Harmful Thinking Of Oneself In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Frankenstein removes himself from friends, family and society in order to absolve himself from responsibility of morals. Through efforts to maintain control and an acute fascination, Frankenstein alienates himself at an early age in the name of science. Victor is not entirely ignorant of the dangers of his self-satisfying obsession as he first regrettably reflects, “I was, to a great degree, self-taught with regard to my favorite studies. My father was not scientific, and I was left to struggle with a child’s blindness, added to a student’s thirst for knowledge” (Shelley 28). Rather than recognizing that his isolation is self-induced, Victor blames his alienation on his father’s ignorance. By controlling his relationships, he gains greater confidence in his own abilities, instead of relying on others’ companionship. Notably, evidence for Victor’s disregard toward “domestic affection” is reintroduced as he remarks, “I must absent myself from all I loved while thus employed. Once commenced, it would quickly be achieved, and I might be restored to my family in peace and happiness” (Shelley 138). With selfishness at the core, Victor controls his chaos by distancing himself temporarily, so that he might reunite with his family at a later date. He is being inundated by the common belief that glorious scientific achievement comes at the cost of moral and ethical sacrifice. Victor justifies his self-alienation by means of the creature; however readers

Victor Frankenstein was obsessed with science and anatomy, and the balance between life and death while he was a university student. Frankenstein claimed to create the monster to better mankind, but it is more likely he created him out of the desire to become more like a God. “. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me; I might in process of time (although I now found it impossible) renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption. (Shelley 54)” This is basically Victor explaining how he wants to cheat death and create a new race of species. Victor wants the creature to look at him as a God figure or as his ruler. The irony is that Victor never gives the creature a chance and that is the reason the monster did all the

Sigmund Freud's studies in psychoanalysis are uncannily fore-grounded in the late romantic period. The works of William Wordsworth, Percy B. Shelley, Lord Byron, and Mary Shelley, all function as poetic preludes to Freud's 18th century field. Particularly, it is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein that creates a fictional rendering for psychoanalyst. In Frankenstein, Victor's rejection of the Monster metaphorically represents the ego's rejection of the unconscious. Following from this metaphorical paradigm, Freud's theories on narcissism, the libido theory, the doppelganger, neurosis, and the Oedipus-complex all resonate in the pages of Frankenstein. After a brief introduction to narcissism and

Frankenstein’s creation was lost in the world with no one who could have understood him . It felt sorrowful and unfulfilled emotions as seen in this quote. Betrayal by Victor leaves a large impact the monster carried, which, turned into a monster full of hate and dissatisfaction. Victor’s creation was not a monster , but new born baby in a grown horrific body that was not to be called his own . It becomes a monster both mentally and physically, who will be feared by all . Victor not giving him the love he needed gets the monster enraged, which leads the monster to cause series of events that affects Victor unforgivably. .

This novel reflects Shelley’s own childhood, which consisted of her feeling obligated to rebel against her own father’s wishes and his choice for her marriage. Frankenstein is a way for Shelley to tell her own experiences with parental conflict and how she feels she was affected by her demanding father and the environment she grew up in, by comparing herself to Victor’s monster. Shelley analyzed her own characteristics, and the characteristics of her father, and placed them within Victor and the

Since the birth of the creature, Shelley makes it very clear to the audience that Frankenstein abandons his creation and does everything he can to forget about the monstrosity he created by traveling further away from where he created him. The fact that Frankenstein abandons his creation is the first sign of him not showing his creation any sense of love or sense of attention. These are his first steps towards him showing how he isn’t deserving of the title of parent. Even though later on in the novel he does give his creation time to speak his mind and what he has been up to for the time he disappeared. At this point Frankenstein gave

Mary Shelley’s story of internal turmoil, the cruelty of altering the laws of nature, and the consequences of redefining the laws of nature is a harrowing one, known widely by many audiences, yet it is never the nature of the characters that is discussed, only the outcome. Shelley’s deliberate use of different character foils portrays the deeper connections and themes in her 1818 novel, Frankenstein. The creation and presence of Frankenstein’s monster directly foils the character of Victor Frankenstein himself, illustrating overarching themes of self inflicted isolation and internal conflict, exposing the dangers and consequences of complete and total narcissism, and revealing a truth many still refuse to accept: we, as humans, are capable

Some people see Frankenstein and his creature as complete opposites, but they are not as different as they may seem. Victor and his creature have no mother figure in the novel. Victor’s mother was there for Victor in the beginning but “resigned cheerfully to death… she died calmly” (Shelley 53), whereas the creature was born without one. Therefore, throughout the novel, both Victor and the creature have to depend on their fathers for guidance. Frankenstein and the creature are both intelligent. Frankenstein gains his intelligence through his schooling and experience, while the creature gains intelligence through observations, experience, and “Paradise Lost, a volume of Plutarch’s Lives, and the Sorrows of Werter” (Shelley 155). These characters want to be accepted in the world. Frankenstein wants to be accepted in the

In the novel by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, the creature and its creator, Victor Frankenstein, share a lot of similarities throughout the story. The relationship shared between the two resembles that of a father and his son. Since Victor created it , the creature inherits certain traits of Victor’s without realizing it. Victor and the creature both have an overpowering thirst for knowledge, a love for the beauty of nature and a tendency to use it as a scapegoat, a depressing feeling of isolation from people, a desire for revenge, and the ability to play God. The relationship between Victor and the creature does not develop like a normal father-son relationship, nor does it develop as a good versus evil relationship. Both characters show hero and villain qualities throughout the novel as their relationship develops.

A predominant theme in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is that of child-rearing and/or parenting techniques.  Specifically, the novel presents a theory concerning the negative impact on children from the absence of nurturing and motherly love.  To demonstrate this theory, Shelly focuses on Victor Frankenstein’s experimenting with nature, which results in the life of his creature, or “child”.  Because Frankenstein is displeased with the appearance of his offspring, he abandons him and disclaims all of his “parental” responsibility.  Frankenstein’s poor “mothering” and abandonment of his “child” leads to the creation’s

Egotism is characterized by an inflated appraisal of one’s intellect, ability, importance, and appearance. It is practiced by placing oneself at the center of his or her world. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, Shelley seeks to deliver her idea of the egotistic archetype as it relates to the ideals of The Enlightenment Period, a time period she sees as self-centered. Shelley sees the arrogance in the fact that Enlightenment philosophers test the limits of human understanding and attempt to simplify the ambiguities of nature. She asserts that man is egotistical to believe that he or she can completely dominate a comprehension of the human experience. In the novel, Victor Frankenstein embodies Enlightenment

A vital component of being a parent is their efforts of responsibility regarding their child. Therefore, a parent is deemed to look upon their child in a positive manner, with the intentions to support them. Victor Frankenstein dedicates majority of his life discovering multiple aspects of science, for the hope of reanimating life. This process evokes much ambition, only to be quickly diminished. Therefore, in chapter five of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley utilizes juxtaposition and auditory imagery among the birth of the monster to foreshadow there will be a decrease towards parental responsibility.

Mary Shelley continues the emphasis on parental influence between Victor and Creature to show how important a parental figure has on human behavior. The key difference between the relationships is Creature lacked any form of parenting. Creature learned and developed his behavior on his own by watching others and reading classical literature. By reading these books he begins to question his creation and notice differences between himself and others. “My person was hideous and my stature gigantic. What did this mean? Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination? These questions continually recurred, but I was unable to solve them” (citation). Creature is reflecting on who he and how he came to be in this world. This being said, he is also aware of the fact that he was created by someone else and lives in a world where he does not belong. Creature was sent into a world that he did not understand, he had a ‘child’s blindness’ which is similar to the relationship between Victor and his father. Not only did Victor’s relationship with his father affect his life, but it also affected the life of Creature. The lack of parental guidance in

Psychoanalytical criticism analyzes motivations, which are the compelling force behind life’s myriad of decisions. Mary Shelley inventively evaluates the incentives which are responsible for propelling the characters of Frankenstein into their fatal downfall; making Frankenstein a prime source for psychoanalytical study. Shelley’s novel follows the work of a promising chemist, Victor Frankenstein, who makes a remarkable discovery that has the potential to forever alter the scientific study and nature of human life. Ultimately, this science becomes liable for Victor’s tragic fate. Previous to Victor’s revolutionary breakthrough, he had begun a process of detaching himself from the rest of humankind; following the completion of his

“I felt suddenly, and for the first time during many months, calm and serene joy. I welcomed my friend…” (Shelley 37) shows his happiness when Clervel arrives, for a moment he even forgets the creature he had created. He says: “With this deep consciousness of what they owed to the being to which they had given life… I received a lesson of patience, of charity, and of self-control…” (Shelley 16), in which you see how the parent of a child understands that the child needs a caring, loving hand in order to grow up with a caring, loving heart. Victor seems to have forgotten this lesson that his parents taught him when he is repulsed by his creation, of whom he was so sure that “… no father would claim the gratitude of his child as I should so completely…” (Shelley 32), yet he rejects the monster because of its hideous appearance.