“He who blinded by ambition, raises himself to a position whence he cannot mount higher, must fall with the greatest loss” (Niccolò Machiavelli). Even in today's society, old works such as Frankenstein by author Marry Shelly, are still relevant in today's society. In her novel Shelly offers the lessons such as: man cannot create perfection, blind ambition leads to mans downfall, and the creator must care for the created. This novel touches some of the key points in today's society and still offers lessons in how life should be lived. Even a hundred years after being published Shell's novel is still relevant in a modern society. Victor Frankenstein set out in life with the goal of creating creating the perfect being. He began grave robbing and then disemboweling bodies to help create his perfect being. He was to be tall, muscular and to beat nature at its own game. Through his years of studying alchemy and anatomy Victor had finally, “became capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter”(51). With this obtained knowledge Victor, “arrive at once at the submit of my desires”(51). Once finally reaching this preclinical he moved to the next step into creating the perfect race and fooling nature. He was so overwhelmed by his knowledge that he moved forward in his creation with blind ambition, not seeing the foreseeable consequences to follow. Here, Victor breaks several of the seven deadly sins; pride and lust. Victor took so much pride in his creation and his new found knowledge that some scholars would argue that his actions were because of fate. He blamed his ambitions with science drove him in his quest for galvanization. He also showed a lust in his work. Before he animated his creation he had spent years studying the sc... ... middle of paper ... ...e the monster across the globe in hopes of killing it, an impossible task. Although he had gained the knowledge to animate life in the beginning of the novel Victor is now paying his dept and has lost his sanity. In his quest to create the perfect being Victor failed because of his blind ambitions. In doing so he failed to nurture his creation which in the end destroyed everything that He had ever worked for. Although this novel was written over 100 years ago it is still relevant in both the classroom and life today. It teaches that the pursuit of perfection can never be achieved. That blind ambition, lust, and pride can lead to mans downfall. And how that there is the ongoing controversy between nature and nurture. According to Joseph Addison, “The fear of death often proves mortal, and sets people on methods to save their Lives, which infallibly destroys them.”
Shelley characterizes Victor in a way that he acts on his impulses and not with rationality. As a result, Victor does not take the time to teach or talk to his creation. This action leads to his downfall as his loved one’s are killed by the Creature taking revenge on Victor for leaving him to fend for himself. Victor’s actions have consequences, hence why all his loved one’s are murdered because of his instinct to leave out of fear and safety. Shelley proves that our id demands immediate gratification of needs and thus, is in control of our actions.
Many readers have sympathised with Frankenstein’s creation, the unnamed monster, because he is badly treated by most people who he comes across. Victor created the monster with dead body parts that he got though grave robbing once he got all of the parts it took him 2 years to build a body. Victor is very obsessed with his work because he would not let any one help him or see him his fiancée is very worried he might be doing something he would regret.
Victor Frankenstein is ultimately successful in his endeavor to create life. This, however, does not stop the underlying theme of obsession. Shelley’s shift from Victor’s never-ending quest for knowledge is replaced with an obsession of secrecy. “I had worked har...
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.
Victor Frankenstein, blinded by pride, remained unaware of how his experiment would affect not only him, but the world around him as he formed his new discovery. His secret to creating life only caused more life to be lost. Because of Victor’s reckless behavior, he caused the depressed and lonely world around his own creation, one who, in the end, Victor did not want to take responsibility for making, no matter how remarkable. The Creation, a being of unfortunate circumstance, exemplifies how knowledge has dangerous and everlasting effects if not used safely or for good intentions. Unfortunately, The Creation leaves his own damage behind as well, again showing how knowledge is harmful, by killing Elizabeth, Victor’s wife, Henry Clerval, his dearest friend, and other members a part of Victor’s family and friends. This demonstrates how knowledge, if not used wisely, can lead to death and suffering. The power of knowledge, in Mary Shelley’s writing, is a gift bestowed on those who can handle the power responsibly, as opposed to using it for selfish boasting. In contrast, she uses these two characters to show the importance of being knowledgeable in both science and responsibility and the unforgivable mutilation that comes if you fail to overcome
Dr. Frankenstein’s obsession with validating his superior intelligence leads him to violate the law of nature, and create the creature. When Dr. Frankenstein discovers the secret of life, he is so delight because he thinks he becomes “greater than his nature will allow.” (43) He is enjoyable having the ability as “god” does (42). At first, he hesitates a little bit, but he cannot compress his thirst for success so he
Victor Frankenstein serves as an instrument of suffering of others and contributes to the tragic vision as a whole in this novel. He hurts those surrounding him by his selfish character and his own creation plots against his master due to the lack of happiness and love. The audience should learn from Frankenstein’s tragic life and character to always remain humble. We should never try to take superiority that is not granted to us because like victor we shall suffer and perish. He had the opportunity to make a difference in his life and take responsibility as a creator but his selfishness caused him to die alone just like what he had feared.
...e seeking help and strength to take care of problems in their lives. Victor Frankenstein is a man with a loving and caring family. Family and friends are an important part of his life. He has his whole life in front of him, when creates his monster. He creates the monster in the likeness of man with same need of love and affection as man. Although, this is his creation, he lets the monster down and does not care for him. The monster begins to feel neglected and lonely and wants desperately to have a human relationship. The monster turns angry and revengeful because he is so sad and abandoned. He wants Victor to feel the way that he does, all alone. The monster succeeds and Victor ends up losing all the important in his life and his own life. In the end, the monster dies and the need for human relationship becomes the destruction for both the monster and Victor.
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.
After Frankenstein discovered the source of human life, he became wholly absorbed in his experimental creation of a human being. Victor's unlimited ambition, his desire to succeed in his efforts to create life, led him to find devastation and misery. "...now that I have finished, the beauty of the dream had vanished..." (Shelley 51). Victor's ambition blinded him to see the real dangers of his project. This is because ambition is like a madness, which blinds one self to see the dangers of his actions. The monster after realizing what a horror he was demanded that victor create him a partner. "I now also began to collect the materials necessary for my new creation, and this was like torture..." (Shelley 169). Victor's raw ambition, his search for glory, has left him. His eyes have been opened to see his horrible actions, and what have and could become of his creations. As a result, Victor has realized that he is creating a monster, which could lead to the downfall of mankind. His choice is simple, save his own life or save man.
... may result in the imbalance of that which sustains us and our subsequent destruction. While Victor can control nature and bend it to his will in unnatural ways, once confronted with the natural elements, none of his science and ingenuity can save him. Throughout the novel Victor goes to nature for solace, expecting nothing but return, and expects the same throughout the novel, right to his own demise. This lesson is not only applicable to when Frankenstein was written, at an explosively progressive period during the Industrial Revolution, but also to all generations and their relationship with human progression and nature preservation.
Victor Frankenstein finds himself exploring the world of science against his fathers wishes but he has an impulse to go forward in his education through university. During this time any form of science was little in knowledge especially the chemistry which was Victors area if study. Victor pursues to go farther than the normal human limits of society. “Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow” (Chapter 4). He soon finds the answer he was looking for, the answer of life. He becomes obsessed with creating a human being. With his knowledge he believes it should be a perfe...
The abnormal behavior of Victor Frankenstein simply could not be explained by anyone. He was obsessed with building his monster, no matter what the morality or the outcome of his actions were. Consequences wreaked havoc on the creator when the monster turned on him and took his anger out on Victor’s family. He was so focused on building his perfection that he overlooked some factors. After further research, it is concluded that Victor suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder during the creation of his monster, which resulted in a rigid following of the ethics and morals of science and technology.
Victor Frankenstein's upbringing in a perfect society ultimately led to the destruction of his life which coincided with the lives of those emotionally close to him. Victor was raised in an atmosphere where beauty and physical appearance define one's quality of life. This superficial way of life results in a lost sense of morals and selfishness, which in turn produces a lost sense of personal identity. This can cause a feeling of failure and resentment in the later stages of life which, in Victor's case, can be externalized into a form of hatred directed toward himself.
In Frankenstein, Shelley creates two very complex characters. They embody the moral dilemmas that arise from the corruption and disturbance of the natural order of the world. When Victor Frankenstein is attending school, he becomes infatuated with creating a living being and starts stealing body parts from morgues around the university. After many months of hard work, he finishes one stormy night bringing his creation to life. However, “now that [Victor] had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled [his] heart” (Chambers). Right after Victor realizes what he has done, he falls into deep depression and must be nursed back to health by his friend. Victor spends the rest of the story facing consequences and moral problems from creating unnatural life. When he realizes that the ‘monster’ has killed his brother, even though no one believes him, he feels responsible for his brother’s murder because he was responsible for the existence of the ‘monster’. Also feeling responsible, Victor...