Frankenstein And The Island Of Dr Moreau Analysis

1173 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Victor Frankenstein and isolation

Nature in Frankenstein and The Island of Dr. Moreau
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau both have characters that experience fears, revenge, hatred, deaths and countless mishaps and continual bouts of trouble. I will focus my attention in this paper primarily on the subtle implications of the power of nature, which appeared throughout both books. I enjoyed finding hints of these implications as the stories unfolded. The island is where the bulk of The Island of Dr. Moreau takes place. At the end of the story Prendick goes back to nature for peace. I believe the author implies that with nature comes new life and that nature is every creature’s true home. In Mary Shelley's writing, Frankenstein, I detect a simple satisfaction derived from the comfort that Victor derives from nature to overcome his troubled feelings of grief, that stem from his studies and from his creation. With many twists and turns along the way the plot continues to unfold but unlike Dr. Moreau, Victor Frankenstein is ashamed of his creation. Frankenstein uses nature as an escape from his boredom, his problems and his troubles. In both Frankenstein and The Island of Dr. Moreau, nature serves as a place where Frankenstein and Prendick can be at peace and safety. The ultimate goal for both Frankenstein and Prendick is to be at peace after dealing with incredible troubles and countless stressful situations. The unexpected troubles that both characters encounter draws them to nature.
Frankenstein and Prendick feel as though nature is the answer to escaping their problems. Frankenstein shows an interest in nature early in the book. He explains to Margaret that nature is a very promising thing, “This breeze, which has travel...

... middle of paper ...

...e is familiar with. Prendick ends up searching for nature when he feels he is in trouble. People tend to resort to what they are familiar with when they are dealing with troubles however, if choosing what they are familiar with is not an option, they may resort to nature because it has the illusion of being safe and peaceful. Not only does the theme of nature appear in both of these stories, but just like in real life people are also drawn to nature as a release, as a way to find balance and inner strength. Just look at the documented numbers of visitors each year to our many state parks and it substantiates this. I assert the symbolism surrounding my thesis, and the quotes I sited to support my thesis are some of the impactful events that contribute most to making Victor and Prendick palpable, and gives the reader something to identify with in both characters.

Show More
Related

  • Passion And Responsibility In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    Frankenstein has been interested in natural science since childhood and has described himself to “always have been imbued with a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature”(Shelley 25), which foreshadows his future aspiration to create life, and

    Read More

  • Frankenstein Romanticism Essay

    1864 Words  | 4 Pages

    Unlike the Romantic who revered and honored nature, Victor wants to use it for his own gain. He expects “happy” and “excellent natures” to obey him, and he doesn’t dwell upon the consequences of his actions. His outlook changes after the creature comes to life. As Victor stares into the watery, lifeless eyes of his creature, he finally realizes his mistake in trying to disrupt the natural order of the world. Scared by the outcome of his actions, Victor attempts to run away and find comfort in nature.

    Read More

  • Mutability In Frankenstein

    951 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is not arduous to find meaning in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein but the more complex part is trying to find one definite feeling in the novel. Allied with references to other Romantic Period works and Greek mythology is a portion of a poem that seems out of place – “Mutability,” by Percy Shelley. The reader will feel it irrelevant with the sudden introduction of the poem “Mutability” in chapter 10, when Victor is enjoying his encounter with nature. It is only when the reader analyses the poem , does one realize the significance of the intertext. Mary Shelley includes the last two stanzas of Percy Shelley’s “Mutability” in chapter 10 of Frankenstein to reflect a correlation between nature and Victor’s actions and thoughts, and to showcase

    Read More

  • Life Is A Gift In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1047 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is more than just a regular novel. It is a book that conveys a deep philosophical message. The novel moved me to my very soul. It turned out to be a book not about an encounter against a monster but a misfortune of a scientist, who reached the goal of his work and life and realized that breathless horror and disgust filled his heart but all of these is on the surface. The inmost philosophical thought is covered and hidden, but is very profound. The author tries to say that life is a gift. After this gift is given no one can take it away and it transforms the accountability of the creator. The novel makes the reader anxious with the question: “Is a human being able to take obligation to provide life?”

    Read More

  • Monsters within a Young Girl’s Mind: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

    1366 Words  | 3 Pages

    The interpretation of the young girl’s ghastly nightmare, fashioned by her own imagination derived the novel “Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus.” Mary Shelley began, putting pen to paper reveling her cautionary tale, a moral lesson hidden within a horrifying story that would awaken thrill and terror in her audience. Mary felt that if this was not accomplished, the novel would not live up to its title “The Modern Prometheus.” She relates to geographic elements that are subsequent the French Revolutionary era, with a strong connection to Greek mythology. In metaphor she illustrates how creature and creator are one in the same and with the symbolic use of sickness and nature creating the foreshadowing for events to come. Mary Shelley divulges though this novel her personal approach on humanity and life’s lessons; formulating the idea that ignorance is bliss and human injustice is wrong by taking in to account the sexiest views of the later eighteenth-century.

    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

  • Nature vs. Nurture in Frankenstein

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Andrew Lustig proposed a great question to the readers of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, “How far should we go in out efforts to alter nature, including human nature? As stewards of God’s creation what are our responsibilities?” (Lustig 1) This question results in theme of nature vs. nurture in the novel. The nature vs. nurture debate is an important topic in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. The two central characters, Victor Frankenstein and the creature that he creates; both, characters were raised differently. The nature and the nurture of their upbringing can be a cause of why they are, the way they are. Victor and his creature are subject to very different nurturing styles. Shelley also incorporates the representations of light and fire. This representation is key to the nature vs. nurture discussion in the novel.

    Read More

  • Ethical Issues in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    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. Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein expresses human nature specifically through the character of the “Creature” and its development. The Creature has an opportunity to explore his surroundings, and in doing so he learns that human nature is to run away from something so catastrophic in looks. The Creature discovers that he must limit himself in what he does due to the response of humans because of his deformities. I feel that Mary Shelley tries to depict human nature as running away from the abnormal, which results in alienation of the “abnormal.”

    Read More

  • Free Essays on Frankenstein: The Creature as a Foil to Frankenstein

    2166 Words  | 5 Pages

    Frankenstein, speaking of himself as a young man in his father’s home, points out that he is unlike Elizabeth, who would rather follow “the aerial creations of the poets”. Instead he pursues knowledge of the “world” though investigation. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that the meaning of the word “world” is for Frankenstein, very much biased or limited. He thirsts for knowledge of the tangible world and if he perceives an idea to be as yet unrealised in the material world, he then attempts to work on the idea in order to give it, as it were, a worldly existence. Hence, he creates the creature that he rejects because its worldly form did not reflect the glory and magnificence of his original idea. Thrown, unaided and ignorant, into the world, the creature begins his own journey into the discovery of the strange and hidden meanings encoded in human language and society. In this essay, I will discuss how the creature can be regarded as a foil to Frankenstein through an examination of the schooling, formal and informal, that both of them go through. In some ways, the creature’s gain in knowledge can be seen to parallel Frankenstein’s, such as, when the creature begins to learn from books. Yet, in other ways, their experiences differ greatly, and one of the factors that contribute to these differences is a structured and systematic method of learning, based on philosophical tenets, that is available to Frankenstein but not to the creature.

    Read More

  • Everlasting Nature Vs. Nurture In Frankenstein And Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1879 Words  | 4 Pages

    “I now hasten to the more moving part of my story. I shall relate events that impressed me with feelings which, from what I was, have made me what I am” (Shelley 92). Frankenstein’s Creature presents these lines as it transitions from a being that merely observes its surroundings to something that gains knowledge from the occurrences around it. The Creature learns about humanity from “the perfect forms of [his] cottagers” (90). Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein offers compelling insights into the everlasting nature versus nurture argument. Her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote, “Treat a person ill, and he will become wicked.” Shelley believes that the nurture of someone, or something, in the Creature’s case, forms them into who they become and what actions they take. While this is true for Frankenstein’s Creature, the same cannot be said about Victor Frankenstein.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Identity Possession in Frankenstein

    2107 Words  | 5 Pages

    The idea of duality permeates the literary world. Certain contradictory commonplace themes exist throughout great works, creation versus destruction, light versus dark, love versus lust, to name a few, and this trend continues in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The pivotal pair in this text however, is monotony versus individuality. The opposing entities of this pairing greatly contrast against each other in Frankenstein, but individuality proves more dominant of the two in this book.

    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. Throughout Frankenstein, one assumes that Frankenstein’s creation is the true monster. While the creation’s actions are indeed monstrous, one must also realize that his creator, Victor Frankenstein is also a villain. His inconsiderate and selfish acts as well as his passion for science result in the death of his friend and family members and ultimately in his own demise.

    Read More

  • Ecocriticism and Frankenstein

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    Given the deep ties to nature that Mary Shelley explores within Frankenstein, the principles and methodology of ecocriticism can be applied in many different ways. The interaction of humanity and nature is a concept explored throughout the novel, relating directly to a core tenet of ecocriticism, "directly relat[ing] who we are as human beings to the environment" (Bressler 231). Being as there is no "single, dominant methodology" (235) within ecocriticism, the extent to which we can use ecocriticism to interact with Frankenstein contains considerable depth. However, I will look to a few main methodologies of ecocriticism to look at Frankenstein in detail to uncover how the novel deals with the changing attitudes of humanity and nature in early 19th century England.

    Read More

  • The Doppelgänger in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1492 Words  | 3 Pages

    Victor Frankenstein and his creation are alike in several ways, one of them being their appreciation of nature. Victor embraces the nature for the quick moment that he escapes the creature as it “filled me with a sublime ecstasy that gave wings to the soul and allowed it to soar from the obscure world to light and joy” (Shelley 84). Vict...

    Read More

  • Frankenstein Critical Analysis Essay

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walter Scott’s critique in the 1818, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine Review of Frankenstein, is that Frankenstein is a novel of romantic fiction depicting a peculiar nature that narrates the real laws of nature and family values. This review explains that Mary Shelley manages the style of composition, and gives her characters an indirect importance to the reader as the laws of nature takes course in the novel. In addition, Walter Scott appreciates the numerous theme...

    Read More

More about Frankenstein And The Island Of Dr Moreau Analysis

Open Document