Victor Frankenstein Knowledge Analysis

In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein seeks knowledge. He thirsts for glory and pursues knowledge for this selfish pursuit. Throughout this, Frankenstein weakens his relationships, such as his relationship with Elizabeth and Henry. In his pursuit, he brings an intellectual being to life making the quest all the more selfish. Motivated by this selfish desire for glory, Frankenstein embarks on a pursuit of knowledge for the “secrets” of life that ultimately weakens his relationships and sanity. Frankenstein’s experience with the monster, his weakening relationships, and his personal philosophy illuminate the consequence of pursuing knowledge for the wrong purpose. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley suggests that knowledge has a profound

He says, “If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections, and destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possible mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not benefiting to the human mind” (Shelley 34). In the beginning Victor has the philosophy that if and study weakens your “affections”, then it is “certainly unlawful”. This ironic philosophy serves to illuminate that Victor Frankenstein knew the consequence of acquiring knowledge in secret. Although Frankenstein’s personal is the adhesive to bind his egotistical fault, he takes little notice to the knowledge he has about the consequences of his endeavor. This ironic foreshadow, depicts the consequential outcomes of his weakening relationships and his deprecating social health. Ultimately, a universal theme seen predominantly throughout Frankenstein is the pursuit of knowledge. The quest for knowledge is not in itself deprecating, but the way Victor Frankenstein pursues it and the motivation for glory that drives him is deprecating. Thus we see, that if knowledge is pursued for the wrong reasons and through the wrong methods, it is deprecating for our social relations and mental