Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

As I stood at the door, on a sudden I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak”4 The following day, Victor inquires about the “origins of thunder and lightning” to which his father replies with, “Electricity.” One cannot help but associate this with Victor’s passion for harboring electricity of scientific use. This one resonant moment, caused by nature, sears itself into Victor’s mind. This foreshadowing of Victor’s future endeavors to conquer nature is highly contradictory to Shelley’s attempts to represent the power of nature, which is quite fascinating. Furthermore, what can almost be described as a medicinal quality of nature is represented when Victor returns to Belrive. “I remained two days at Lousanne, in this painful state of mind. I contemplated the lake: the water were placid; all around was calm, and the snowy mountains, ‘the palaces of nature,’ were not changed. By degrees the calm and heavenly scene restored me.”5 This interpretation of nature’s healing abilities certainly connects the Romantic’s viewpoint on nature, which helps validate Shelley’s representation.

Although humans have the tendency to set idealistic goals to better future generations, often the results can prove disastrous, even deadly. The tale of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, focuses on the outcome of one man 's idealistic motives and desires of dabbling with nature, which result in the creation of horrific creature. Victor Frankenstein was not doomed to failure from his initial desire to overstep the natural bounds of human knowledge. Rather, it was his poor parenting of his progeny that lead to his creation 's thirst for the vindication of his unjust life. In his idealism, Victor is blinded, and so the creation accuses him for delivering him into a world where he could not ever be entirely received by the people who inhabit it. Not only failing to foresee his faulty idealism, nearing the end of the tale, he embarks upon a final journey, consciously choosing to pursue his creation in vengeance, while admitting he himself that it may result in his own doom. The creation of an unloved being and the quest for the elixir of life holds Victor Frankenstein more accountable for his own death than the creation himself.

In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein is as much as a monster as his creation. They are related in many different ways such as the fact that they are both isolated from society. While the monster isolated from society due to his physical features, Victor is isolated from his family and of his creation of the monster.

Find the definition of what a monster is and it means multiple things. Two definitions that are applicable to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein define monster as an imaginary monster that is large, ugly, and frightening or; as a person of repulsively unnatural character that exhibits extreme cruelty or wickedness as to appear inhuman (Oxford English Dictionary). While both meanings differ, the latter definition seeks to give negative character traits to an inhuman monster. However, the creation of a monster should not imply that monsters are inherently cruel or wicked. The traits associated with the term monster are a construct of what people believe inhuman monsters possess. By this logic,

Is Frankenstein a man, whose ambition led to a disaster; or a monster, which created a

I have been informed that you are pushing to remove the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley from the school curriculum. I’ve decided to write to you and explain why I believe that you are misinformed, and in fact, why this is a huge importance to the students of today. Frankenstein is a classic which recounts the life and horrors of Victor Frankenstein, as told through a series of letters and narrations. His obsession with the natural world and science brings him to a state of mind which ultimately ends in the creation of his “monster”, that, in turn, destroys Victor and everything he holds dear. This book has been banned in the South African apartheid in 1995 for being “objectionable, obscene, and indecent,” along with other classical works as well. There was a large amount of controversy in the United States for it going against some people’s religion, as Victor could be seen as having God-like tendencies, for example, him creating life. I truly believe that Frankenstein should be kept on the shelves because this book is a prominent part of the modern world, even after 200 years, and it’s important to know where so much of today’s horror and sci-fi has taken it’s inspiration from, while simultaneously providing insightful lessons on morals and various themes, including creation, and the power of nature.

In the Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the creature is an outcast in society, without a friend in the world is thrust away by humanity due to his appearance. His creator, Victor Frankenstein turns his back on the creature he created leaving him to his own devices to learn how to survive in the new world with no guidance from his creator. The creature devolves due to a series of events, feeling different emotions for the first time in his life, becoming helpless, discouraged leading into leading into retaliation of anger and violence. The author makes it clear his retaliation will not have a positive outcome.

In the story “Frankenstein”, by Mary Shelly, we are given the perspective of both, creation and creator, as we get to know them and what drives them to do the things that they do. The story mainly follows Victor Frankenstein, and his tales from early childhood to his time studying philosophy and science. This spark for the sciences and for life causes his desire to create life itself, and after months of studying, creates the creature. It’s horrid appearance causes him to despise the creature. It eventually departs from Victor’s home, and lives alone as it continues to be mistreated by mankind and learns to hate and despise them. He takes his anger and unleashes it on those close to his creator, killing his beloved brother. It was after this that the creature asks Victor to create a companion in which he ultimately denies which causes the creature to kill more of the people that he loves in rage and hatred. These two whom despise one another have many differences between them, but also share some qualities as well.

Shelley became an excellent reader at a young age because of a number of hours she spent in her father’s extensive library. Since her father’s library was so tremendous in size, she would often use it as a get-a-way place when she was annoyed by her family. While she was in her get-away place, she would often study literary works to improve her writing that way she can achieve success much easier when it was time to further her career.

In the novel Frankenstein, A Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelly conveys a warning of the potential dangers of creating a new life form, or “treading in God’s domain.” However, when Victor Frankenstein creates his monster and it comes alive he believes that he has constructed an abominable to the human race. As soon as the being wakes Frankenstein abandons it, because he cannot face or cope with his creation. Victor immediately assumes that his creature is an evil beast, but contrary to this idea the nameless creation is not evil in nature and possesses what every human has; a soul. The being may not be human but has a soul because he emits the qualities of a human being; these are the moral or emotional nature of a being or identity, the

For generations, millions have been captivated by stories of terror, treacherousness and tragedy. During the Gothic era, such tales became broadly beloved to the point where there’s numerous acclaimed novellas being published. Among those works such as Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jeckyll, resides Frankenstein; the story tells of immoral actions, a forbidden goal, and downfall of the protagonist, Victor Frankenstein. To the stupendous story, Victor’s position contributes in the Satanic hero archetype way. The work Frankenstein, which was written by Mary Shelley, included heroes that are antagonist characters amongst many other literary devices that possibly may have fabricated Frankenstein’s exemplarity.

Frankenstein written by Mary Shelly is a romantic novel. The Romantic Movement originated in the late 18th century. It was an era that included an artistic, literary and intellectual movement. Societies began to change their ways of thinking due to the Age of Enlightenment. People began to let go of religion and tradition and were focused on science. The Romantic Era was a mood that inspired many artists. The movement began to surface during the 1760’s. Creativity started to range from poems to stories, where the main theme was a mysterious type of romance. Romantic Literature usually emphasized a love for nature, imagination, emotion, and value for the common man. The genres include; the medieval past, the mystical the supernatural, the

Mary Shelley introduces science, in her novel Frankenstein, using her understanding of the scientific developments of her time about chemical physiology. She illustrates her fears about unrestrained science on the hands of ambitious people which can only lead to disasters. Shelley successfully show that the abuse of science represents a threat to the society.

Mary Shelley’s life was constantly enveloped in tragedy and scandal, so it is no surprise that a despairing work of gothic science fiction would result form an ill-fated, tortured soul like Shelley. From the very beginning of her life, Shelley experienced great misfortune with the passing of her mother. Later on, three of her four children died in their infancy, and her husband drowned off the shore of Tuscany. It would not be hard to believe that it was this series of burdensome life events that acted as inspiration for Shelley’s melancholy novel. It is also no wonder that the heavy notion of “playing God” serves as a driving force for this book, after all, bringing her loved ones back to life was something that Shelley probably spent a great deal of time contemplating about. The novel most likely served as an outlet for those thoughts, helping her put things into perspective and not get beyond herself into a state of insanity. In the book’s introduction, we are presented with a quote by Shelley that describes a vision that inspired Frankenstein and her first image of what would eventually become Victor and the monster.

Mary Shelley was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer. Although she wrote many stories throughout her life, she is best known for her gothic novel, Frankenstein. She was an only 19 years old when she created the story of a eager science student and his amazing creation. Mary was vacationing in Geneva with her husband, Percy Shelley, and a group of famous literary friends including Lord Byron. During the rainy summer days, the group entertained themselves by reading a book of ghost stories. Lord Byron suggested that they all should try their hand at writing their own horror story. At first Mary showed little interest in writing a silly ghost story. Soon after she had dream where she saw images of a young scientist bringing a human back to life. She share the short story with her friends who encouraged her to continue developing the work into a novel.