Analysis Of Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein

Quote: He stated “I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures such as no language can describe…..I shunned the face of man; all sound of joy or complacency was torture to me; solitude was my only consolation–deep, dark, deathlike solitude.”(Page 88).

Alienation is a product of society’s inherently discriminatory bias, catalyzed by our fear of the unknown in the realm of interpersonal conduct. Mary Shelley, in her novel, Frankenstein, dissects society’s unmerited demonization of individuals who defy—voluntarily or involuntarily—conventional norms. Furthermore, through her detailed parallel development of Frankenstein and his monster, Shelley personifies the tendency to alienate on the basis of physical deformity, thereby illustrating the role of the visual in the obfuscation of morality.

Ever since its publication in 1818, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, has been deemed a cautionary novel on the consequences of experimenting with life and the dangers of playing God. Shelley expertly focuses on the misery of Victor Frankenstein and the Monster in order to prove her point that playing God will lead to nothing but pain and sorrow. At nineteen years old, Mary Shelley produced a masterpiece that is still used as an example to argue today the negative affects of creating synthetic life. Shelley’s purpose for writing such a novel stems from many of her own life experiences and the influences surrounding her childhood and teen years. She rebelled against the previous writing period, the Enlightenment, and has left a lasting effect even on today’s very science based society. Through the influence of her friends and family, Shelley became a

Although Frankenstein is a fictional story, I think in many ways it is representative of Mary Shelley personal views in her everyday life. Mary Shelley was raised by her father after her mother passed and because of that they always had a rocky relationship even after her father remarried. Mary fell in love with one of her father’s political followers, Percy Shelley and they got married although her father did not approve of their relationship because of the age difference. Throughout their relationship, they faced many obstacles that made it hard for their relationship to work, but it did. This aspect of her relationship is show through Elizabeth in the novel because it shows how hard women will work to make a relationship work even when

Beauty is often the most lethal poison. It intoxicates both the beholder and the beheld. Humans are raised into a society that instills certain standards of elegance and beauty. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the woes and misery of the monster is brought to the readers’ attention as humans constantly berate and abuse the creature for it’s hideous body. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein discusses the advantages and the detriments that an alluring versus unappealing body provides a person, and how that person is affected due to the pressures and assumptions of society placed upon their shoulders. Mary Shelley may have been amongst the first to examine the concept of beauty and the advantages it provides. She insinuates that the conformity of the ideals of beauty place shackles, and struggles upon those who do not fit into such standards.

Frankenstein thinks that everything is alright now, but Elizabeth has a premonition that the monster will return, and she warns her fiancé that she fears some harm is going to befall him. At the same time, during the entire village’s celebration, the father of the dead girl carries her lifeless body though the streets for all to see. The shock crowd stops its celebration, stunned and outraged over the death of Maria, and they demand justice from The Burgomaster (mayor) and local police. By nightfall, the angry mob has organized into torch carrying search parties to find the murderer. Frankenstein is determined to destroy the creature, and leads one of several groups looking for the monster, up the mountainous terrain.

Our society has a very acute perception of what is and what is not normal, predicated through our upbringing and life experiences. For instance, people are viewed as weird or foreign if they have a disability. Frankenstein by Mary Shelly is about a creature that is created by Victor Frankenstein. The creature wants to understand why he was made, what his purpose in life is and why he isn’t accepted by society; in order to fulfill these needs the creature try’s to connect with his creator Frankenstein. However, Frankenstein does not want to have any personal contact with the creature. Understandably, the creature wants to connect with Frankenstein because the creature sees Frankenstein as normal and wants to be like Victor. On the same front, Frankenstein does not want to connect with the creature because he views the creature as abnormal. As a result, the creature threatens Frankenstein and ends up killing most of Frankenstein’s family and friends to purposely hurt Frankenstein. Mary Shelly shows that despite someone’s power and knowledge, acceptance in society is not guaranteed.

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.

Another equally as important factor of Shelley’s scientific impact on society is how her novel, Frankenstein, innovated the ideas of biotechnology from the early 19th century to even now. This is because her novels displayed way to create a new creature under the premise of galvanism and succeeded, but now, scientist still continue to falter to find a true answer for this single, recurring question; how far are humans willing to go in their quest to create, altar, and clone animated life? This challenging question have long been debated by many prominent members of society and the people themselves, as it has been displayed by the main character ,Victor, in the novel Frankenstein of a young, brilliant man who steps over the bounds of natural order by creating a new life form and because of it, he and his loved ones lose their lives. This glimpse of Victor’s fate is an example of someone who pushed too far into the realms of the unknown and suffered because of it. Yet, various scientists have argued that Viktor’s fate is completely avoidable and something society should not be concerned with. However, many people today still fear of a similar situation that this time will not only stop at the

If it walks, if it talks, if it feels, it’s alive. If it can learn, eventually speak, or came about because of another, it’s a person. The Creature of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is no exception. Victor’s creation needs nourishment, education, and morals, which should be provided by it’s creator, it’s parent, just like any other child. The way that needs of an individual are met shapes the outcome of their life. In her novel, Shelley demonstrates this impact that parents have on their child’s life through the contrasting upbringing of Victor and his Creature.

Frankenstein is a novel incorporating ideas that will forever sustain relevance. These ideas presented by Shelley are simple, yet very powerful life lessons that show the consequences of mankind going too far. The details in the pages of this book make for an incredibly vivid experience that appeals to the reader’s senses and emotions, fully justifying its place as one of the hallmarks of classical literature.

Through the tale of Victor Frankenstein and his creation, Shelley allowed the reader to see her insight on the idea if science should create life. The repercussions that Victor faced after the creation of this monster answered that question. Along with the idea of creating life came the thought of bringing back people from the dead and what would happen if man did not have to die. By proposing these new ideas Shelley was also giving her readers a precaution as to what would happen if these events were to take place. These thoughts and questions were relevant in her time because they pertained directly to the science that was accessible in this era. As discussed by Silke de Wilde, “All in all, Shelley truly made us think about the future science holds for us. And although Shelley’s work is almost 200 years old, she asked us ‘what-ifs‘ that are still relevant today.” (Wilde, pg. 3) The concepts that she discussed in this novel prosed important questions that would teach the readers of her time as well as continue to teach science fiction writers and readers in our society today. She revolutionized the novels of her time as well as set up scientific and morality principles that would last well into the

One major fault in humanity is the controversy and conflict over who claims responsibility when things go wrong. Elaborate and often dysfunctional court systems have been established over time to offer legal answers to the questions of responsibility however, even these are insufficient and controversial. In her gothic novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley utilizes mystery and horror to chronicle the story of a creator and his responsibility to his creation. Shelley develops questions of responsibility by examining just how much responsibility the creator has to its creation and how much responsibility the creation has to its creator. The lack of understanding and agreement over the answers to these questions causes conflict in the novel and continues to cause conflict to this day as the figure of Frankenstein emerges as the symbolic embodiment of social problems.

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.