The Importance of Self-Education in Frankenstein
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein tells a story about the creation and the destruction of a man considered by society to be a “monster”. In the novel, there is profound meaning to be found in the monster’s self-education. Patterned after the evolution of human learning, the monster’s spontaneous learning proceeds through major stages. First, is the accidental discovery of fire, this is followed by a realization by the monster that knowledge yields power.
Similar with human history, the finding of fire is the first step of the creature’s learning. In the beginning of Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, the scientist who applies what he has studied, conjoins different
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It echoes development of pre-historical civilization or Prometheus in Greek mythology. Hereof the using of fire symbolizes the domination over the world more than the method of survival. Aftermath, the monster is ready to march to the next period of self-education, studying language.
The monster’s most convincingly human characteristic is of course his power of speech1and his ability to comprehend human language. This is also a notable part of Frankenstein. He is stimulated by the power of language and wants to learn it.
I found that these people possessed a method of communicating their experience and feelings to one another by articulate sounds. I perceived that the words they spoke sometimes produced pleasure or pain, smiles or sadness, in the minds and countenance of the hearers. This was indeed a godlike science, and I ardently desired to become acquainted with it¡K. Their pronunciation was quick; and the words they uttered, not having any apparent [connexion] with visible objects, I was unable to discover any clue by which I could unravel the mystery of their reference.
(Volume 2, Chapter 4, Page 967)
Later, the creature learns how to read, and he even can read Paradise Lost by John Milton. Once again, the readers of the fiction witness the ineradicable intelligence of the monster. It is a
Besides, the creature was the kind of person that if someone taught him beautifully, he would pay back by admiring and loving this person. By this media, the creature learned to admire people's grace, beauty, and delicate complexions. The creature understood one language, which was French and quickly he could say some words like sister, brother, fire, milk, etc. This language was taught to him by a French family who he loved: "The French family was the school where the creature studied all the science that he knows and learned history as well." Also, the monster thought this family was the most kind and excellent in the world; but, the same family also taught and showed him how humans could be hurtful, when the family refused to become his friend. On the other hand, the knowledge and education that the creature received from the French family, was not enough to prevent his bad attitude in his personality that came within his creation. The creature was not a great person all the time; he was someone who could murder anyone at anytime, just because he was making revenge against Frankenstein. Besides, the creature was someone who felt alone in earth by the fact that he did not have friends and relationships; he was questioning why he had no father watching him when growing up or a mother taking care of him. "The creature thought his past life was a blemish where he did not distinguish anything."
At the beginning of life, humans are exposed to the outside world with an open and blank mind. A newborn has no knowledge, no concerns or worries and it only seeks to fulfill its main necessities. Surrounded by the outside world one lives through many experiences where knowledge is accepted. Encountering other human beings reflects upon one's perception and brings about ones self decisions. Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, written in 1816, demonstrates through characters that an obsessive desire for more knowledge may ruin ones life.
The symbolism of fire in the story is very big especially when fire represented destruction. After the prejudice act towards the creature, the creature commences a fire out of anger and as the novel states "The cottage was quickly enveloped by the flames, which clung to it and licked it with their forked and destroying tongues." This shows how the anger of the creature created a destructive device at the tips of his hands, fire being the destructive tool used. Frankenstein used fire to get rid of his anger and rage towards the
From the beginning of time until now the limitless pursuit of knowledge reveals man’s weakness. Modern society provides humans with a wide variety of sources on how to gain knowledge, both good and evil. The thirst for forbidden knowledge beyond what man can essentially handle, causes a tragic life. The protagonist in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley exemplifies the behavior of the ideal man grasping for more knowledge than he can truly bare; in turn this knowledge becomes tarnished. Shelley eludes to the Greek myth of Prometheus allowing the reader to delve deeper into the general theme that those who pursue an insatiable desire for knowledge, if not tamed,
From beginning to end Frankenstein’s Monster is shown as a wicked creature from the people; however, he possesses many human characteristics. The monster was originally an idea of Frankenstein that will soon come to life. Created from many different parts, the monster was never given a chance to be seen as anything other than a science project. From the outside looking in,
Victor Frankenstein was obsessed with knowledge, and thought knowledge was the key to unlocking nature and become a pioneer in science and challenging God. “I have described myself as always having been imbued with a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature” (Shelley, Frankenstein, 21). Victor always had to push boundaries, and his passion drove him closer to science and immorality and farther from his family and friends. Once Victor sees his abomination animated, his potential come alive, he wishes for nothing more than if it had never happened. He moves on to a new obsession – fleeing his past. It consumes him and his health.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, illustrates an interesting story focusing in on many different themes, but what most readers may miss, is the similarities between Victor Frankenstein and the creature he created. As the story develops, one may pick up on these similarities more and more. This is portrayed through their feelings of isolation, thirst for revenge, their bold attempt to play god, and also their hunger to obtain knowledge. These are all displayed through a series of both the actions and the words of Frankenstein and his creature.
In the real world, the power of knowledge has a real affect on human nature as it gives them a sense of the world and its surroundings. Knowledge is facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education. They are known to create separation between people, the smartest usually coming atop. While the monster and Victor’s adventures are told, the power of knowledge in Shelley’s Frankenstein are a big influence into the advancements of their actions and plot of the story because it gives a new outlook for them.
In the gothic novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley weaves an intricate web of allusions through her characters’ expedient desires for knowledge. Both the actions of Frankenstein, as well as his monster allude to John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Book eight of Milton’s story relates the tale of Satan’s temptation and Eve’s fateful hunger for knowledge. The infamous Fall of Adam and Eve introduced the knowledge of good and evil into a previously pristine world.
The novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley involves the complex issues with the creation of life through an inanimate life. Shelley uses these character archetypes to develop a deeper meaning of the characters intentions. Shelley does an excellent job at allowing the reader to have a peak at the characters inner thoughts and feelings. The archetypes presented in Frankenstein allow readers to identify with the character's role and purpose.
Throughout the novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, the creature is subjected to countless acts of violence and rejection. For a monster to develop, one must have been formerly exploited either by an individual or their society. The creature is not only a physical product of science, but his atrocious behavior is also an explicit result of Victor’s actions toward him. The creature was not born a monster, but slowly morphed into one as he experiences violence and rejection from his society.
“How the 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.” To what extent does Shelley’s Frankenstein support Victor Frankenstein’s view?
The creature's ambiguous humanity has long puzzled readers of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In this essay I will focus on how Frankenstein can be used to explore two philosophical topics, social contract theory, and gender roles, in light of ideas from Shelley's two philosophical parents, William Godwin, and Mary Wollstonecraft.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Mary Shelley is an author who wrote the novel of Frankenstein. Mary Shelley herself in her life, experienced many deaths of close friends and family. When she was first born her mother died, furthermore Mary had a baby, who died 12 days later and her husband Percy Shelly drowned. Maybe it was these experiences, which led Mary Shelley to write such a novel of great horror published in 1818. Frankenstein itself is called 'the modern Prometheus'.
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