Major Themes In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Major Themes of Frankenstein In the novel Frankenstein, romanticist Mary Shelley writes about the story of a scientist who creates a creature that is against the laws of nature. She tells his story of misfortune. The major themes that occur in this novel are abandonment, revenge, and romanticism and nature. Abandonment is a major theme of the beginning of the book. Robert Walton writes to his sister that he “[has] no friend,” that when he is “glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate [his] joy,” and that if he is “assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain [him] in dejection” (4). He wants a friend, and that is when he finds Victor Frankenstein in the freezing water. Victor Frankenstein

Before the monster took away Victor’s solitude in nature, Victor had an intense connection with the sublime in nature. Victor displayed his romantic views to Robert Walton when he tells him to “learn from [him], if not by [his] precepts, at least by [his] example” how “dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge” (38). Victor also tells Walton that the “man who believes his native town to be the world” is much happier than “he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow” (38). Victor knows from experience that pushing the boundaries set by the laws of nature brings no good. In his life, he has experienced many misfortunes. Many of which were brought about by the pushing of the laws of nature. Victor was blinded by his rapid success in the world of natural science. He said that “life and death appeared to [him] ideal bounds” which he “should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into [the] dark world” (40). He wanted to create life, and push the laws of the natural world. This would bring him nothing but pain. He successfully creates the creature, but he regrets pushing the boundaries. He is scared by the unnatural creature he had created. Romantics viewed science as something that tried to control nature rather than coexist with nature. This view is used by Mary Shelley to support her romantic ideology. Romantics believed that at the time science was pushing the boundaries of the natural world. This is another example of the romantic views Mary Shelley used in her themes. This is how Mary Shelley advances the themes revenge, abandonment, and romanticism and nature in the novel Frankenstein. There are many different themes in the book; however I chose three that I believed to be major themes. I feel these themes are a connection that Shelley makes from her personal life to the novel. The novel is an