Comparing Frankenstein, Aylmer, and Dr. Phillips
Authors Mary Shelly, Nathaniel Hawthorne and John Steinbeck have all created scientists in at least one piece of their work. Mary Shelly's character Frankenstein, from her novel Frankenstein, is a man who is trying to create life from death. Aylmer, the main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "The Birthmark," is a scientist who is trying to rid his wife of a birthmark on her almost perfect complexion. In John Steinbeck's "The Snake" the main character Dr. Phillips is attempting to mate starfish until a woman interrupts his work to buy a snake. While written in different times by very different authors who have varying knowledge in science, the three characters
…show more content…
Both scientists seem crazy and have a God-Complex. Frankenstein states, "A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me (pg 155)." They both attempt to undo God's work. Aylmer and Frankenstein worked relentlessly on their experiments, completely disregarded the outside world and allowing no one in while they worked. To Aylmer, his experiment was everything to him, it meant more to him than his wife and therefore he had the ability to control her for the sake of his experiment. Frankenstein spent his whole life trying to run away from his experiment, it controlled him. Neither of them had any forethought and because of that, their subjects suffered. Aylmer and Frankenstein exhibit similar qualities and at the same time show how very different they are. John Steinbeck's character Dr. Phillips is a very different from the other two scientists but he still shares some similar qualities. Like Frankenstein, Dr. Phillips shows how careless he is with his work by missing a series of tests with mating starfish because he was busy watching the woman watch her snake eat a rat in his laboratory. There was a woman in Dr. Phillips life too, just like in Aylmer's. But in Dr. Phillips's case the woman controlled him and she was more important to him than his experiment. He thought she was repulsive at first, but once she leaves for good, he wants her back, which is a
Several fields have studied the relationship between creator and creation. The most significant aspect of this research considers the difference between nature and nurture. Sociologists, psychologists, scientists, and other professionals have tried to pin down the exact distinctions between these two types of upbringings. In literature, the same questions have been asked and studied using fictional characters, most famously in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, in 1667, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, in 1818. The complexity of the characters in these texts creates the theme of nature versus nurture before they diverge and arrive at differing conclusions.
What do a god and a crazy doctor have in common? Nothing right! Wrong! In the stories Prometheus and Frankenstein the protagonists are very alike in many ways. They both tried to play god, steal, and they both get punished for what they did.
Frankenstein , by Mary Shelley, is a novel that tells the story of a man's scientific endeavors and how through his knowledge bestows life into a lifeless matter which comes to be feared and hated by all. The Tyger, by William Blake, is a poem composed of a series of questions about a tiger that depicts the issues of creation, innocence and experience, and ultimately good and evil . Both pieces of literature describe misunderstood creatures who struggle to define themselves as solely good or evil which then leads to the questioning of their very existence.
The novel Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley in 1818. This gothic romance novel tells the story of a philosopher who discovered how to create life, without the full knowledge that his actions could cause grave consequences. Universal Studios made the film version of this novel in 1931. Unfortunately, the film version of Frankenstein has more differences than similarities to the novel. In the novel, Victor’s mental obsession seems to be more severe than in the film. The character of Victor Frankenstein was portrayed in both the novel and the film as a veriphobe, or one who is afraid of the truth, in this case, the truth of his actions. He
Friends will determine the direction and quality of your life. Loneliness is a battle that all people will once face at a certain point in their life; it is how they handle it that determines the outcome of that battle. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein loneliness is the most significant and prevailing theme throughout the entire novel. Shelley takes her readers on a wild journey that shows how loneliness can end in tragedy.
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley combines three separate stories involving three different characters--Walton, Victor, and Frankenstein's monster. Though the reader is hearing the stories through Walton's perspective, Walton strives for accuracy in relating the details, as he says, "I have resolved every night,...to record, as nearly as possible in his [Victor's] own words, what he has related during the day" (Shelley 37). Shelley's shift in point of view allows for direct comparison and contrast between the characters, as the reader hears their stories through the use of first person. As the reader compares the monster's circumstances to those of Victor and Walton, the reader's
I can compare Frankenstein to the movie I saw by Tim Burton, Frankenweenie. They are similar but instead of a human body, it was a dog and the mad scientist was a young boy named Victor Frankenstein. The young Victor Frankenstein brings his dog back to life after being hit by a car for a science fair project while the real Victor Frankenstein wanted to create a real life human. Just like the real Frankenstein monster, the dog brings trouble. In the book, the mad scientist, denies the monster but in Frankenweenie, the young boy convinces his family and friends to like his creation. Some of his classmates had known the young Victor Frankenstein creation and was intrigued to do the same experiment like his but it went out of the standards of
Both of these pieces of literature reflect the characteristics and values of the Romantic period in several ways. The elevation of Nature is represented in both works through the theme of the havoc that humans cause when they interfere with the natural order. It is very easy to tell that Mary Shelley was influenced by this value of the Romantic period when writing Frankenstein. In the story, Victor figures out the secret of creating life while watching nature. He also goes
In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein creates a creature, stronger and better than humans in every way except his looks. After Frankenstein abandons him, the Creature meets the De Lacey’s, a nice little family that indirectly teach him how to read and write. In truth, the Creature only becomes a monster after the hatred that Felix, one of the De Lacey’s, shows him. Before, he had done nothing wrong, but afterwards, all he did was fall down a slippery slope.
When man decides to assume the role of God, consequences are bound to plague such an ambition. In the case of Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the product of such an ambition is a creature born of the dead. Despite the frightening process of his creation, the creature wakes into the world as a benevolent being. He simply longs for acceptance and friendship, but due to his unsightly features, the world is quick to condemn him as the monster he appears to be. With an unbearable sense of rejection in his heart, the monster begins to turn wicked. Soon enough he is responsible for multiple deaths in the name of revenge. Although many treat him unfairly, the monster is fully aware of his actions
The novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley involves the complex issues with the creation of life through an inanimate life. Shelley uses these character archetypes to develop a deeper meaning of the characters intentions. Shelley does an excellent job at allowing the reader to have a peak at the characters inner thoughts and feelings. The archetypes presented in Frankenstein allow readers to identify with the character's role and purpose.
Mary W. Shelley’s brilliant gothic story, Frankenstein, is one that emits the prevalent theme of light versus dark, in which possesses obvious characteristics of a novel written during the romantic era. The novel tells the account of the overambitious Victor Frankenstein, who created a monster in hopes that he’d be known for crafting something human from the body parts of corpses with physical and mental advantages in society, basically playing the part of God on Earth, but through the auspices of science. Instead of creating a “normal” human, his creation ended up being a disfigured creature who he then neglects. Upon his abandonment, the monster seeks revenge on Victor after being cast away by society due to harsh physiognomy in which
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Mary Shelley is an author who wrote the novel of Frankenstein. Mary Shelley herself in her life, experienced many deaths of close friends and family. When she was first born her mother died, furthermore Mary had a baby, who died 12 days later and her husband Percy Shelly drowned. Maybe it was these experiences, which led Mary Shelley to write such a novel of great horror published in 1818. Frankenstein itself is called 'the modern Prometheus'.
as a son. Whereas in the 1957 film he is in a box full of water, and
In the novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, the characters have been portrayed effectively. Much of the interactions between characters, and characteristics of the characters have been based on events which have occurred in Shelley's own life, or they represent what she believes is important. For example, Victor is portrayed as having a strong passion for science, and a poor understanding of relationships. Elizabeth is shown as a stereotypical woman of the time, who is also very powerless. The monster is depicted as being both beautiful and ugly, and someone who the reader feels sympathetic towards. Through the portrayal of her characters, Shelley has created a very effective