Obsession from Scientific Knowledge: Waldam and Frankenstein

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The lasting impression of Waldman is made apparent with the beginning of Frankenstein’s mission of creation. While working on the creature, Frankenstein states, “[T]he moon gazed on my midnight labors, while, with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued nature to her hiding-places” (Shelley 55). Waldman spoke of natures “hiding-places” in his own lecture and Frankenstein recalls this phrase while working on his creature. This supports the idea that obsession for scientific knowledge was spread from Waldman to Frankenstein. Soon Frankenstein would be taken over by the feverish work he would take part in due to his new fascination.
The events leading up to Frankenstein’s animation of his creature demonstrates how unhealthy scientific knowledge can be. Frankenstein started to become pale and cut off from social exposure. He describes his need to work on the creature as a “frantic impulse” (Shelley 55). This quote supports how addicted and consumed Frankenstein was by scientific knowledge. His constant urge to work on the creature was uncontrollable. The power of science was taking over Frankenstein’s life and depriving his relationships with his family for approximately two years. He no longer thought about his fiancé, Elizabeth, as much as he thought about finishing his experiment. The decrease in his social life developed a more suitable habitat for madness to grow within Frankenstein’s mind.
Frankenstein was starting to realize the repercussions of scientific knowledge. The moment the creature came to life Frankenstein felt a pang of fear and regret. He realized how he had wrongly interfered with the nature of science. He was so blinded by the drive to finish the creature that he did not see how he was affecting his fut...

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...monstrates how much potential she believed it held. The plot line that Shelley writes is highly affected by the series of unfortunate events, including death, that take place due to the power of electricity.

Works Cited

Frankenstein. Dir. James Whale. Universal Pictures, 1931. ICON.
Laan, J. M. Van Der. "Frankenstein as Science Fiction and Fact." Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 30.4 (2010): 298-304. Academic Search Elite. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
LINDA SIMON. Dark Light: Electricity and Anxiety from the Telegraph to the X-Ray. San Diego, Calif.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 2004. Pp. 357.
Rauch, Alan. "The Monstrous Body of Knowledge in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein." Studies in Romanticism 1995: 227-53. Academic Search Elite. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Maurice Hindle. Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus. London: Penguin, 2003. Print.

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