Divine Boundaries

588 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: essay on power and knowledge

The enticing limits of knowledge and power have appealed to man as a method of comparison to the divine, however, this immeasurable amount of power comes with the greatest of consequences, and requires true responsibility to be managed. Man is incapable of such control over knowledge, and when the quest for knowledge becomes limitless, then the collapse of the mind becomes inevitable. While the Hell seeking, remorseless Dr. Faustus and the life seeking, guilt stricken Victor Frankenstein may appear distant, it becomes clear that their behaviors mimic similar universal human truths pertaining to the pursuit of acceptance, taking responsibility, and the limitations to one’s own knowledge, that depict Shelley and Marlowe’s recognition of the danger that accompanies a thirst for knowledge.
Faustus and Frankenstein both collect immense amounts of knowledge during their respective quests, but an underlying danger of this knowledge was a desire for acceptance from other people. They both are deeply concerned with other people’s perspectives of them, and seek companionship due to their iso...

Show More
Related

  • Victor Frankenstein Thirst for Knowledge

    1324 Words  | 3 Pages

    At the beginning of life, humans are exposed to the outside world with an open and blank mind. A newborn has no knowledge, no concerns or worries and it only seeks to fulfill its main necessities. Surrounded by the outside world one lives through many experiences where knowledge is accepted. Encountering other human beings reflects upon one's perception and brings about ones self decisions. Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, written in 1816, demonstrates through characters that an obsessive desire for more knowledge may ruin ones life.

    Read More

  • Dangerous Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1622 Words  | 4 Pages

    I took their word for all that they averred, and I became their disciple” (21). Frankenstein embodies the movement in science to understand everything, and that is not necessarily a good thing (Storment 2). Frankenstein only understands that this train of thought is bad when he reaches the pinnacle of knowledge and produces the creature. The fruits of Frankenstein’s labor end up costing him the lives of his friends and family, as well as his own sanity. The feeling of guilt thrives in Frankenstein because he knows his work was the direct cause of the chaos in his life.

    Read More

  • Monstrosity in Frankenstein

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, explores the monstrous and destructive affects of obsession, guilt, fate, and man’s attempt to control nature. Victor Frankenstein, the novel’s protagonist and antihero, attempts to transcend the barriers of scientific knowledge and application in creating a life. His determination in bringing to life a dead body consequently renders him ill, both mentally and physically. His endeavors alone consume all his time and effort until he becomes fixated on his success. The reason for his success is perhaps to be considered the greatest scientist ever known, but in his obsessive toil, he loses sight of the ethical motivation of science. His production would ultimately grieve him throughout his life, and the consequences of his undertaking would prove disastrous and deadly. Frankenstein illustrates the creation of a monster both literally and figuratively, and sheds light on the dangers of man’s desire to play God.

    Read More

  • Abuse Of Power And Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    523 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Ethical Issues in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Shelley expresses various ethical issues by creating a mythical monster called Frankenstein. There is some controversy on how Mary Shelley defines human nature in the novel, there are many features of the way humans react in situations. Shelley uses a relationship between morality and science, she brings the two subjects together when writing Frankenstein, and she shows the amount of controversy with the advancement of science. There are said to be some limits to the scientific inquiry that could have restrained the quantity of scientific implications that Mary Shelley was able to make, along with the types of scientific restraints. Mary Shelley wrote this classic novel in such a way that it depicted some amounts foreshadowing of the world today. This paper will concentrate on the definition of human nature, the controversy of morality and science, the limits to scientific inquiry and how this novel ties in with today’s world.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Unconscious Mind In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    794 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is a story about the dangers of knowledge and the consequences of overstepping moral and ethical boundaries. By examining Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein through a psychoanalytic lens, it can be interpreted that the creature is a mirror of Victor Frankenstein’s personality. Psychoanalysis argues that the conscious and unconscious mind are made up of the id, superego and ego. In order to self-actualize the conscious and unconscious mind must be in equilibrium. The creature and Victor both strive for self-actualization through their yearning to understand the world. They share the experience of lower-level emotions like the need for revenge. Ultimately, the destruction in the novel is rooted in Victor’s and the creature’s experience of parental abandonment,

    Read More

  • The Consequences of Man's Ambition

    1660 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shelley, Mary. "Frankenstein." The Presence of Others:Voices that Call for Response. 2nd ed. Ed Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewics. New York:St Martin's Press, 1997. 230-235.

    Read More

  • Victor Frankenstein is the Monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    550 Words  | 2 Pages

    We first view Frankenstein’s ignorance while he is busy in his work. He had not visited his family for two straight years. These are the people that love and care about him, yet he does not go home. Not even to visit his own father, the man who pays for his schooling and necessities.

    Read More

  • Dangerous Knowledge

    2593 Words  | 6 Pages

    As a result, the ruthless pursuit of knowledge proves dangerous as both men eventually destroy themselves and everyone dear to them. The thirst for knowledge is a hidden evil that man can only see after it has destroyed his life. Frankenstein is a young scientist who is blinded by the fame and dangers of the knowledge of creation. " So much has been done," exclaims Frankenstein after he hears a lecture on famous scientists. "More, far more, will I achieve: treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unk... ...

    Read More

  • Self-discovery, Destruction, and Preservation in Frankenstein

    1647 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mary Shelley's Frankenstein explores the downfall of certain human characteristics, set to the backdrop of creation, destruction, and preservation. The subtitle denoted by Shelly herself supports this idea, by relating the fact that the title can be viewed as either Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. One scholar, Marilyn Butler, also maintains this by noting, "It can be a late version of the Faust Myth"(302). Shelly uses the story of the main character, Victor Frankenstein, to produce the concept of a dooming human characteristic of which Frankenstein states, "I have . . . been blasted in these hopes"(Shelley, 152). The reader finds, as a result of his thirst for knowledge and infatuation with science, Victor creates a living being by whom he has "suffered great and unparalleled misfortunes"(Shelley, 17). Eventually, Victor realizes this self-destructive trait, but he is not able to save himself stating, "I have lost everything, and cannot begin life anew"(Shelley, 16). Although everything in his life that is dear has been lost, Victor is able to convince one in his same position--Robert Walton--to not "lead [his crew] unwillingly to danger"(Shelley, 151). While addressing the concept of characteristic and self-discovery, it is possible to realize that the monster also possesses the characteristics held by both Victor and Walton; except in his learning, the monster is driven to continue to cause destruction. Most important about the thirst for knowledge is that, as a form of human characteristic or downfall, it leads to large, critical pieces of self-discovery. In obtaining these critical pieces, Frankenstein finds satisfaction in j...

    Read More

  • Mary Shelley Challenges Society in Frankenstein

    1219 Words  | 3 Pages

    Romantic writer Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein does indeed do a lot more than simply tell story, and in this case, horrify and frighten the reader. Through her careful and deliberate construction of characters as representations of certain dominant beliefs, Shelley supports a value system and way of life that challenges those that prevailed in the late eighteenth century during the ‘Age of Reason’. Thus the novel can be said to be challenging prevailant ideologies, of which the dominant society was constructed, and endorsing many of the alternative views and thoughts of the society. Shelley can be said to be influenced by her mothers early feminist views, her father’s radical challenges to society’s structure and her own, and indeed her husband’s views as Romantics. By considering these vital influences on the text, we can see that in Shelley’s construction of the meaning in Frankenstein she encourages a life led as a challenge to dominant views.

    Read More

  • Who Is the Real Monster in Frankenstein?

    1708 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a nineteenth century literary work that delves into the world of science and the plausible outcomes of morally insensitive technological research. Although the novel brings to the forefront several issues about knowledge and sublime nature, the novel mostly explores the psychological and physical journey of two complex characters. While each character exhibits several interesting traits that range from passive and contemplative to rash and impulsive, their most attractive quality is their monstrosity. Their monstrosities, however, differ in the way each of the character’s act and respond to their environment.

    Read More

  • The Destructive Desire for Knowledge: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

    1118 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...Frankenstein and the creature. The situations that each character experience are lessons about how seeking prohibited intelligence comes with extreme consequences. 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. One should learn from the situations present in the novel because life comes with an enormous amount of knowledge; going after the unknown is an act of rebellion against God.

    Read More

  • Prejudice and Pride Illustrated in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1484 Words  | 3 Pages

    Victor Frankenstein, the monster’s creator, is the victim of his own pride. An ego unchecked is a dangerous thing. But in truth, it really just shows Victor’s humanity. He is privileged, educated, talented, loved, adored, but he is not perfect. His flaw is his own ego and pride. Without doubt, this is the result of a childhood where he was overindulged. Overindulged to the extent he was given a little girl “Elizabeth” as a “present”, whom he considered from childhood “mine only” (Shelley 21). Little wonder the twenty year old Victor would think he could create, control and command life. But Victor as with any indulged child did not take the time to learn much from his parents about parenting and fath...

    Read More

  • Dangers of Technology Exposed in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1592 Words  | 4 Pages

    Brachneos. “Frankenstein – a Literature Essay on Social Context Comments.” Writinghood . N.p., 3 Mar. 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. .

    Read More

More about Divine Boundaries

Open Document