Themes in Frankenstien

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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein presents several important themes that are vital to the development of the plot. As the morbid story of Victor Frankenstein and the monster unfolds, the reader is able to realize that these two characters, though dissimilar in their physical appearance, are not so different on the inside. Central themes of Frankenstein include: the risks of searching for unearthly knowledge, isolation, revenge, and prejudices against the unfamiliar. These four themes combine together to create a very twisted tail of betrayal, devastation, and above all the importance of love and acceptance.

Victor Frankenstein’s search for knowledge is a key factor in this novel’s gloomy timeline of events. As Victor slaves away over his creation of new life, by combining various limbs of scavenged human body remains, he detaches himself from everyone important in his life. He abandons his fiancée, Elizabeth, and forces her to wait for him to return so they can be married. All of Victor’s family members love and adore him, and he becomes selfish in his ambitious goal to create human life. After Victor accomplishes his work of genius, with the creation of the monster, he is suddenly filled with terror and hatred towards the hideous being that stands before him. Even after his goal has been attained, he is not pleased, and flees in horror of the monster. This abandonment of the monster by Victor, the creator, builds hatred inside the monster that will soon lead it to destroy everyone who Victor holds dear to his heart. Victor’s quest for creating new life and playing God demonstrates the dangers of seeking knowledge that should not be acquired. Even though Victor is successful in creating a human heart beat with the use of dead human rem...

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... accused mankind of being barbaric. If Victor and society would have been able to get past their prejudices of the unfamiliar, Victor, his family, and the monster may have been fortunate enough to avoid their doomed endings.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein focuses on several social and emotional themes throughout the novel. The consequence of obtaining too much knowledge for one’s good begins Victor Frankenstein on a canter to an early, lonely grave. The theme of isolation inevitably creates two dangerous monsters within Victor and his creation. Victor and the monster’s hunger for revenge results in the worsening of both parties involved, and the theme of prejudices against the unfamiliar exposes how society is sometimes blinded by its own judgments. Shelley’s ability to combine many important themes into a single novel displays why Frankenstein is household name.

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