The Themes of Frankenstein
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.
One theme discussed by Shelley in the novel is birth and creation. She does this through the main character, Victor Frankenstein, who succeeds in creating a 'human' life form. In doing this, Frankenstein has taken over the roles of women and God. Shelley discusses how Frankenstein has used his laboratory or 'workshop of filthy creation' (page 53) as a kind of 'womb' as he has worked on his creation. He also refers to his task as his labour, suggesting that he has literally given birth to his creation.
After so much time spent in painful labour
(Page 51)
The passing of time from when Victor first began his creation and finished it is also significant.
Winter, spring, and summer passed away during my labours
(Page 54)
The length of the three seasons is nine months, representing the time a natural human baby takes to be formed in its mother's womb. This once again suggests that Frankenstein has found a way to take over the role of women, and they become powerless, weak and flimsy. They no longer have a purpose in life, as Victor Frankenstein can now create new life forms - a process which women needed to be involved in previously. An example of women's powerlessness in the novel is the condemnation of Justine for a crime she did not commit. Had she been a man, she would probably have been set free. Frankenstein succeeds in removing the only powers that women had, as well as stripping God from his role.
Through the theme of birth and creation, Shelley criticises Victor not only for creating the new being, but also for abandoning it when it comes to life. Victor first wishes to create the being because he thinks:
A new species would bless me as its creator and source ... No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs.
(Page 52-53)
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley highlights on the experiences her characters undergo through the internal war of passion and responsibility. Victor Frankenstein lets his eagerness of knowledge and creating life get so out of hand that he fails to realize what the outcome of such a creature would affect humankind. Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, highlights on how Frankenstein’s passion of knowledge is what ultimately causes the decline of his health and the death of him and his loved ones.
Victor Frankenstein may be the leading character in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but a hero he is not. He is self-centered and loveless, and there is nothing heroic about him. There is a scene in Chapter twenty-four where Captain Walton is confronted by his crew to turn southwards and return home should the ice break apart and allow them the way. Frankenstein rouses himself and finds the strength to argue to the Captain that they should continue northwards, or suffer returning home "with the stigma of disgrace marked on your brows." He quite obviously has alterior motives and if he were not the eloquent, manipulative creature he so egotistically accuses his creature of being, he might not have moved the Captain and the men so much that they are blind to the true source of his passion. Unfortunately for Frankenstein, the crew, (however "moved") stand firm in their position. Yet the things he says in his motivational speech are prime examples of the extent to which Frankenstein is blind to his own faults and yet will jump at the chance to harangue others. He is so self-centered that his lack of interaction and love for others after his experiment has been completed, would barely qualify him as a person, if the difference between being human and being a person lies in the ability to have relationships with others.
However I do think that if you a reform Jew, festivals are a great way
Throughout the book of Frankenstein, the creator of the being Frankenstein, Victor, is experienced as a suffering being. He recalls from the very beginning a time during his childhood where he was happy and surrounded by love, a time when his mother lived. Victor’s downfall or the beginning of his disgrace, initiates with the death of his mother. Victor leaves his family to start a new stage in his life, he leaves on quest for answers a true quest for knowledge. Personal motivation will lead Victor to take on the challenge of overcoming death, or to be more specific, give life to a dead body.
In the play “Macbeth”, Shakespeare shows how people can change quickly by wanting to have something. Throughout, the play we see how Macbeth changes from a strong, confident solider to a weak, scared person. We see how he reacts to the different problems which occur. After when he is king, his emotions change from being indecisive to being confident whilst planning killing Banquo. I am going to go over two key scenes and explain how Macbeth’s behaviour and emotion changes.
From the onset of Victor’s youth, his earliest memories are those of “Curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they were unfolded to me, are among the earliest sensations I can remember” (ch. 4) This is the first example of obsession that we see in the novel. This drive to learn the ‘hidden’ laws of nature is the original driving force that sets the plot in motion. Without this, Victor would have never embarked on his unholy quest to overcome mortality, thus leading to his creation of his monster.
As Macbeth becomes less dependent on his wife, she loses more control. She loses control of her husband, but mostly, of herself, proving her vacillating truth. Lady Macbeth’s character gradually disintegrates through a false portrayal of unyielding strength, an unsteady control of her husband and shifting involvement with supernatural powers.Throughout the duration of play Lady Macbeth’s truly decrepit and vulnerable nature is revealed. Lady Macbeth has been the iron fist and authority icon for Macbeth, yet deep down, she never carried such traits to begin with. This duality in Lady Macbeth’s character plays a huge role in planting the seed for Macbeth’s downfall and eventual demise.
Perhaps the most fundamental theme of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is the inherent corruptibility of even a seemingly good man when ambition turns to greed, and Macbeth himself, as one would expect, exemplifies this concept throughout the play. While at the outset he is seen to be loyal to his king, generally considered trustworthy, and displaying numerous other laudable qualities, Macbeth ultimately succumbs to the influence of those around him and becomes unequivocally evil, setting aside all his previously held morals and coming to be driven only by his lust for power. This transition is brought about by a wide variety of factors and plays an integral role in the development of the plot. In his tragedy Macbeth, William Shakespeare employs multiple methods of characterization in order to highlight the protagonist’s transformation from hero to villain as a result of the influences of the people surrounding him, namely the Weïrd sisters, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff, including extensive foreshadowing, a general shift in tone corresponding with turning points in the plot, and the inclusion of long-winded soliloquies to mark a critical change in Macbeth’s character.
Lady Macbeth is an extremely ambitious woman and wants more than anything for her husband, Macbeth, to be the next King of Scotland. When King Duncan announces that his son, Malcolm, is to be the next King, Duncan’s murder is planned. Lady Macbeth’s crucial role in the play is to persuade Macbeth to carry out the murder of Duncan. In the beginning she is ambitious, controlling and strong. However as the plot concludes there is an extreme change in her character and personality which surprises the audience. Lady Macbeth’s guilt eventually becomes too much for her to handle which leads to her death.
Because of Victor’s need for fame and desire for power leads to Victor becoming a monster. Victor begins his quest to bring life to a dead person because he does not want anyone to feel the pain of a loved ones death. At first he is not obsessed with his project. As he moves along in the project he thinks about what will happen to him. "Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source, many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me." (Shelley 39) He realizes that he will become famous if he accomplishes the task of bringing a person back to life. The realization that he will become famous turns him into an obsessive monster. He wanted to be admired, and praised as a species creator. He isolates himself from his family and works on the creature. “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I deprived myself of rest and health. 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 156) By spending most of his time inside on his experiment, he has no time to write or contact his family. He puts fear within his family because they fear for him.
Macbeth a play written by William Shakespeare in the 17th century shows the unexpected happens when it is least expected. In the beginning of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is stronger and more ruthless then her husband Macbeth because her only interested in gaining power. She plans and executes a death with little remorse. Macbeth is soft, kind, loyal and initially has a conscience. Over time, Macbeth's character takes a turn for the worse. He goes from the scared man that he first was into an evil man. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth become the people that the reader least expects them to be. In the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth is much more ruthless but throughout the play this changes and Macbeth becomes even more ruthless then Lady Macbeth.
A predominant theme in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is that of child-rearing and/or parenting techniques. Specifically, the novel presents a theory concerning the negative impact on children from the absence of nurturing and motherly love. To demonstrate this theory, Shelly focuses on Victor Frankenstein’s experimenting with nature, which results in the life of his creature, or “child”. Because Frankenstein is displeased with the appearance of his offspring, he abandons him and disclaims all of his “parental” responsibility. Frankenstein’s poor “mothering” and abandonment of his “child” leads to the creation’s inevitable evilness. Victor was not predestined to failure, nor was his creation innately depraved. Rather, it was Victor’s poor “parenting” of his progeny that lead to his creation’s thirst for vindication of his unjust life, in turn leading to the ruin of Victor’s life.
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In Macbeth, the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth shifts throughout the play in many ways. It increases the way we understand the characters throughout the play of Macbeth. It demonstrates the differences in opinions between a marriage and allows them to express themselves with verbal threats and the power they held amongst one another. Their relationship starts with love and affection based on how Macbeth starts of by calling her “my dearest love” (1.5.57) they also both had this strong connection with each other and shared the same type of ambition but one of the two always held the power in the relationship that they had. As the relationship begins to impact throughout the play there are threatening behaviours from different