Science, Morality and Responsibility in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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

Frankenstein is a classic written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley that has captured readers’ imaginations since the nineteenth century. The moral of Frankenstein was that a lack of companionship will lead to self-destruction. Lilo and Stitch, the Disney adapted version, has the same moral. Each teach the same, basic lesson that companionship and friends are generally positive things, yet they told different stories. Their stories, at first glance, are almost unrecognizable from each other. When comparing the two versions, one might ask how the morals remained the same despite the drastic alterations that Disney made. However, if one were to take a look at the changes that Disney made he or she would understand how. In Lilo and Stitch, Stitch (Disney’s equivalent of Frankenstein’s monster) is a protagonist while the monster is the antagonist in the original, Stitch makes friends whereas Frankenstein’s monster suffers throughout the entire book without so much as a friendly gesture, and as a result, the endings are completely different as well.

If Victor were born with negative traits, he would not have wanted to follow in his parent’s footsteps. The reason for him creating the monster was because of his surroundings at Ingolstadt. His professors, such as, “M. Krempe, professor of natural philosophy. He was an uncouth man, but deeply embued in the secrets of his science… The professor stared: ‘Have you,’ he said, ‘really spent your time in studying such nonsense?’” (Shelley 51) pushed the new ways of science on him causing him to see the possibilities of modern society. The movie portrays this more than the book does, which is good. We see Victor’s professor try to keep him away from the notes and readings on how to create life; if Victor never saw these notes, would he have been able to

After reading Frankenstein, the audience sees the way Victor Frankenstein interacts with his experiment and his excitement towards it, until the Monster is crafted and Victor is terrified of his own creation. The main gothic anxiety that Frankenstein plays with is fear; fear of the unknown and fear of the monster’s capabilities. The novel takes place in the eighteenth century throughout Europe and the Artic. The variety of locations that the novel takes place is significant because it shows the distance between Victor and whoever he is running from at that instance. While growing up Victor finds an interest in reading the works of outdated alchemists which leads him in developing an erg to learn more. Victor decides to continue his education and attends university at Ingolstadt where he studied modern science with a melancholic view. While attending university Victor meets two professors; professor Krempe and Waldman. Victor develops a close bond with Professor Waldman who sparks his obsession with the secret of life notion but does not like Krempe because of sharing different views on the study of alchemists.

Morality vs immorality, the question of where the line is and when it comes to separating the two it cannot always be clear whether a decision is moral or not because as with most things there is a gray area between the two where there is still room for discussion on the choices of an individual. In Mary Shelley's sci-fi book Frankenstein, this battle between the two is made clear when Victor Frankenstein goes about creating the monster by stealing body parts and can even be applied to Victor's decision to make the monster in the first place. The actions of the monster that Victor created can also be questioned in their morality for example when the monster killed Victor's little brother out of revenge it can be questioned whether his actions were a morally right decision. The novel along with bringing attention to moral and immoral decisions and showing a contrast between the two also throughout the book mixed romantic elements of literature and Gothic elements of literature. The novel did this by implicating an awe of nature, the celebration of the individual, an interest in seeing things from the eye of a child, bleak environments, passionate characters, and ominous implications.

When people don't take responsibility for their actions unacceptable things happen. For instance, drunk drivers don't take control of themselves once they are intoxicated. They get behind the wheel rather than calling a taxi, which puts other people's lives in danger. There has been 1,142 people who were killed in crashes involving a drunk driver in Minnesota from the years 2003-2012. The theme of not taking responsibility for their actions shows up in Mary Shelley's book Frankenstein. People say it's a story about a monster, but it's really much more than that. Through the events of when Victor Frankenstein creates the monster and abandons it, him not speaking at Justine's trial, and Robert Walton turning back to save his shipmates, Shelley shows that people should take responsibility for their actions.

The whole class has an essay due the next day. I panic because I have to take responsibility into my own hands to get the essay done. If I wouldn't get this done I would feel ashamed in myself of not getting it done when everyone else has the assignment finished. In an odd way, me taking responsibility into my own hands on this essay ties into Victor in the story of “Frankenstein.” Victor throughout the story felt guilty when everyone of his close friends and family died because he knew that the creation caused all the killings. You should take responsibility in your creations, and with this theme Victor takes complete responsibility in all of the deaths of William, Justine, and Henry.

Throughout the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, there is the universal idea of the importance of taking accountability for one’s actions. The main character Frankenstein creates a monster and instead of taking accountability for his creation, he runs away in fear. As Mary Shelly writes, Frankenstein was “unable to endure the aspect of the being [he] had created, [he] rushed out of the room, and continued a long time” (Shelly 35). After Frankenstein leaves his creation, He spends the rest of his life thinking about his creation and is punished for not taking accountability for the monster. Like Mary Shelly, Juan Enriquez believes that people need to learn to take responsibility for their actions.

Victor grew up in a very wealthy family, he got everything he wanted and never really had to work for it. Hid parents give him all the attention a boy would want, they even gave him a gift on the form of a sister, Elizabeth. Everyone got along in the house and reading was a large part of life, Victor became interested in the writings of Cornelius Agrippa who focused mainly on the fantastic rather than reality. When Victor went to his father about what he'd been reading, instead of

Curiosity and lack of self control create an incredibly dangerous combination. Many experiments should not be undertaken. Some questions should be left unposed. However, more often than not, humanity ignores the line of prudence, pursuing their interests to treacherous depths, leading to disastrous results. But no matter the depth of the error, those responsible become obligated to ameliorate the situation, just as companies putting out a faulty product become obligated to recall it, to secure the situation by any means necessary.

The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a riveting piece of literature presenting that the boundaries of science should remain uncrossed. Victor Frankenstein attempts to cross these boundaries and, ultimately, has to deal with the backlash. He creates a new life, but his dreams soon become nightmares. Shelley explains the agony and torment Frankenstein feels throughout the story and illustrates his true character when faced with conflict. TH

In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley challenges the motives and ethical uncertainties of the scientific developments of her time. This critique has become increasingly relevant as modern scientists endeavor into previously unimagined realms of the natural world through the use of cloning and genetic engineering. Through careful analysis, we can see how the novel illustrates both the potential dangers of these exploits and the irony of the conflicts between science and creationism.

Victor became interested in science at a young age. He always wanted to know how something worked, what would happen if…, and how things form. Soon after Victor saw a tree be destroyed by lightening he had a

Some readers have seen the novel as an illustration of the fear of the power of science. To what extent do you agree with this view of the novel? ‘Frankenstein’ shows a contrast between the supernatural and the scientific and highlights that there are elements of science which we should fear. This attitude reflected that of many at the time of writing, as science began to gain credibility and was used more frequently, and Shelley shows this in her novel through supernatural imagery and language, characterisation and setting. However, the novel can also be seen not to fear science itself, but the way in which it is manipulated, again shown through the characterisation of Frankenstein and his professors.

Often when the word “monster” is spoken, images of nightmarish creatures and hash-slinging slashers may come to mind but what if the real monsters are not the ones under your bed? Society believes in the fantasy that monsters are these beings that bring us harm however the most dangerous monsters are those created by the very same society. Frankenstein is a novel written by Mary Shelley that chronicles the rise and fall of a brilliant scientist who much like Icarus flew too close to the sun in pursuit of scientific advancement by creating what society considers a “monster”. Victor Frankenstein becomes obsessed with the taboo act of recreating life yet in following his task he damns the very creation which he at once thought to be beautiful to become the scapegoat monster that society creates to escape their own insecurities.