities as both creations will never be perfect. In every experiment of cloning, many mistakes have occurred. Before the first mammal was ever cloned it took 277 attempts before Wilmut and Campbell finally succeeded, and the animal was still not perfect and lived to only half its expected lifespan. Frankenstein’s creation took over 2 years of experimentation and preparation and many years of studying before that, yet his masterpiece became a monster and was terrifyingly ugly.
Upon hearing Frankenstein’s story, Walton’s search for glory and knowledge becomes irrelevant because he suddenly realizes the effects of knowing too much.... ... middle of paper ... ... Frankenstein is a Gothic novel which means it involves the supernatural; however, because it contains religious qualities it is more appealing to the common people’s idea of knowledge. Mary Shelley achieves her goal of informing the audience that man should not seek or possess the level of knowledge that God acquires.
Despite popular belief, Frankenstein is not the name of the monster but instead its creator. Victor Frankenstein created the “tremendous and abhorred” (page 76) creature that is known as the Monster after he discovers how to give
Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, follows the conquest of Victor Frankenstein, as he brings the dead to life, and then portrays his guilt and shame for creating such a thing. The monster seeks revenge on his creator’s family when he grasps that he will never be accepted by mankind. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a gothic novel that utilizes several different romantic themes, such as individualism and alienation, glorification of the ordinary, and the supernatural.