The Human Spirit In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

For many people, the creature was the antagonist of Frankenstein. People don't see him as human, even though he was created with human body parts. Many think simply because he was dead and brought back, the creature must be evil. Many people think he only wants to haunt his creator and make him suffer. However, the creature

Common rules create common fools. A society where everyone acted the same, abiding identically by some universal principles seems immediately enticing. It would be a world of no crime, where every individual acted in exactly the way that maximized pleasure for every other individual. In short, it would be a perfect utilitarian state. Yet, such a society would be rigid and boring, lacking all the qualities of unbounded life. Beauty comes from tragedy. Meaning is derived from misfortune. Some argue that happiness itself cannot truly exist without its counterpart, misery. Without uniquely acting individuals, life is meaningless. Mary Shelley would certainly have agreed with this statement. Indeed, in her novel Frankenstein, Shelley recognizes

Sigmund Freud's studies in psychoanalysis are uncannily fore-grounded in the late romantic period. The works of William Wordsworth, Percy B. Shelley, Lord Byron, and Mary Shelley, all function as poetic preludes to Freud's 18th century field. Particularly, it is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein that creates a fictional rendering for psychoanalyst. In Frankenstein, Victor's rejection of the Monster metaphorically represents the ego's rejection of the unconscious. Following from this metaphorical paradigm, Freud's theories on narcissism, the libido theory, the doppelganger, neurosis, and the Oedipus-complex all resonate in the pages of Frankenstein. After a brief introduction to narcissism and

In the novel "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, the relationship of external apperence and internal feelings are directly related. The creature is created and he is innocent, though he is seaverly deformed. His nature is to be good and kind, but society only views his external appereance which is grotesque. Human nature is to judge by external apperence. He is automatically ostracized and labeled as a monster because of his external apperence. He finnaly realized that no matter how elequintly he speaks and how kind he is, people will never be able to see past his external deformities. Children are fearful of him, Adults think he is dangerous, and his own creator abandons him in disgust.

The creature himself is a supernatural element of the novel. As Victor is assembling the creature, “the dissecting room and the slaughter-house furnished many of [his] materials” (Shelley 43). He constructs the creature completely from parts of people who had already once lived. Once completed, “with an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, [Victor] collected the instruments of life around [him], that [he] might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at [his] feet. ... [He] saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs” (45). The creature is erected with a spark, an impossible task performed by the scientist Victor Frankenstein. The creature continues to fit the box of supernatural elements in a gothic novel through his superior abilities to humans. He is “more agile than they and could subsist upon coarser diet; [he] bore the extremes of heat and cold with less injury to [his] frame; [his] stature far exceeded theirs” (84). The creature was designed to be wonderful, perhaps even better than man. Victor wished “to give life to an animal as complex and wonderful as man ... with these feelings ... [he] began the creation of a human being ... about eight feet in height and proportionally large” (43). The creature, and the

Human nature is unchangeable. Human nature also applies to just about every living thing. Human nature isn’t so human, is it? In Mary Shelley’s groundbreaking novel, Frankenstein, it is shown just how universal human nature is. In Frankenstein, Robert Walton tells the story of Victor Frankenstein through a series of letters to his sister, Margaret Saville, in different perspectives. Upon his ship on an expedition to the North Pole, Robert befriends a scientist, Victor Frankenstein. He reveals that he is looking for his creation, a being that was never truly alive, whom he bestowed life upon. He then tells an account of his life until it switches in perspective to the monster’s, followed by a switch to the present. In his tale, Victor tells of his early childhood, where he was an avid bookworm, and became enraptured by science. This led to him delving deeper and deeper into the world of science until he became a man obsessed. He dedicated himself to science and conducted an experiment to see whether he could bring life to a being that never had life in it before. Rather than being overjoyed at his successful experiment, he was disgusted. He came out with a humanoid resembling a monster. This disappointment led to Victor abandoning the Creation, leaving him to find his own way in the world. Given the proper care, the Monster could have succeeded, but Frankenstein's monster will not because the neglect from Victor, treatment by others, and the internalized self-hatred deign a

Some people live in a world that holds both beauty and ugliness, both joy and sorrow. This world defines the human character in which some have disagreements with each other or have a freedom of thoughts that makes them happy. This limitless world has granted people to be free and equal and gives the opportunity to learn from one another. However, some people try to get these benefits away from other individuals. For instance, some engage to take advantage of one another, approaches the kindness of each other, and feel jealousy of someone who has better things. Therefore, one can view in the novel called Frankenstein the existence of humanity. As, is perceived of the creature constructed by Victor Frankenstein. The creature is an invention by a maniacal scientist, who neglects the monster by its grotesque appearance. Referring to the Novel, Frankenstein is differently with his own creation; due to the fact that the monster is not a living human, but an invention. Humanity plays a significant role in the novel, but also in the universe.

Monsters do not typically adhere to the actions of God, rather they see themselves as their own god. The creature describes his view on religion as, “Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect (...) Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition, for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me” (110). A very human characteristic, envy, leads back to the emotion of sympathy. He sympathises with the devil, as monstrous as he (the devil) may be, but also sympathises with his own condition. He applies what he has felt towards himself to Frankenstein, his creator who did not give him a chance to prove his humanity. Frankenstein was given a second chance even when he never gave his being a first chance. “Remember that I am thy creature” (81), “Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous” (81-82). He honors Frankenstein as though he is his father, gives him a chance at redemption, and then ponders what his future actions will be. He wants more than to “acquire knowledge” (110); he aspires to be a member of society, functioning and growing with those he

Plato once said, “To prefer evil to good is not in human nature; and when a man is compelled to choose one of two evils, no one will choose the greater when he might have the less.” In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley we see how The Creature’s nature slowly develops through his interactions in the world. Many of these interaction were greatly influenced by Victor, his creator, who left him to fend for himself as a newborn. The Creature was created a pure being, but Victor’s constant rejection and negative reactions pushed The Creature to its final revengeful nature.

In the novella Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses geography to further the plot, reveal the true intentions of characters and convey the novella’s theme of sublime nature. The theme of sublime nature is the idea that nature is comprised of a mixture of terror and beauty. One example of sublime nature supported by geography is the monster, which is truly a terror in appearance and spirit being born in Ingolstadt. Shelly contrasts this “terror” of Ingolstadt to the beauty of Geneva, Frankenstein’s birthplace. Once the fruit of Frankenstein’s labor comes to fruition and the horrific monster is born, even Frankenstein himself is “unable to endure the aspect of the being” and attempts to cast it away and forget it (Shelley 101). The apparent

The creature has become a monster through committing murder, which is not only being considered murder but it is also being considered revenge. The creature is not getting revenge on all of the people that he is murdering, but he is getting revenge on Victor Frankenstein for being abandon and left all alone in the hostile world that he is coming to know. The creature was not created to become a murder or to become a monster but became one after he had been rejected and was refused the love and care that Victor Frankenstein did not provide for him due to Victor Frankenstein refusing to realize that he needed to take of this creature that he had created and take responsibilities for what he has created. The creature was born as what would be considered defenseless and was brought into this world without having a clue of what was ahead of him. He had realized throughout the world that he did not have the support that he needed in order to survive in a world that had seemed to always be judging him for the way that he had physically looked. “…the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled his heart..” (57). Victor Frankenstein had wanted to give life to a creature, but when he had managed to do such thing he was scared of what he had created and the potential

Reading through Frankenstein there are many examples of state of mind and health being closely related. Most of these are examples are shown in Victor, as he is the main character. Often some of these examples are negative, but other times can be positive. Many examples are related to the guilt, anger and remorse Victor feels. At one time Victor is convinced that nature, nurtures and that has an affects his health in a very positive manner. One can argue that not only are state of mind and health related but they even affect one another on a broader scale.

    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.

Every time a movie is made that portrays any part of the book "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, it is more than likely about the monster and his character rather than the creator and his. But, in the book, the scientist, Dr. Frankenstein, was more prominent, especially in view of his personal angst and wars, than the monster. It is true that the monster is a central character, but the man Frankenstein is a much more interesting study. What happens to a person, Shelley seems to ask, when that individual plays God? Throughout the book there is religious symbolism, as one would expect from a book in which the main character creates a living person, where Frankenstein at once has compared himself to God and to Satan in the same breath. This paper examines the religious symbolism in "Frankenstein" as it relates to the doctor, his act of creating, and Frankenstein's personal thoughts regarding who he is.

What makes us human? Is it a beating heart and living flesh? Is it encompassing advanced psychological and social qualities? The classic gothic novel, Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley and the modern horror novel, Warm Bodies, written by Issac Marion have lead many readers to question the complexity of human nature. Both novels explore several principal themes that develop the reader’s understanding of what it means to be human. We are miraculous creatures who are capable of both good and evil; humans are intricate beings who depend on love for survival, some can be troubled by or lack remorse, and in some cases, our actions can be motivated by fear. Throughout both novels, the main characters struggle with these aspects of human nature.