There are no definite means of knowing what tomorrow brings, and for the majority of humankind, that is utterly terrifying. From minor life situations such as sorting out life after high school, to the grander unknowns like death, the apprehension a person feels towards impending experiences is a sentiment that transcends both space and time. Throughout the three volumes of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the monster evolve as characters, yet at one point or another, they each allow fear to overcome their better judgment. As seen in the crucial decisions these three characters make in their lives, Shelley paints the anticipation of worrying over the future as a limiting factor in attaining personal success. …show more content…
Mary Shelley initially paints Captain Walton as an inspirited individual in search of glory, nevertheless is fearful of failing deep inside. He discloses to his sister, Margaret Saville, at the end of his first letter, “If I succeed, many many months, perhaps years will pass before you and I may meet. If I fail, you will see me again soon, or never” (11). Despite the fact that Robert Walton has prepared and planned well years prior to the commencement of his exploration, he reveals that he has his doubts. Although simply hypothetical situations, his worries of ultimate failure have the power of resulting in an extended period of time isolated from his family, or the worse possibility of never seeing anyone he loves again. As such, Walton’s fear for the future limits his chances at success because as his anxiety augments, his motivation disappears. Through the collection of Walton’s first four letters, the beginning of Mary Shelley’s attempt to portray fear as an obstacle in reaching personal success asserts its importance that it continues to have throughout the remainder of the …show more content…
Mountains of ice and bitter weather threaten Captain Walton’s vessel, putting his exploration on pause. After much time of contemplation in which he weighs his choices of pushing forward or turning back home to England, Walton reluctantly decides to go with the latter. In his letter dated September 7th, Walton confesses to his sister, “... I have consented to return, if we are not destroyed. Thus are my hopes blasted by cowardice and indecision; I come back ignorant and disappointed” (266). The fame Walton desired at the beginning of the novel is no longer attainable, for he realizes the journey is highly dangerous. Rather than being defeated physically by the perils of the arctic sea, Walton succumbs to fear by turning back; thus, he suffers from mental defeat. At the beginning of the novel, Mary Shelley depicts Robert Walton as the epitome of a romantic character. Nonetheless at the end of the novel, his spirits of exploration and glory disappear. The evolution of fear demonstrates its prevalence in Robert Walton’s choices, as he grows from having trivial worries about the future to firmly believing that his agonies will become a
Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein is a novel narrated by Robert Walton about Victor Frankenstein and the Monster that he creates. Frankenstein grew up surrounding himself with what he loved most, science. He attended Ingolstadt University where he studied chemistry and natural philosophy, but being involved in academics was not enough for him. Frankenstein wanted to discover things, but did not think about the potential outcomes that could come with this decision. Frankenstein was astonished by the human frame and all living creatures, so he built the Monster out of various human and animal parts (Shelley, 52). At the time Frankenstein thought this creation was a great discovery, but as time went on the Monster turned out to be terrifying to anyone he came in contact with. So, taking his anger out on Frankenstein, the Monster causes chaos in a lot of people’s lives and the continuing battle goes on between the Monster and Frankenstein. Throughout this novel, it is hard to perceive who is pursuing whom as well as who ends up worse off until the book comes to a close.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein concludes with a series of speeches from Victor Frankenstein and the Creature to Captain Walton, including one where Frankenstein expends his physical strength to persuade Walton’s crew to complete their mission. This speech is striking considering Frankenstein’s previous dangerously ambitious and irresponsible actions. His speech is one of heroics and sublimity, two major values of the Romantic poet. Reading Frankenstein as a reflection of the Romantic poets who surrounded Mary Shelley while she wrote the novel, Frankenstein’s speech is one of a failed Romantic poet – one who takes Shelley’s contemporaries’ ideals too far. Shelley highlights the irony of Frankenstein’s speech through his uncharacteristic use of
In Robert Walton’s journey he feels a sense of loneliness, for instance in letter two he states, “But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy, and the absence of the object of which I now feel as a most severe evil, I have no friend: Margaret: when I am glowing in the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate in my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavor to sustain me in dejection.” (Shelley, Frankenstein letter 2). This letter represents how Walton mourns over
Frankenstein, a novel by Mary Shelley, illustrates the trials including Victor Frankenstein's triumphs, a character who owned a lovely with memorable life experiences that shaped the independent college student he became. Despite Victor growing up in a welcoming setting, he struggled to find the intellectual purpose of acquiring a college education in his physical science interest to generate the likelihood of reviving a dead corpse with electricity to acquire the comfortability to feel like God. Mary Shelley used diction and imagery to convey shifts in mood that supported the plot of chapters one through five in Frankenstein to inundate the reader with the feelings the characters of the story were facing.
There are not many horror works can withstand a long period of time. However, one of these fictions, the gothic story "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, has existed for nearly two hundred years and is still popular among the modern society. In the book, there is an interesting character that can be easily ignored by readers but actually establishes the success for the Frankenstein. Robert Walton, as in this long lasting story, plays a role not only as a narrator, but also a parallel, or reflecting, character to Frankenstein and the creature, as well as a trait for romanticism.
Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, has captured people’s attention since it was first written. People often wonder how much of Mary Shelley’s life is documented in her novel. From the theme of parental abandonment, to the theme of life and death in the novel, literary scholars have been able to find similarities between Frankenstein and Shelley’s life. The Journal of Religion and Health, the Journal of Analytical Psychology, and the Modern Psychoanalysis discuss the different connections between Shelley’s life and Frankenstein. Badalamenti, the author of “ Why did Mary Shelley Write Frankenstein?” in the Journal of Religion and Health, primarily discusses the connection between Victor
After examining Frankenstein’s inability to endure ice and metaphorically his own ideal, the reader recognizes Shelley’s purpose for repeating images of ice in Frankenstein. Every concept is subject to being distorted and utterly rejected, no matter how grand it is. Shelley is telling the reader it is necessary to be weary of any personal endeavor, for it never affects only one person. Sometimes, in achieving an ideal a person does not speculate any consequences and puts others in jeopardy. Shelley is clear to depict that that danger is far greater than subjecting only their self to cope with their ideal.
Since its publication in 1818, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has grown to become a name associated with horror and science fiction. To fully understand the importance and origin of this novel, we must look at both the tragedies of Mary Shelley's background and her own origins. Only then can we begin to examine what the icon "Frankenstein" has become in today's society.
Frankenstein is the story of an eccentric scientist whose masterful creation, a monster composed of sown together appendages of dead bodies, escapes and is now loose in the country. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelly’s diction enhances fear-provoking imagery in order to induce apprehension and suspense on the reader. Throughout this horrifying account, the reader is almost ‘told’ how to feel – generally a feeling of uneasiness or fright. The author’s diction makes the images throughout the story more vivid and dramatic, so dramatic that it can almost make you shudder.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, explores the monstrous and destructive affects of obsession, guilt, fate, and man’s attempt to control nature. Victor Frankenstein, the novel’s protagonist and antihero, attempts to transcend the barriers of scientific knowledge and application in creating a life. His determination in bringing to life a dead body consequently renders him ill, both mentally and physically. His endeavors alone consume all his time and effort until he becomes fixated on his success. The reason for his success is perhaps to be considered the greatest scientist ever known, but in his obsessive toil, he loses sight of the ethical motivation of science. His production would ultimately grieve him throughout his life, and the consequences of his undertaking would prove disastrous and deadly. Frankenstein illustrates the creation of a monster both literally and figuratively, and sheds light on the dangers of man’s desire to play God.
Based on previous knowledge of the novel Frankenstein, it is known that Victor Frankenstein is the main character of the novel and shown as the protagonist.It never occurred to me that this novel would start as a series of letters which is very relatable to another novel in the same genre: Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This is very crucial to the book because it helps the reader relate to two characters. The beginning is not as exciting yet contains foreshadowing that reveals the loneliness shared by Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein. Both contain the zealous thirst for knowledge and have similar familial characteristics. Both have sisters that represent a lot to them: “And now, dear Margaret, do I not deserve to accomplish some great purpose?”Robert asks his sister Margaret.(5) Victor and Elizabeth also
It seems commonplace to recognize the importance of the environment when ruminating on the shaping of one’s nature of time. As a daughter of two rebels, Mary Shelley contributed her interest in writing to her big-named parents. When an independent spirit nearly identical to her mother’s, Shelley ran off with her lover at the age of sixteen, resulting in alienation as society and, even her father, reject her. This estrangement was a driving force in the creation of her novel, Frankenstein. Shelley borrowed a line from John Milton’s Paradise Lost when the monster from her novel states, “I was born benevolent; misery made me a fiend.”
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein explores the downfall of certain human characteristics, set to the backdrop of creation, destruction, and preservation. The subtitle denoted by Shelly herself supports this idea, by relating the fact that the title can be viewed as either Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. One scholar, Marilyn Butler, also maintains this by noting, "It can be a late version of the Faust Myth"(302). Shelly uses the story of the main character, Victor Frankenstein, to produce the concept of a dooming human characteristic of which Frankenstein states, "I have . . . been blasted in these hopes"(Shelley, 152). The reader finds, as a result of his thirst for knowledge and infatuation with science, Victor creates a living being by whom he has "suffered great and unparalleled misfortunes"(Shelley, 17). Eventually, Victor realizes this self-destructive trait, but he is not able to save himself stating, "I have lost everything, and cannot begin life anew"(Shelley, 16). Although everything in his life that is dear has been lost, Victor is able to convince one in his same position--Robert Walton--to not "lead [his crew] unwillingly to danger"(Shelley, 151). While addressing the concept of characteristic and self-discovery, it is possible to realize that the monster also possesses the characteristics held by both Victor and Walton; except in his learning, the monster is driven to continue to cause destruction. Most important about the thirst for knowledge is that, as a form of human characteristic or downfall, it leads to large, critical pieces of self-discovery. In obtaining these critical pieces, Frankenstein finds satisfaction in j...
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a nineteenth century literary work that delves into the world of science and the plausible outcomes of morally insensitive technological research. Although the novel brings to the forefront several issues about knowledge and sublime nature, the novel mostly explores the psychological and physical journey of two complex characters. While each character exhibits several interesting traits that range from passive and contemplative to rash and impulsive, their most attractive quality is their monstrosity. Their monstrosities, however, differ in the way each of the character’s act and respond to their environment. Throughout Frankenstein, one assumes that Frankenstein’s creation is the true monster. While the creation’s actions are indeed monstrous, one must also realize that his creator, Victor Frankenstein is also a villain. His inconsiderate and selfish acts as well as his passion for science result in the death of his friend and family members and ultimately in his own demise.
Burns, Alisa. “Frankenstein of the Future.” Frankenstein Commentary. N.p., Sept. 2002. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. .