Science In Frankenstein

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.

Shelley shows how powerful nature is through Victor's downfall after he tries to overcome nature and exploits its power. For example, Victor, the creator, believes he can “bestow animation upon lifeless matter” when trying to create his monster (Shelley, 40). Creating life is a power far beyond the capability of humanity. So, Victor intends to harness nature’s power, controlling it and trying to become more powerful than nature. The consequence is the demise of Victor’s whole family at the hands

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein explores the concepts of knowledge and science and the dangers involved with the pursuit and investigation of these ideas. The novel conveys Shelley’s attitudes towards science by portraying it as having the capability to exceed the bounds of human restraint. Through the development of her protagonist Victor Frankenstein, the romantic and gothic aspects of her novel, the period of 1818 and the influences of the world she was living in that

Victor had an obligation to care for his creation, but chooses at first glance of his construction to abscond from its presence. The comparison of Victor as God-like highlights Enlightenment philosophers who have gone beyond the limits of humanity in order to attain knowledge. Victor is characterized then as a savant manipulating nature. The Creature acts as a balance for philosophers to stop and reflect upon their own enterprise and determine the fine line between acceptable and unacceptable knowledge as it pertains to nature. To this end, Shelley enforces that humanity must pay due respect to the limits placed in front of them by avoiding the Enlightenment philosophy that man is to find a definite definition for every phenomenon he encounters.

Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein cannot merely be read as a literary work of the early 19th century. It represents the workings of young Shelley's mind. Further, it represents the vast scientific discoveries of the time, combined with Mary Shelley's intuitive perception of science. She views science as a powerful entity, but also recognizes the dangers if uncontrolled. Shelley demonstrates this fear in the book as science drives Victor Frankenstein to create his monster. In the end, it is also his use of science that inevitably becomes his demise.

The story of Frankenstein is a tale told for many years and although the story has changed over time, the theme and questions that arise have remained the same. Creating life or modifying it can be very risky and could have horrible side effects as seen in many books such as Frankenstein and The Hunger Games. While some say genetic engineering is attempting to play the role of “God”, many scientists believe it is a test of our ability to learn and create. Like Victor Frankenstein, we should open our minds to the possibilities of new life and bettering our society with scientific exploration. Before there was even talk about pursuing genetic engineering, there was the fascination with electricity.

While victor is trying to overcome the murders of his friends and family and his own illness, he often seeks nature for peace. After all of his struggle in the life, he goes out in the forest and mountains to find his peace and quietness. “We passed a fortnight in these perambulations: my health and spirits had long been restored, and they gained additional strength from the salubrious air I breathed, the natural incidents of our progress . . .” the air is not only necessary for life but for Victor, it gives him his strength. Nature is more important to Victor’s health. While Victor is shocked and horrified with his creation, the monster, murdering his friends and family, he constantly seems to be drawn by the nature for support instead of his friends and family. Even after Elizabeth’s murder, Victor is attracted to nature. He enjoys the nature and the different instincts of it, makes him happy. Another character that finds peace in nature is Victor’s creator, The Monster. While the monster is surrounded by the tress and the noise of the birds, he really enjoys his life, he likes staying there but as soon as he gets around people he starts regretting his existence and hates his

Moreover, Shelley stresses her warning through the protagonists’ connections with nature, where Victor’s “insensibility to its charms”, arising from his immersion in science, results in his “deep, dark and deathlike solitude”, with the heavy alliteration exemplifying his degraded sense of humanity. Conversely, the monster possesses greater “benevolence” and a more intimate connection with “the pleasant showers and genial warmth of spring”, with such characterisation capturing Shelley’s reflection of Romanticism’s idolisation of nature, cautioning us against the dehumanising effect of unrestrained scientific advancement.

Mary Shelley's criticism of science in her novel Frankenstein is one of the strongest from the Romantic era. Frankenstein's monster serves as a symbol of the result of man's

Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, is heavily influenced by science. The young woman was inspired to write the book by a nightmare and Elements of Chemical Philosophy by Humphrey Davy, a close family friend. The science of galvanism features as the science that Victor used to bring life to his creation. Scientists today have invented many useful and amazing things. For example, Daniel Nocera and Pamela Silver have created a synthetic leaf (Martin).

Science is a useful way to discovering new things and invent new technology, but if it is not used in the right manner, it can be dangerous. Scientists try to learn more and more each day, yet there experiments commonly lead to negative outcomes. In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The possession of knowledge proves to be a dangerous but powerful quality, Victor’s conflict with himself, nature and society and finally,Victor’s use of science leads to his demise. Victor’s thirst for knowledge proves to be dangerous, which leads to his interest in the secret to life.

Shelley shows that one of nature’s many attributes is its ability to calm and heal. It can change and revive moods and Victor Frankenstein, the creator of the monster as well as the protagonist, uses it as an aid to gain back strength. Throughout the story, nature is shown to have an “inner light” which can alleviate grief. Consequently, when Victor is distraught he always goes back to nature to relieve his pain, as it is what keeps him stable. When contemplating to create another monster, Victor becomes ill and anxious. Even though he does not want to create another one, he feels compelled due to the vengeance of the fiend, the monster he creates. Nevertheless, he decides to spend

“The science of today is the technology of tomorrow.” So says Edward Teller, echoing his thoughts as a noted physicist that science isn’t just the future, but indeed what creates the future. But what about Mary Shelley? A noted romanticist, Mary Shelley’s views may have been a bit different from those of Teller. In fact, Mary Shelley’s first novel, Frankenstein, might just be the best example of her thoughts on the matter. Throughout the novel, Shelley emphasizes the importance of scientific responsibility, and is clearly against science playing the role of God. However, this is not for any real religious purpose. Instead, Shelley uses science to express gradual degradation of what she had viewed as the natural world that that she had treasured during her time period, and the gradual destruction of natural beauty in the world, using the novel and its characters to support her demonization of science in favor of a more natural world. The terror of the scientific creation of Frakenstein contrasted with the serenity of the natural world as portrayed in the novel Frankenstein give the novel a clearly romantic message that preaches about the importance of the Earth’s natural aspect.

His instincts of philosophical rationality can be interpreted from the hyperbolic recount of Victor’s naïve years “I had not been content…with the results…of natural science…and exchanged the discoveries…for the dreams of modern philosophy”. However, contrasting to his interpretation of what genuine livelihood embodies is the creature which is characterized by the dominant traits of romanticism through its harmonious response when surrounded by the physical

When does science cross the boundary and what are the consequences that come with it? In her book, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley talks about taking science too far and its consequences. The setting is around her time which is in the 18th century so we will have to see how much is applicable to the 21st century.