Jared Casarez
AP English IV
Mr. Farias
February 12, 2018
The Ethics and Impracticality of Creating Life:
A Critical Analysis of Frankenstein
Moral Criticism harbors in the basis of societal and personal perceptions of ethics and morality, both in regards to the author’s belief system and the general ideology of the society at the given time of a text’s conception (Brizee 1). Within Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein tests the limits of ethical and moral concerns in his experimentation and successful animation of his creature. The novel explores the wonder and tranquility Victor has for nature, yet, in his defiance of its will with his metaphysical science, his creature dreads living and his life as a whole(Shelley
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The theistic vitalist position posits a divinely created soul, and thus asserts that human subjects do not fashion their own morality but, instead, seek to discover absolute moral law that is defined by an absolutely good moral law giver. The mere assertion of an absolute moral law indeed does not guarantee moral behavior. For example, through his exposure to Milton's Paradise Lost, the Creature embraces the Christian theistic worldview and its revelation of an absolute moral law, yet he still commits murder. However, the theistic understanding of absolute morality does provide a rationally consistent basis upon which to defend objective moral judgments.
The problem central to Frankenstein is the belief of its central character that he can perform the ultimate usurpation, that of God. There is an extreme vanity and egotism acting as the motivating force for Victor's work, as opposed to a disinterested desire to further the interest of the human race in general. Victor's true desire is to gain divine knowledge of the world, with the inevitable consequence, therefore, of substituting himself for the divine
Throughout Frankenstein, Mary Shelley analyzes what makes someone a monster. She uses pathos to describe the Creation’s feelings of loneliness and shows how he wishes the humans would accept him as himself. Ethos is also used to examine the fact that Victor is the creator and made the Creation the way that he is. Also, Shelley uses logos to establish the idea that you have no say in the way you are born but you do have control over your character. While some may argue that a person’s scary appearance determines his or her monstrosity, Shelley shows that a monster should not be judged based on its looks but on personality through pathos, ethos, and logos.
I feel sympathetic for the creature on many occasions in the fiction novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Frankenstein has brought something to life that he cannot even look at without being horrified. I believe it was wrong that Frankenstein played God and created something he didn’t understand. Once you are finished with this essay I believe you will agree with me.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley tells the tale of the protagonist Victor Frankenstein and his creation. Both Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s creation’s questionable actions lead them both to be considered morally ambiguous figures. Victor is ambitious with good intentions, but his ambition leads to bad results. The Creature is an innately kind and compassionate person who commits abominable actions due to how others treat him. Their moral ambiguity is significant, as it reveals that an obsession with ambition distorts one’s morals.
The idea of pursuing knowledge clouded Victor’s mind and when his creature is born he is shocked to discover that what he has created is far off his own expectations. Not only did the monster destroy his expectations of developing a creature that went beyond human knowledge, but it also affected his life, dignity, and fears. Victor himself admits to his own mistake when he says, “The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature...but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless honor and disgust filled my heart ” (36). Victor Frankenstein realizes what his obsession with pursuing an extensive amount of knowledge has brought him. His destiny to achieve the impossible with no regard for anyone or anything but himself shows that he is blinded by knowledge when creating the monster and is incapable to foresee the outcome of his creation. Victor’s goal was meant to improve and help humanity, but instead it leads to
Mary Shelley expresses various ethical issues by creating a mythical monster called Frankenstein. There is some controversy on how Mary Shelley defines human nature in the novel, there are many features of the way humans react in situations. Shelley uses a relationship between morality and science, she brings the two subjects together when writing Frankenstein, and she shows the amount of controversy with the advancement of science. There are said to be some limits to the scientific inquiry that could have restrained the quantity of scientific implications that Mary Shelley was able to make, along with the types of scientific restraints. Mary Shelley wrote this classic novel in such a way that it depicted some amounts foreshadowing of the
Victor Frankenstein in the book Frankenstein faces many terrible situations and has to face many consequences for trying to play God’s role in creating life. Victor seen and dealt with many situations as a young boy that will lead to his madness and obsession with science. Victor has always been intrigued with science and life ever since he was a boy. He studied natural science endlessly trying to master how to create a creature that could sustained life. When Victor finally creates his creature, he becomes disgusted with how it turns out. Victor runs from his creation failing to teach him any social or moral qualities. The creature haunts Victor killing many of his family and friends. Victor will try to run from the many problems he has caused. This causes Victor’s misery throughout the book. Victor becomes the true murderer in the book for trying to play God and create life with science.
Victor Frankenstein played the role of God in hopes of getting rid of death and disease so no one else would know the suffering that he felt after the death of his mother. He is a learned man and became fixated on acquiring the ‘secret of life’. Finally he finds the secret, but is unhappy with his results, a foul mangled monster. As a result, Victor is enraged, guilt ridden and consumed with the lust of destroying his creation. As a result of Victors remorse and anger the monster is ridden with suffering and sadness. Henceforth the monster and Victor make a deal for the monster to obtain a companion. Be that as it may, Victor goes back on his part of the deal and the monster is enraged and wishes to make Victor feel
In Mary Shelley´s Gothic novel, Frankenstein, the Monster once claimed, “The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.” Frankenstein, since the 1910 film adaptation, has known a series of several adaptations that changed drastically, not only the plot but one of the main characters, the Monster, from stealing its creator´s name to being portrayed as a cold villain. Though, in the original storyline, the biggest threat to society is the creator itself, the one pretending to play as God, Victor Frankenstein. This essay will discuss the nature of the main characters of the novel and conclude who is the “real monster” in the end.
Throughout Frankenstein, Victor proves to be quite an egotistical person. Victor’s actions will sometimes be selfish and not as noble as he would like others to believe. He creates the monster with a desire to obtain awe and fame and to make sure that his name will be remembered throughout history. “… a light so brilliant and wondrous… that I alone should be reserved to discover so astonishing a secret” (Shelley 37). While this discovery of Victor’s may be groundbreaking, he fails to think of the negative consequences, only thinking of himself and what this could potentially
person to unleash such a terror on the world to benefit only himself and his
Romantic writer Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein does indeed do a lot more than simply tell story, and in this case, horrify and frighten the reader. Through her careful and deliberate construction of characters as representations of certain dominant beliefs, Shelley supports a value system and way of life that challenges those that prevailed in the late eighteenth century during the ‘Age of Reason’. Thus the novel can be said to be challenging prevailant ideologies, of which the dominant society was constructed, and endorsing many of the alternative views and thoughts of the society. Shelley can be said to be influenced by her mothers early feminist views, her father’s
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley has a simple origin, compared to other stories. While stories such as It by Stephen king started a several year process of creation, Frankenstein began simply as a campfire story Mary Shelley shared with her writer friends one evening. Although the origins of this novel are fairly simple, it provides an in depth psychological perspective on the darker side of human psyche through the shifting first person perspective. Usually these darker aspects are associated with the character’s personal struggles, but one specific theme in all the characters. The theme of obsession has been consistent and the central focus of the three main characters Victor, the creature, and Robert. With this central theme in mind the author, Mary Shelley shows that obsession leads to the characters suffering negative psychological and physical effects, as well as impair their decision making. This is depicted through the decline of physical and mental health through Victor’s struggles with his obsessions with knowledge and justice.
This need of power led Victor to create what he believed would be a beautiful human being. But he failed to see that combining the most beautiful human features does not necessarily create a beautiful human being. He was inspired by scientists who ...acquired new and almost limitless powers... (Shelley, Frankenstein, P. 47). Victor sought this unlimited power to the extent of taking the role of God. He not only penetrated nature, but also he assumed power of reproduction in a maniacal desire to harness these modes of reproduction in order to become acknowledged, respected, and obeyed as a father. While bringing his creation into the world he was himself alienated from society, and isolated himself from the community. Isolation and parental neglect cause viciousness within man. Because of his upbringing, Victor had no sense of empathy, and therefore could not realize the potential harm he was creating towards himself and his creation. The sole purpose of his project was an attempt to gain power, but instead of power Victor realized that a morally irresponsible scientific development could release a monster that can destroy human civilization.
Taking God’s role into your own hands proves too much for someone to take on and Victor could not escape the negative repercussions of his actions. Victor Frankenstein is the protagonist in the 1831 novel Frankenstein. Victor unnaturally creates a monster from the bodies of the deceased. This creation would haunt and torture him for the rest of his life. Victor Frankenstein foolishly assumed that he could take the role of God into his own hands and create life from death. Victor shows the negative effects of playing God through Victor’s mental state, his negligence of the creature, and the behavior of the creature.