The Inevitability Of Death In Katherine Mansfield, S The Garden Party And Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

The passing of his mother is the single event drives Frankenstein to pursue more knowledge in the subject of death. After his mother’s death, Frankenstein says, “I need not describe the feelings of those whose dearest ties are rent by that most irreparable evil, the void that presents itself to the soul, and the despair that is exhibited on the countenance” (29). His mother’s death distresses him, and he wishes to find a way to reverse the process of death in hopes that no one has to feel the way he does. At this time, there is not significant knowledge in the science realm on the topics of life and death.

In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein has a passion for knowledge and the secret to life that begins in his childhood. While never explicitly stated, this obsession is a result of the Oedipus Complex that Victor develops towards his mother, Caroline. Because of this complex, his subconscious takes an interest in alchemy and the secret to life in hopes of reviving his mother in the event of her death. Shelley’s unfortunate experience of a life without a mother and the deaths of her children at a young age most likely contributes to both Caroline’s tragic demise and Victor’s fervent wish to discover methods of reincarnation, as she portrays the struggles in her life through these two characters.

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor neglects his family as he buries himself into his research to create life. Victor’s raw ambition stems from a hubristic desire for omnipotence raging with a thirst for the elixir of life without any consideration of consequences. By choosing to throw himself into the wildest realms of science, Victor forfeits his limited time with his family, a time of immeasurable value. This in essence proves advancement’s paradoxical ungratifying nature; in Victor’s attempt to uncover the secrets of life, he strains family relationships, something of much greater value than the pittance of knowledge he acquired. Similarly, in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the Mariner shoots the albatross associating the bird with a lack of wind. Neglecting to appreciate and love all life around him, the mariner’s decision to whimsically kill the albatross demonstrates his overreaching his role as a human ideally loves all living beings. Such audacity bears great misfortune and death, punishing not only himself, but his entire crew who suffer horrible deaths; the nature of overreaching and stretching the limits of knowledge exacts unexpected

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley has a simple origin, compared to other stories. While stories such as It by Stephen king started a several year process of creation, Frankenstein began simply as a campfire story Mary Shelley shared with her writer friends one evening. Although the origins of this novel are fairly simple, it provides an in depth psychological perspective on the darker side of human psyche through the shifting first person perspective. Usually these darker aspects are associated with the character’s personal struggles, but one specific theme in all the characters. The theme of obsession has been consistent and the central focus of the three main characters Victor, the creature, and Robert. With this central theme in mind the author, Mary Shelley shows that obsession leads to the characters suffering negative psychological and physical effects, as well as impair their decision making. This is depicted through the decline of physical and mental health through Victor’s struggles with his obsessions with knowledge and justice.

Losing a loved one can really traumatize a person. In the story Frankenstein Victor lost his mother at the age of seventeen. The obsession with death took over his mind to the point to where he wanted to create a new life himself. As it states in the story, “Curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they were unfolded to me, are among the earliest sensations I can remember” (Frankenstein). The following quote explains his obsession with science, also known as “ dark philosophy”.

Since I spent last weekend in Vancouver attending the funeral of a beloved aunt who died on Good Friday, you could say that I've been pondering a lot about death and dying lately. It didn't help either that I chose to bring my copy of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with me to read on the plane rides there and back, seeing as this story deals with the creation of a new form of life and the deaths that result from it. Being in this rather morbid frame of mind, I decided for this commentary just to take a closer examination of life and death as contained within the kind of gothic narrative of this early science-fiction horror story. It's almost like a Yin-Yang pairing between the two: Victor controls the

Victor Frankenstein’s quest to create life from the dead results in the destruction of his family as well as of himself. Finally, the Creature’s search to discover who he is and where he came from leads to knowledge of himself and others. The Creature’s knowledge ultimately leads to

It also reflects the theme of the gothic, with the threat of death above every character’s head. Similar to Mary Shelley’s mother who has died when Mary was just born, Caroline also leaves the world and her position as Frankenstein’s mother figure. Metaphorically, her death could symbolise her murder by the obedience to the position she has taken, which takes away the possibility of Caroline

Victor Frankenstein, a complex character created by Mary Shelley, experienced a complete change in attitude and perspective on the scientific world as he knew it. Between the deaths of his close family and friends, to the constant fight for survival as his own creation stalked him, Victor was under straining circumstances that allowed for his evolution as a character. Pre monster, Victor had strong morals and close relationships with his family. His family was his priority. Victor’s dedication to science was always a constant nagging in the back of his mind, but it did not mean more to him than his family dead. During the formation of his creation, he began to block off his family, especially his fiancee, Elizabeth. His dedication to science was his only priority, above food and hygiene. He was driven by the creation of his monster. After creation, his family members were killed off, eliminating any type of relationship he had with them, he rejected all science and moral values.

Victor Frankenstein is a young and eminent student who decides to break the bounderies between life and death.

In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, dreams, nightmares, goals, and aspirations of the the scientist, Victor Frankenstein, and his creation, give insight to events that will occur later in the novel. The dreams and aspirations of Victor Frankenstein and the creature he creates contrast to the harsh realities that they are faced with. Frankenstein’s first dream foreshadows the death of his beloved wife and several others whom he is close to. His second dream foretells a potentially fatal encounter with his creature. His aspiration to become a renowned scientist by creating life from death consequently leads to the demise of Frankenstein’s life and reputation. The creature Frankenstein creates aspires to learn compassion, and how to fit into society. Though the creature learns human behaviors, he suffers from the rejection of his creator, and all people who see him.

Mary Shelley's renowned novel, Frankenstein, has been heavily regarded in its diverse and constant thought provoking themes of secrecy and the subliminal effects nature has on the scientifically inclined mind. From early on, readers are given the grotesque sequence that the tragic hero Victor Frankenstein goes through in order to achieve what can be seen as an unbenevolent act and ultimately fatal one from the incompetence Victor's character displays.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley has been one of the most popular scientific horror stories for centuries; however, many people do not know that Shelley’s life was equivalent to the horrors she tells in her book. Shelley’s mother died when she was only eleven days old. Her father disowned her after she married her true love Percy Shelley at the age of seventeen. She lost three of her four children and a half sister. Shelley finally had a son who lived on to adulthood; yet, her husband drowned in a storm shortly after the son’s birth. Obviously, Shelley battled depression her entire life, and she eventually died at the age of fifty-four on February 1, 1851 in London. With all the tragedies in her life, it only makes since that she would write the horrendous story of Victor Frankenstein. Frankenstein suffers a great deal of loss, much like Mary Shelley; yet Victor tries to “play God” by creating human life, which ultimately leads to nothing but tragic loss and losing every person important to him, including his sole mate Elizabeth Lavenza. The beautiful bride of Frankenstein, Elizabeth Lavenza, is a kind-hearted, calm, and nurturing character that shows her loyalty to Victor even through the tragedies they face.

A romantic life full of pain and abandonment could only be given the monstrous form of "Frankenstein." Mary Shelley 's life gave birth to an imaginary victim full of misery and loneliness and placed him as the protagonist of one of her most famous and greatest works of art. As most people would assume, he is not just a fictional character, but in fact a creature who desperately demonstrates Shelley 's tragedies and losses during the age of the Romantic Era. Since Mary Shelley 's birth there have been numerous losses in her life. One extremely dominating event in Shelley 's life was the death of her mother. Soon after, her father remarried and Shelley entered a battle as the victim of a fight for love. In her

William is dead!” (Shelley 64) This is the second time Victor is experiencing the death of a loved one, the first was his mother. The death of his mother affected Frankenstein greatly it was the death of his mother that fuelled his desire to discover the elixir of life and to bring such a monstrosity into being. His monstrosity is what changed William’s fate and it is soon to be the same for Justine, for she is later found guilty and executed for a crime she did not commit.