Innocence And Remorse In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

As a result, this can lead to disobedience and unethical acts that can result in violence. This is shown within the book. That due to the lack of basic needs, the “monster” kills William, the brother of Victor.  What led to his shameful phase, was the painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong. That he knew that he killed William, but due to Victor actions and behaviors of Mistrust, his only way to learn was to demonstrate violence. The monster states, “I grasped his throat to silence him, and in a moment he lay dead at my feet… clapping my hands, my enemy is not impregnable.” This offers some evidence on why he continued the murder, he wanted to deeply hurt the person that forsaked him. He wanted to have pride, rather than shame, but it was inevitable.

However, the results of the creation of the Creature are egregious, as the creature begins to murder people, specifically Victor’s loved ones, including his brother William upon realizing that William is related to Victor. Victor here is partially at fault in his brother’s death, as he abandoned the Creature, leaving it to terrorize the people. Though he is overwhelmingly contrite for their deaths, he neglects to admit who the true culprit is in William’s murder and allows Justine Moritz to take the blame, an example of his morally ambiguous actions. His inconsiderate actions cost Justine her life, though he feels horrible for it. Even then, he argues that the action he regrets the most—the creation of the monster—was the work of destiny, which was “too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction.” (Shelley 23) Again, Victor places blame on fate to justify his obsession with ambition that led him to create the thing he regrets the most. His failure to recognize his role in William’s, Justine’s, etc. deaths while concurrently feeling remorseful for them solidifies his status as a morally

Furthermore, guilt is an intense emotion that allows an individual to either confront a situation and free them self of guilt, or avoid the emotion by placing blame onto others. Victor Frankenstein chooses to be reckless but is simultaneously conscious of his faults throughout the novel. After the death of his brother William, and the unjust persecution of Justine, Frankenstein states, “I wandered like an evil spirit, for I had committed deeds of mischief beyond description horrible…” (Shelley 3.61). Guilt stemming from his actions profoundly impacts Frankenstein, as he is now able to reflect on the gravity of the situation and his mistakes; his conscience is now in full command of his emotions, however, due to Frankenstein’s disconnect

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

For as long as man has encompassed this world, the divisive enigma of humanity has prevailed. Seeping its way into each generation, while sparking heated conversations, it has become evident that there is much we do not know about what truly makes us human. Regardless of our genetic composition, philosophers often ponder the deeper meaning of humanity. We know that, biologically, recreating the genetic makeup of a human does not yield humanity, so what is the missing aspect? Humans -have the ability to contemplate their own existence in this world. Awareness of existence. This driving force enables us to analyze situations while placing ourselves within them. Our involuntary ability to understand the impact of our actions and the affect they have on others causes us to be inherently human. Our actions evoke strong emotions within us that allow us to learn through our experiences. We retain the resonated feelings of certain occurrences and apply them to others in order to deduce outcomes. Often this facet of mankind is taken for granted, yet we are reminded, through both literature and hypothetical scenarios, of its importance. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, constitutes as one of these profound reminders. Shelley develops a theoretical story in which the humanity of Frankenstein’s monster is questioned. Despite having the accurate organs and framework of a human, Shelley causes the reader to seek the missing aspect that is preventing the monster from being human. Likewise,

Victor tells the reader, “I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures.” (NEED CITATION) Because of this overpowering guilt and depression, Victor even contemplates suicide; saying, “I was tempted to plunge into the silent lake, that the waters might close over me and my calamities forever.” (81). But throughout all of his suffering, Victor found hope and love in Elizabeth. In one of the letters he wrote to her, he proclaims, “I fear, my beloved girl, little happiness remains for us on earth; yet all that I may one day enjoy is centered in you.” (168). In this statement of love, Victor summarizes what he has to live for. His happiness does not remain in science, friendships, or family; but resides in his future with Elizabeth. He later talks about the last moments of his life during which he enjoyed the genuine feeling of happiness, his wedding. While alive, Elizabeth had been his greatest lover, encouraging him through all of his darkest valleys. And even in her passing, the vengeance of her death consumes Victor’s mind, dedicating his life to kill the horrific Monster which he had created.

“Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow” (Shelley 60). In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, she expresses her beliefs regarding the danger of pursuing happiness through the attainment of knowledge, because true happiness is found in the emotional connections established between people. The pursuit of knowledge is not necessarily an evil thing, but it can cause destruction when it is pursued beyond natural limits. Victor Frankenstein becomes a slave to his passion for learning in more than one way; first his life is controlled by

Sympathy in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Frankenstein for many people is a huge fiendish monster, a brainless oaf with a couple of neck bolts, who is a horrible murderer. This image has been created by Boris Karloff and other television/film images. I also thought like that, believing Frankenstein to be a monstrous murderer, so when I was met with the text I was surprised to find as a mad scientist who creates a monster. This changed my opinion greatly at first.

He believed that his Creature murdered his brother and framed Justine, the Frankenstein’s maid, in order to achieve vengeance for Victor abandoning him, but according to Levine, Victor is the cause for this evil, “...evil is a consequence of maltreatment or injustice,” (Levine 31). Victor’s internal flaws and shortcomings prevent him from revealing the truth about his Creation and therefore he is unable to disclose details of Williams death to save Justine. Victor cowers and stands by as the town unjustly convicts and “executes” Justine, (Shelley 117). The cowardly act committed by Victor shows that he does not possess a strong enough moral compass to do the justified act.

Victor’s conscience holds the painful achievement of giving life to a beast capable of murder due to selfishness. The first victim that dies at the hands of the creature is William. Victor’s selfishness is reflected when his creation frames Justine for the murder. Victor states, “Thus spoke my prophetic soul, as, torn by remorse, horror, and despair, I beheld those I loved spend vain sorrow upon the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless victims of my unhallowed art” (Shelley 60). Victor does take responsibility and admits that he is to blame, but he does not express this to others, only to himself. Nor does Victor fess up to the real cause of his monster’s bloodlust and turn himself in like a selfless individual would. Although his selfishness affects the lives of others, the ones near and dear to him receive much affliction too.

any better, he went for it.  He was then met by a mob of angry villagers,

As people gain new experiences different losses of innocence come along with that, this is shown in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Throughout the book innocence plays a big role in the characterization of Frankenstein, the monster and most of the other characters in the book. But, as tragedies in the book occur they also symbolize losses of innocence in both the monster and Frankenstein. As these losses of innocence occur the reader begins to realize that each of them also seems to symbolize another loss of innocence but one that is just under the surface of literal meanings. One of the common double losses of innocence is all of the deaths that occur in the book. While examining the characterization and the deaths of Elizabeth and Justine, the reader comes to realize that all of those deaths symbolize the loss of innocence. Through these deaths, it is shown that Frankenstein and the monster continued to lose their innocence until it is nonexistent.

At this point Victor is responsible for two deaths and must keep this all to himself. By suffering through the guilt and the illness it is clear that his decisions that were made in order to deepen his knowledge of the scientific world are becoming dangerous to himself and the people close to him.

In the Romance novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley she illustrates themes of innocence and revenge. The book focuses on a wild scientist named Victor Frankenstein. The novel goes through many stories and perspectives on the life of Frankenstein's creation. Throughout the novel the monster tries to prove to the society that he is not a horrible creature and that his physical attributes do not represent him. Although he tries hard to accomplish this goal, society does not believe him so the monster decides to get revenge on Frankenstein. The society is responsible for the deaths that occurred in the novel because they assumed he was a certain way based on his looks, their violent towards him, and they mentally hurt him with their words which turn him evil and make him obsessed with revenge.

Victor expresses the misery he feels regarding his actions in relation to the monster with zeal, but his remorse proves to be false when viewed with