Key Theme Of Knowledge In Frankenstein

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.

Alone and eager, Victor Frankenstein desperately worked to create a different type of art. Frankenstein stepped further into the science world and did something no other human had, being so that he did have the correct mindset and objects to do so. He was on a journey to go beyond death. His motive was to push himself. What he failed to do was look further into his work and also look further into how things would work out after his experiments were successful. Maybe, just maybe, Frankenstein started an experiment that should have been left at just an idea.

Victor Frankenstein, also known as the modern Prometheus according to Shelley, holds a similar yet different story and fate as Prometheus. While Prometheus only wanted to correct his brother’s mistake in making a superior race of man, Victor wants to understand “the secrets of heaven and earth” in order to elevate himself to a godlike status (Shelley, 30). He decides that he will create “a new species” which “would owe their being to” him and give him the

Some say that knowledge can be a blessing and a curse. Others say that intelligence can only be a curse. People argue that knowledge can help mankind, while it can also can make dangerous monsters that can harm others. However, in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor’s intelligence is mostly seen only as a curse because it unleashes a murderer, results in his sickness, and makes him want the knowledge to be kept a secret.

Victor devoted his life to learning how the world works and even more importantly the secret of life. He entered the university of Ingolstadt to study natural philosophy and chemistry where he was consumed by his desire. After a

Frankenstein is a book written by Mary Shelley in 1818, that is revolved around a under privileged scientist named Victor Frankenstein who manages to create a unnatural human-like being. The story was written when Shelley was in her late teen age years, and was published when she was just twenty years old. Frankenstein is filled with several different elements of the Gothic and Romantic Movement of British literature, and is considered to be one of the earliest forms of science fiction. Frankenstein is a very complicated and complex story that challenges different ethics and morals on the apparent theme of dangerous knowledge. With the mysterious experiment that Dr. Victor Frankenstein conducted, Shelly causes her reader to ultimately ask

Victor begins to possess an unnatural drive in his quest for knowledge where he begins intense study and experimentation, “These thoughts supported my spirits, while I pursued my undertaking with unremitting ardour. My cheek had grown pale from study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement” eventually isolating himself from his friends and family. As the seasons passed Victor’s obsession with his studies continued to grow, “And the same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me also to forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and whom I had not seen for so long a time” highlighting how his ambition is a fatal flaw, neglecting the outside world and his loved ones. Victor’s ambition to research and attempt to create life drains him of health and sensibility, “Every night I was oppressed by a slow fever, and I became nervous to a most painful degree” which is ironic to the goal he wishes to achieve. Shelly’s use of irony illuminates how Victor’s obsessive ambition has become a fatal flaw.

“Learn from me…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, 39).

The power of knowledge has also affected Victor in a negative way. Ever since Victor was a child, he had always been interested in science. As he got older, he got even more interested in specific topics within natural philosophy, particularly the human body. After his talk with his professor, he believed he could create an animate object from an inanimate object, in which this case the object turned into a monster. “My labours would soon end, and I believed that exercise and amusement would then drive away incipient disease; and I promised myself both of these when my creation should be complete” (57). Victor has put a lot of effort into learning the anatomy of a human body and pursues the creation of one, yet he doesn’t realize how small the margin of error would be. Later on in the book, the monster demands Victor to create a

Frankenstein also known as the modern Prometheus who was a Titan from Greek mythology and he stole fire from the Gods who only kept it to themselves and also brought knowledge and enlightenment to mankind. For his actions Prometheus was punished by the Gods and was chained to a rock and an eagle ate his liver everyday as punishment. Mary Shelly was influenced by the tale of Prometheus and this led her to write her own story which was influenced by the modern Western world which was during the Romantic movement during the early 19th century. Romanticism was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe during the 18th century.The ideas of the Enlightenment are obvious in Dr. Victor Frankenstein because he is fascinated with science and discovery.The creature also reflects the ideas of the Enlightenment without the influence of God. The creature feels alone and rejected from everyone. "When I looked around I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, the monster, a blot upon the earth from which all med fled and whom all men disowned?"

In the novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein shows the cruel karma that joins in the achievement of attaining knowledge. With countless examples to support this statement, the opinion of this reader holds strong with the opinion of Mary Shelly, that the power of knowledge, though incredibly tempting to grasp hold of tightly, can be a dangerous achievement that can lead to more destruction than it can recover.

Victor’s growth mindset can be observed throughout the entire novel, but it is initially witnessed when Victor is only thirteen years old. At this age Victor, begins to study the works of alchemist and is beginning to become intrigued by the natural sciences. Due to his recent interest in the natural sciences, Victor had developed a “longing to [discern] the secrets of nature” (37) . This longing enveloped Victor and

What exactly is the pursuit of knowledge? One might say that the pursuit of knowledge is when one conducts irregular experiments and actions. One might say that the pursuit of knowledge is the process of the collecting information needed in completing that test. However, the universal truth says that one can never accumulate all the knowledge in the world. However, one might opinion that the pursuit of knowledge is a wonderful thing to have because knowledge is power. But what exactly is knowledge? Mary Shelley has her visions of the pursuit of knowledge all the way back in the 19th century. To tell her thoughts to the world, she creates the characters Victor

A bat and ball cost a dollar and ten cents. The bat costs a dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? A vast majority of the people who come across this simple question answer quickly and confidently. The answer must be 10 cents. However, while this answer seems obvious, it is wrong. The correct answer is 5 cents. Through education and increased knowledge, people begin to use mental shortcuts to almost completely skip the normal thought process. This means that people with seemingly intelligent minds often are prone to over-confidence, extreme predictions, and the planning fallacy. In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, this same mental performance is seen in the main character, Doctor Frankenstein. Not only is he overconfident in

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelly, raises important questions as to how the theme of knowledge helps to explain the story. The main focus of Frankenstein is the power of knowledge and how dangerous it can be. This power is portrayed in the main characters of the novel: Victor Frankenstein and the monster. The theme of knowledge helps to answer the question as to why Victor decides to tell Walton his secret. Both of these characters reveal a passion of discovery and intellect, which Victor has made his past and Walton only his future. Their obsessions of knowledge are mirrored in one another through the journeys they take until their paths cross. Finally, the question of the concluding effect of the conversation between Walton and the creature