`` The Soul Of Frankenstein `` By Mary Shelley And The Endeavor For Great Scientific Discovery

Knowledge is a very powerful device to possess. How one deals with the knowledge they have can impact his or her life greatly, along with the lives of those around them. The weight and responsibility that comes with knowledge is strongly portrayed in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The motif of irresponsibility in the pursuit of knowledge can be seen through the character of Victor Frankenstein.

There are many places in Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein that refer to the human nature; different components of it is represented through almost every character. For instance, Elizabeth possibly epitomizes the benevolence, compassion, and empathy of humanity. Other characters symbolize aspects as well; Victor is curiosity and obsession, Henry is adventure and creativity, Caroline is selflessness and love, etc. My personal favorite, however, is the creature that was created by Victor Frankenstein. This creature embodies much of humanity and passionately reveals so. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley insinuates the human nature—abhorrence and, concurrently albeit seemingly subtle, graciousness—through actions and inner thoughts of the creature.

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the theme of nature versus nurture is seen throughout the novel. Freud and many psychologists state that nature and nurture influence development because genes and environment, biological and social factors direct life courses, and their effects intertwine. Through the Creature 's continual rejection by society and Victor, Mary Shelley shows that social rejection altars the Creature’s attitude towards society and pushes him to be vengeful. In Frankenstein the Creature experiences more nurture than nature in the novel due to his knowledge gained from his experiences this is seen with the continual rejection from Victor and the Creature teaches how to survive.

Easily the biggest argument throughout the novel is in countering the question on whether the monster has a spirit or not. And honestly it is easy to argue with side of it, but it is pretty easy to go ahead and just say no. Due to the fact that once dead your spirit is ascended out of your body and goes wherever you may believe (insert religion here). There is just honestly no way that this monster rule had his human spirit inside of hm while casing all of the terror he did throughout the novel. If he still had his spirit intact he also would have encountered his conscience when going to kill his first victim. But instead he did so without missing a beat out of pure anger. But one can also argue the fact that many humans all throughout the history of the world have been killers and have never thought that they were doing wrong either. And it being a very good point one can argue the fact that maybe the soul that was obtained by the monster by chance just so happened to be very troubled. And it being a very logical argument ether way it is hard to pin point the correct answer. And honestly no one will ever be able to come up with the correct answer in the simple fact that the author of the novel is dead and has been for a very long time. Maybe if scholars back then had asked the question we all want to ask now in the 21st century we could have a deeper understanding of what Mary Shelley though herself and wanted us to fell. But as well as she may have left these questions unanswered for the exact purpose of everyone to interpret the story of the monster in their own unique way.

Some people live in a world that holds both beauty and ugliness, both joy and sorrow. This world defines the human character in which some have disagreements with each other or have a freedom of thoughts that makes them happy. This limitless world has granted people to be free and equal and gives the opportunity to learn from one another. However, some people try to get these benefits away from other individuals. For instance, some engage to take advantage of one another, approaches the kindness of each other, and feel jealousy of someone who has better things. Therefore, one can view in the novel called Frankenstein the existence of humanity. As, is perceived of the creature constructed by Victor Frankenstein. The creature is an invention by a maniacal scientist, who neglects the monster by its grotesque appearance. Referring to the Novel, Frankenstein is differently with his own creation; due to the fact that the monster is not a living human, but an invention. Humanity plays a significant role in the novel, but also in the universe.

Mary Shelley’s cautionary horror tale, Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus, portrays the deadly consequences of callous indifference to life. Throughout the novel, Shelley employs allusions to the Prometheus myth, Paradise Lost, and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Through these allusions, Shelley illustrates the creature’s yearning for love and acceptance, and Victors lack of love and compassion which leads to his ultimate destruction.

Throughout the novel, “Frankenstein,” the “monster” was seen as hideous. As a result, many including the creator himself did not give the “monster” a chance and portrayed him as evil. Rather than looking at his personality, they looked at his outward appearance, which scared them off and made them assume he was a “monster.” When readers, including myself, read this story, we feel disappointed about how during this time everything revolved based upon looks and not on what really mattered like charisma. Overall he is portrayed as an evil, scary creature. When Victor describes him he is so harsh and cruel it makes him seem to be a monster. “He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks,” (Shelley 59) this phrase proves how when Victor describes the monster he did not care to think about what the monster was trying to say because he was too scared of his horrible looks.

“The author of Frankenstein made it clear that it was not natural science and technology as such that led Victor and the poor monster to their doom, but only their uncritical and fanatical pursuit,” (Jagger 274) so much so that even Frankenstein when he later reflects on the time spent creating the creature comes to this conclusion saying he himself “appeared rather one doomed by slavery to toil in the mines, or any other unwholesome trade than an artist occupied by his favorite employment.” (Shelley 35) Frankenstein comes to regret his unnatural quest for the secret to creation saying “If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections, and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind” so much so that if we observed control over our pursuits “Greece [would] not [have] been enslaved; Caesar would have spared his country; [..] and the empires of Mexico and Peru [would] not [have] been destroyed.” (Shelley 34). The single-minded strive for knowledge, science, is so destructive and unnaturally that it “dabble[s] in dirt” and “penetrates into the recesses of nature, and [show] how she works in her hiding places.” (Shelley

In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the antagonist and protagonist changes throughout the course of the plot. In the earlier part of the novel nature is the protagonist and man is the antagonist, but as the plot progresses nature is forced to protect herself by becoming the antagonist and making man the protagonist. By the end of the novel both of the examples of man and nature’s antagonist characteristics lead to their inevitable destruction.

Knowledge can cause a numerous amount of problems for those who choose to pursue it. That is if they decide to traverse on the more taboo sides of the sciences instead of staying inside the societal norms that have been set up. This is one of the more prevalent themes in Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein. Among the themes of loneliness and revenge you have the one out standing theme of knowledge being dangerous. The pursuit of knowledge has caused some of the greatest horrors in the world of man and this is an evident theme in Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein.

There is a thin line between going too far with scientific research and what is acceptable for the greater good. Most people don’t know where this line starts and stops which can lead to problems. This is presently shown in Mary Shelley's book Frankenstein as the main character, Victor Frankenstein, goes beyond this line almost to the levels of “god”. He wants to create life from death to help some of the world’s problems, such as disease. He goes to great extents to fulfil his dreams, but in his arrogance, he doesn’t see the repercussions that his research could have on himself and others.

A quest for knowledge is common across civilizations, being told in several different religions and cultures with the same outcome. With the fall of Lucifer to the sentence of Prometheus, the quest is regarded as unsavory with their punishments used as a cautionary tale to those who look to pursue it. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the Creature’s own quest and thirst for knowledge was comparable to not only Prometheus, but Lucifer as well, with their goals to enlighten mankind punished just as the Creature’s own enlightened mind destined him to suffer in silence and enforced ignorance. While sympathetic, the Creature fell in to the same category as these two “Satanic” creatures from mythology: he hungered for knowledge and loathed the invisible barrier that human society erected to lock it away. Being coded as a villain while upon his quest for knowledge, the Creature was destined to be perceived as evil, an anomaly that no man should ever aspire to. Lucifer, Prometheus, and the Creature all carried an internal flame that was fed by knowledge, which recorded their prospects as antagonistic beings in the lives of others.

Frankenstein is a classic novel that tells the story of a committed science student, Victor Frankenstein and the dangers of science. Victor becomes obsessed with the “cause of generation and life” and after he brings an inanimate matter to life his world is turned upside down and many disturbing questions about the humankind are raised. This book is an excellent example of judgment based on appearances and lack of understanding people but it also has a much larger issue that lies beneath the story. Frankenstein not only tells a terrifying story but also brings some profound questions about the nature of life to light. This larger concept or issue that underlies the story is that we are afraid of scientific advancement in some areas. Frankenstein examines the fears of scientific developments and the danger of exploration.

In her novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley is trying to convey the message that science and technology can be dangerous in the wrong hands. She affirms this idea through the character of Victor, a cautionary tale, but dispels the idea that all pursuit of knowledge is bad through more traditionally romantic characters such as Henry Clerval. Shelley is complicit in her understanding that curiosity and experimentation are unbreakably tied to the human condition, and tries to warn the world of the evil that can come from this. However, the effects of the interpretation of this book can vary: it is an exemplary cautionary tale, and a much needed reminder of ethics in an increasingly technology-dependent world, but one could easily take these warnings too far and use her novel as a means to quell innovation or incite censorship. In a world of technology that would be unbelievable to Shelley, her work still remains relevant, notably in the field of genetic engineering. Frankenstein raises important questions about ethics, responsibility and censorship, and is applicable to modern technological issues such as genetic engineering.

In the gothic novel Frankenstein, author Mary Shelley offers an ominous tale of science gone terribly wrong using the theme of the father and son relationship that also goes terribly wrong. Though Victor Frankenstein does not give birth per se to the Monster, Frankenstein is for all intents and purposes the Monster's father as he brings him to life via his scientific knowledge. Once the Monster is alive he looks to Frankenstein to protect him as a father would, but Frankenstein who is mortified by his creation shuns him. The longer the Monster lives without Frankenstein's love and the more he discovers what he is missing, the angrier he gets and he sets out on a mission to destroy Victor Frankenstein. In Frankenstein, Shelley's purpose is to reveal what happens to society at large when individuals fail in their duties as parents.