Mary Shelley's Frankenstein looks at the consequences of mans attempts
to meddle in the creation of life. In the 21st century, with its scientific
and technological advancements does her story still have an important
message for humankind?
Steven Foster
Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' looks at the consequences of mans
attempts to meddle in the creation of life. In the 21st century, with
its scientific and technological advancements does her story still
have an important message for humankind?
In Frankenstein Mary Shelley is trying to convey many messages, but
the most important one of these is that it is not man's business to do
the jobs of the gods which is why Victor Frankenstein tells his story
in the first place. I believe that it is still worth hearing this
message as we are doing the same thing again; we have the technology
to create a human being from scratch and nearly enough to choose what
it looks like. Only the other day for example on the news they were
showing how scientists could choose the sex of a baby.
Mary Shelley intended the book as a warning, the story was told within
the book as a warning and it was as if Victor Frankenstein was telling
the story to the people of the time. The reason she wrote the book in
the form of a warning was because at the time many sudden advancements
led people to believe that they would soon understand and be able to
create life. This did not happen but in our time we are realistically
close to being able to do these things so the warning is still
relevant as it talks about issues that haven't happened yet.
Most of the characters in the book are there to fulfill a purpose,
Robert Walton is in the book so that Frankenstein can warn someone
about the dangers of pursuing a dream and so he can tell the story
"learn from me, if not by my precepts, then at least by my example,
how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier
that man is who believes his native village to be the world, than he
who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow". The monster
is in the book to be the result of an experiment as in the above
analogy would be the killer bees who were designed to create more
honey than ordinary bees who then escaped and have wiped out all other
types of bees, like the monster who was intended to be the first of a
new race "A new species would bless me as their creator" This quote
...s and upheld her views, even though she began to experience spiritual isolation and a great deal of criticism from many of the clergy, modern day feminists who disagreed with her methods and ideologies, and the general public, leading her to publish The Women’s Bible in 1895, a study of sexism in the Old Testament. The Women’s Bible consisted of all the texts concerning women and the main purpose of this revision was to expose the contradictions and the traditional teachings and interpretations in regard to women of the time.
She was aware of the situation of women in her times, especially being a puritan woman. They were restricted to certain modes of behavior, speech
Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein, was written during a period of dramatic revolution. The failed French Revolution and Industrial Revolution seriously mark the novel with hints of moral and scientific revolution. Through Frankenstein, Shelley sends out a clear message that morally irresponsible scientific development can unleash a monster that can destroy its creator.
There are two women in the book who put their perspective into the story, one of
Knowledge accompanied by wisdom, is a blessing. Knowledge helped scientists. make the most destructive weapon known to mankind, a nuclear bomb. It was lack of wisdom that caused United States of America to use it as a means of mass destruction, as illustrated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Knowledge not accompanied by wisdom, is a curse. Victor Frankenstein, protagonist in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, is awed by the science of chemistry and natural philosophy. His desire to gain knowledge leads him to research the secret of life, and after years of research, Victor is convinced he has discovered the meaning of life. With knowledge as his most powerful weapon, Victor embarks on a journey to create something extraordinary out of old body parts. One desperate night, Victor brings his creation to life. However, one glance at the creature was enough to make him realize that he had not created something beautiful, he created a monster. Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein demonstrates how knowledge can be dangerous by the damage caused by both the monster and Victor.
The novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley involves the complex issues with the creation of life through an inanimate life. Shelley uses these character archetypes to develop a deeper meaning of the characters intentions. Shelley does an excellent job at allowing the reader to have a peak at the characters inner thoughts and feelings. The archetypes presented in Frankenstein allow readers to identify with the character's role and purpose.
In Frankenstein, Victor’s monster suffers much loneliness and pain at the hands of every human he meets, as he tries to be human like them. First, he is abandoned by his creator, the one person that should have accepted, helped, and guided him through the confusing world he found himself in. Next, he is shunned wherever he goes, often attacked and injured. Still, throughout these trials, the creature remains hopeful that he can eventually be accepted, and entertains virtuous and moral thoughts. However, when the creature takes another crushing blow, as a family he had thought to be very noble and honorable abandons him as well, his hopes are dashed. The monster then takes revenge on Victor, killing many of his loved ones, and on the humans who have hurt him. While exacting his revenge, the monster often feels guilty for his actions and tries to be better, but is then angered and provoked into committing more wrongdoings, feeling self-pity all the while. Finally, after Victor’s death, the monster returns to mourn the death of his creator, a death he directly caused, and speaks about his misery and shame. During his soliloquy, the monster shows that he has become a human being because he suffers from an inner conflict, in his case, between guilt and a need for sympathy and pity, as all humans do.
Compare and Contrast the episodes of the creation of the monster and the creation of the second monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Mary Shelley finished her first edition of 'Frankenstein' in 1816, when she was nineteen years old. Since then her "monster" has become so popular in the twenty-first century that he appears in films, advertisements, comics and even computer games. So how is it that as such a young age she was able to write such a gripping novel, which has become more famous than any other work of 'Romantic' literature, and indeed, her own? It could have been a result of an intellectually stimulating childhood due to having free access to her fathers extensive library and literary connections; or it could have been a result of her being emotionally undernourished as a child. Whichever way, she has succeeded in writing a novel that 'speaks to the mysterious fears of our nature and awaken thrilling horror' (p.8 - author's introduction), as she wanted; and she has included many personal ideas about politics and familial relations as well as moral, philosophical and scientific ideas on the creation and 'elixir of life' (p.42).
In Frankenstein, Shelley describes Walton’s perception of Victor’s perilous adventure to eliminate his life-threatening creation. In accounting Frankenstein’s journey, she adds a cautionary message to society by illustrating the devastating consequences of scientific inquiry and the overall acquirement of knowledge. She uses both Victor and Walton as examples of men attempting to exceed human limits. From Victor’s initial “success” with reanimation, his creation ultimately symbolizes the unpredictability of unrestricted experimentation. His creation throws him into multiple depressions and Victor struggles to maintain a stable life. In the end, Walton considers Victor’s demise from a disastrous appetite for “nature’s secrets” as a lesson for his own conquest for glory and knowledge. In this, Shelley uses Frankenstein to warn society about its further audacity in pushing boundaries to uncomfortable limits.
Frankenstien Many punishments for crimes are often given to innocent people. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, there are several instances in which the punishment is given to an innocent person. Justine, a maid at the Frankenstein residence, was killed for a crime she did not commit. Felix, a character the Monster encounters, was exiled from his country, for helping an innocent man escape from jail. Lastly, Victor himself was jailed for a murder, which he did not commit.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a very complex book riddled with underlying messages. From the characteristics of each individual to the main storyline Shelley depicts a world of opposites. Victor Frankenstein, a privileged young man, defies nature when his obsession with life and death has him attempting to bring someone/something to life. He succeeds and quickly goes from obsessed over its creation to disgust with its form. He then rejects his creation, which sets the stage for the terrifying events to come. This is the embodiment of a modern novel as it contains alienation, disillusionment, and a critique of science.
We as humans want to be with each other. We actively pursue this goal be finding friends and significant others. While a moderate amount of solitude can be good we crave togetherness with others. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein isolation is a key theme in the novel. The creature created by Victor Frankenstein is driven into isolation from society based on people’s fear of him. Both the creature and Victor experience first hand the effects that isolation have on the creature's actions. Thus Frankenstein shows very clearly how lifelong isolation keeps someone from developing a moral compass and in turn makes them do wrongful deeds.
...o avoid disbelief from her audience. She was the first woman who dared to tell her experience of enslavement and how she was sexuallyabused.
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, is a book in which men pursue their goals against hopeless odds. Robert Walton’s decision to turn the ship around at the end of the novel is questioned by many. This essay will discuss the interpreted views on Robert Walton’s decision to retreat by Victor Frankenstein, Mary Shelley and myself. Although, some may disagree ultimately Robert Walton made the right choice to turn his ship around at the end of the novel and is therefore not a failure.
...nspired to make a change that she knew that nothing could stop her, not even her family. In a way, she seemed to want to prove that she could rise above the rest. She refused to let fear eat at her and inflict in her the weakness that poisoned her family. As a child she was a witness to too much violence and pain and much too often she could feel the hopelessness that many African Americans felt. She was set in her beliefs to make choices freely and help others like herself do so as well.