The Prevention of Disaster Theme in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

There are many places in Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein that refer to the human nature; different components of it is represented through almost every character. For instance, Elizabeth possibly epitomizes the benevolence, compassion, and empathy of humanity. Other characters symbolize aspects as well; Victor is curiosity and obsession, Henry is adventure and creativity, Caroline is selflessness and love, etc. My personal favorite, however, is the creature that was created by Victor Frankenstein. This creature embodies much of humanity and passionately reveals so. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley insinuates the human nature—abhorrence and, concurrently albeit seemingly subtle, graciousness—through actions and inner thoughts of the creature.

Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, explores the theme of the pursuit of knowledge and scientific discovery through the main characters; Victor Frankenstein, the Creature and Robert Walton. This pursuit of knowledge drives the plot of the novel, leading Victor to create the Creature in his attempt to break down the mortal barriers that surround him and unlock the secret of life. Robert Walton’s quest for discovery leads him to the North Pole, far beyond the reach of Humans at that time. Ultimately Victor’s thirst for knowledge and scientific discovery did him more harm than good with Victor’s hatred of his creation driving him to death. Frankenstein’s message to the modern is age is simply put as “humans should not meddle in the business of the gods”. Mary Shelley’s is using Frankenstein and the actions of the characters in the novel to warn us that although we have the technology to for example, create a human being, some things are better left to nature. In our quest for knowledge we can do ourselves more harm than good. Through her novel Shelley tells us that on our path of scientific discovery there are some trails better left unexplored.

Ever since its publishing, Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein has been the topic of many discussions regarding the pursuit of technological advancement. Many have claimed that the novel aims to warn against the pursuit of such endeavors, as they imply the tampering with matters not meant for human hands. Although Shelley may have in part desired to convey the dangers of taking science “too far”, Frankenstein seems to have more focus on punishing Victor Frankenstein for his failure to fulfill his obligations as the harbinger of such a weighty discovery, one with the potential for both great benefit and great harm. Immediately after Victor Frankenstein witnesses his creation come to life, he becomes overwhelmed with

Pg. 62). The letters with in the preface tell the story of Walton and his sister, and reveals that both he and his sister both put themselves in harm’s way simply to be the first to gain knowledge. The novel shows that sometimes the actions you take do not necessarily give you the outcomes that you want. This is shown in chapter four when Dr. Frankenstein was first conducing his experiment and becomes extremely obsessed with the lust to create life. Dr. Frankenstein ultimately removes all of his personal relationships and isolates himself from people who care about him. “For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardor that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.”(Chapter 5, pg. 42) It is clear that Dr. Frankenstein dislikes the monster he just created and notices that he does not make something that is beautiful but more on something that’s is monstrous. Increasingly, Shelly makes a point by giving the reader a sort of “warning” on the aspect of wanting knowledge too much She makes the effort by making Dr. Frankenstein a example for the magnitude of gaining dangerous knowledge. “A flash of lightning illuminated the object and

Both Mary Shelley and Ridley Scott warn of the negative impacts that can come of the need for excessive ambition and control. Shelley composed ‘Frankenstein’ at the time of the Industrial Revolution,

Shelley’s Romantic novel Frankenstein (1818) compares and reflects values of humanity and the consequences of our Promethean ambition against the futuristic, industrialized world of Blade Runner (1992) by Ridley Scott. The notions of unbridled scientific advancement and technological progress resonate with our desire to elevate humanity’s state of being, mirrored amongst the destructive ambition to overtake and disrupt nature and its processes. The disastrous implications of overreaching the boundary between progressive and destructive power and knowledge are heeded through the ultimate and inevitable loss of self and identity, transforming humanity into a form of monstrosity.

Mary Shelley’s cautionary horror tale, Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus, portrays the deadly consequences of callous indifference to life. Throughout the novel, Shelley employs allusions to the Prometheus myth, Paradise Lost, and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Through these allusions, Shelley illustrates the creature’s yearning for love and acceptance, and Victors lack of love and compassion which leads to his ultimate destruction.

Over two centuries ago, Mary Shelley created a gruesome tale of the horrific ramifications that result when man over steps his bounds and manipulates nature. In her classic tale, Frankenstein, Shelley weaves together the terrifying implications of a young scientist playing God and creating life, only to be haunted for the duration of his life by the monster of his own sordid creation. Reading Shelley in the context of present technologically advanced times, her tale of monstrous creation provides a very gruesome caution. For today, it is not merely a human being the sciences are lusting blindly to bring to life, as was the deranged quest of Victor Frankenstein, but rather to

From words and symbols, overall it connects to the theme of abusing the power of nature that can be threatened with a curse or bad luck to the person’s life. The person will be Victor, because right before he departs to Ingolstadt for studies of science, and saw an omen that foresees his misery life in the future. As the omen’s power continues throughout the novel, and it was considered as Victor’s fate with frightening memories. In Frankenstein, Victor discovers the creation of life along with loud thunders, “I beheld the corruption of death succeed to the blooming check of life…, as exemplified in the change from life to death, and death to life”, which he reborn a creature

When Frankenstein created the monster, he was caring about the looks of the monster. Frankenstein was only caring about bring life into something that had no life. What really drives Frankenstein to do anything is his pursuit for more knowledge. That is all the drives Frankenstein is his thirst for intelligence. This drive leads Frankenstein to the creation of the monster, but he never would have thought that one of his creations could be so hideous. When Frankenstein leaves the monster in discussed, that is when he betrayed the monster. This betrayal leads the monster to seek revenge on Frankenstein or his family later in the story. When the monster confronts Frankenstein later in the story, the monster makes him a deal. The deal is that Frankenstein must make another monster, a female monster, as ugly as the first monster so he can not feel lonely anymore. Frankenstein starts the creation of the second monster but stops in fear of more danger he will cause to his family. This decision just digs Frankenstein deeper into a hole that he was already in. Frankenstein is scared of what he has created and thought he could get out of it, but he could not be more wrong. This just causes death in his family, his whole family, everyone that he loved has died. All of this death can be traced back to the creation of the monster. Had Frankenstein not been so driven for knowledge, his family would be alive and so would

Contrary to popular belief, Frankenstein did not conceive a monster. Frankenstein formed the villain, imitating real human life, as a benevolent contribution to mankind, envisioning all the world heralding him as the benefactor of a generation. Perhaps his ambitions clouded his judgment in forgetting that creation is a progressive process, with social impressions serving as patterns for youth to internalize and fashion

For the most part, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is analyzed as a comment on human society- whether the monster was actually a monster or just human nature in it's purest form, or on morals- whether it's right or not to put immortality in the hands of other humans. While there are a million ways to analyze this novel, one that's never brough up is that this is truly Mary Shelley pouring the guilt over the loss of her daughter onto paper. Through that lense, Shelley set herself apart from the other gothic romantics of the time; instead of portraying immortality through the main character consuming an elixir of life or another method that solely benefited the main character Shelley portrayed the idea of immortality through creation, or the

Frankenstein’s and society’s rejection of the monster, however, drove him to an uneven passionate pursuit for a companion. He forced Frankenstein to create a female monster, and he provided motivation by killing Frankenstein’s loved ones and threatening to kill more of them. The monster recalls in this final scene of Shelley’s novel how his desire drove him to evil. “. . . do you think that I was then dead to agony and remorse?--He . . . suffered not more in the consummation of the deed;--oh! Not the ten-thousandth portion of the anguish that was mine during the lingering detail of its execution. A frightful selfishness hurried me on. . . .” (153) At that point in the novel, the monster has changed from good in nature to evil in nature. His own desires are more important to him than the well-being of others and he is willing to commit murder in order ensure the fulfillment of his desire.

As Frankenstein’s journey into his studies and experimentation reaches it climax, he himself changes inside as he realizes all his work was for something so terrifying. “For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that

Introduction: Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is a book with a deep message that touches to the very heart. This message implies that the reader will not see the story only from the perspective of the narrator but also reveal numerous hidden opinions and form a personal interpretation of the novel. One of its primary statements is that no one is born a monster and a “monster” is created throughout socialization, and the process of socialization starts from the contact with the “creator”. It is Victor Frankenstein that could not take the responsibility for his creature and was not able to take care of his “child”. Pride and vanity were the qualities that directed Victor Frankenstein to his discovery of life: “...So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein-more, far more, will I achieve: treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation”[p.47]. He could not cope with this discovery and simply ignored it. The tragedy of Victor Frankenstein and the tragedy of his creature is the same – it is the tragedy of loneliness and confronting the world, trying to find a place in it and deserve someone’s love. The creature would have never become a monster if it got the love it strived for. Victor Frankenstein would have never converted his creature into a monster if he knew how to love and take responsibility for the ones we bring to this world.