Frankenstein: Science and the Industrial Revolution

Frankenstein, a novel first published in the year 1818, stands as the most talked about work of Mary Shelley’s literary career. She was just nineteen years old when she penned this novel, and throughout her lifetime she could not produce any other work that surpasses this novel in terms of creativity and vision. In this novel, Shelley found an outlet for her own intense sense of victimization, and her desperate struggle for love. Traumatized by her failed childbirth incidents, troubled childhood, and scandalous courtship, many of Shelley’s life experiences can be seen reflected in the novel. When discussing the character and development of the monster, Shelley launches an extensive discussion on the

Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, explores the theme of the pursuit of knowledge and scientific discovery through the main characters; Victor Frankenstein, the Creature and Robert Walton. This pursuit of knowledge drives the plot of the novel, leading Victor to create the Creature in his attempt to break down the mortal barriers that surround him and unlock the secret of life. Robert Walton’s quest for discovery leads him to the North Pole, far beyond the reach of Humans at that time. Ultimately Victor’s thirst for knowledge and scientific discovery did him more harm than good with Victor’s hatred of his creation driving him to death. Frankenstein’s message to the modern is age is simply put as “humans should not meddle in the business of the gods”. Mary Shelley’s is using Frankenstein and the actions of the characters in the novel to warn us that although we have the technology to for example, create a human being, some things are better left to nature. In our quest for knowledge we can do ourselves more harm than good. Through her novel Shelley tells us that on our path of scientific discovery there are some trails better left unexplored.

Frankenstein by author Mary Shelley was published in 1818. The novel was published at the end of the French Revolution and at the very beginning of the Industrial Revolution. With these major events occurring when the novel was being written and published, revealed how this novel was influenced by socioeconomic standards. Marxist theory attempts to reveal how socioeconomic system is the source of our experiences and conflicts we portray in literary works, as well as how literature in turns to serve to influence the minds of the people. Frankenstein follows Marx’s social theories of how socioeconomics have profound effects on literary works and how they are interpreted.

“Oh! No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch” (Shelley 57). This statement is how Mary Shelley successfully portrayed the overall negative consensus of the industrialization of Europe in the 1800s in her novel Frankenstein. This story parallels the world’s transition from nature and emotion to reason and truth which was the primary cause for the industrial revolution. Though the revolution brought new technology and knowledge, people felt as though they were enslaved by this sudden change. This is clear through Shelley’s Dr. Frankenstein and the ‘wretched monster’ that would forever change the world.

In Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein”, Victor Frankenstein’s monster is an unrealistic character. The monster is involved with the realistic elements of desire of control, alienation, and thoughtless ambition. It is revealed the overall theme of the novel, that the pursuit of knowledge, is dangerous.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a gothic novel that was wrote during the 1800s, or other known as the enlightenment era. During this era, the ideas of discovering the natural law of the universe and the thirst for scientific knowledge were being spread all across Europe. Mary Shelley incorporates these ideas with Victor Frankenstein's thirst for dangerous knowledge, and through allusions of Prometheus and the Genesis story. Shelley not only incorporates other supplementary readings into Frankenstein, but uses feminist literary theory as a way to put to life the idea of women’s inferiority to men.

In recent years, the advances in science and technology have spread far beyond our understanding all in attempt to make the Industrial Revolution possible. The Industrial Revolution had sparked in the early ninetieth century. Even though in this time the title of society is not labeled as the Industrial Revolution, not everyone is willing to accept the speed at which these scientific advancements are taking place but also how they are contorting society as a whole. Not only has this science been brought to our attention through the active spread of technology, but also through literature, one example being Frankenstein by Mary Shelley published in 1818. In this novel, the author acknowledges

Shelley reveals that pain that the monster has caused and the power that is has over its creator. Through this moment in the story, the author shows just how harmful technology can be, despite the good intention it was created with. Shelley also exposes her viewpoint on the negatives of technology through the way she describes the beginning intentions of the creation and contrasts it to the result as the monster arises. At the initial point of the creation, Victor Frankenstein has powerful plans

Undoubtedly, Victor Frankenstein symbolizes the identity of the Industrial Revolution. The monster is the aftermath and negative aspects of human ignorance. Lastly, Frankenstein’s loved ones are a metaphor for nature, and all that is affected by pollution. All things considered, Mary Shelley would clearly be the one to want to make a stand against the Industrial Revolution, but being a minority in society made it difficult and the use of symbolism was key to make an

How did the changes brought about by the factory system challenge the family? How do some of the authors included in Chapter Four, in Rogers, treat this issue? Does Mary Shelley have any insights or criticisms with regard to the family and industrial society?

Sometimes considered one of the first science fiction novels of supernatural terror, Frankenstein proved itself an instant success when released anonymously in 1818. The mad scientist Victor Frankenstein and his creation provoke readers with the fear of the unknown and the power of natures forces. A deeper look into the character of Victor Frankenstein, the role of scientific experimentation and the intricate settings of nature in which the story evolves, prove Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein , a worthy example of both Romantic and Gothic representation in nineteenth century British Literature.

Mary Shelley’s novel discussed extreme measures and actions that are relevant today. The issues that Victor and the book’s other characters deal with symbolize many of the situations we as humans go through in real life. Consequences and persistence are themes in Frankenstein that can be connected to problems of our nature. Frankenstein’s determination to create new life through the manipulation of science is what resulted in the monster’s rising. Today, people are so driven to act upon things such as fame, success, or power that they will do anything to achieve their goal. Sometimes people only see their goal and don’t keep in mind the drawbacks that may occur if they see nothing else.

“Here we find nature to be the circumstance which[…] judges like a god all men that come to her.” is one of the first statements by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essay “Nature”, referring to nature’s role in romanticism. Nature, as well as science, are one of the main topics depicted in writings of the romantic period. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein can be attached to these writings. Her novel implies many natural and scientific characteristics that approach throughout the novel and finally clash by Victor Frankenstein’s creation of the monster. The following essay states the importance of nature and science in Frankenstein and argues that Frankenstein’s monster is a personalization of the danger involved in connecting both nature and science.

Frankenstein was written two hundred years ago by Mary Shelly when she was eighteen years old. A science fiction novel but often read as a gothic horror story and ominous warning about the ramifications exceeding boundaries of science. The main character, Victor Frankenstein, at a young age has been fascinated by life and death and classical experiments of the alchemists, thus creating his first subject the Monster. Frankenstein epitomized the climatic change in the study of science during the eighteenth century. The time is characterized by important experimentations and rise of scholars such Faraday, Dalton, and Benjamin Franklin. There were signs in the novel that it was influenced by scientific discovery of our modern understanding of electricity. Shelly attempted to uncover the limits to which science can surpass morals. Frankenstein who attempted to attain powers through science by his display of creation of life and death, has forbidden limitations and unforgiving ramifications.

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.