The Significance of Chapter 5 in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

He knew from the very beginning when he began talking about it, that the creation of the creature had driven him insane and made him ill. Victor did not acknowledge each discovery as a step and a chance to make a decision to stop, he instead viewed the decision to create a creature as one decision. From the beginning of the chapter he sees himself slowly become more and more engrossed in the hunt for knowledge. “The same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me also to forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and from whom I had not seen for so long a time,” said Victor (56). Victor Frankenstein recognizes that as he becomes more and more immersed in the thought of making a great discovery he gets that much further away from his friends, family, and the his old self, but he still was not concerned enough to stop his

These chapters focus mainly on Victor Frankenstein's back-story as he was growing up. He describes his cousin Elizabeth, who he later becomes married to, and about how they came about finding her. Later we are introduced to Victors best friend, Henry Clerval. We also learn that Frankenstein became fascinated with the sciences by the 16th century author Cornelius Agrippa. This along with many of the other philosophers of that time inspired him to become a scientist. Later he also witnesses the power of electricity when a bolt of lightning strikes a tree nearby where he is staying. At the start of chapter three we learn that Victor is in the process of leaving for college when Elizabeth gets sick. In an effort

“I, who had ever been surrounded by amiable companions, continually engaged in endeavouring to bestow mutual pleasure, I was now alone.” This quote from page 37 is after Victor’s mother dies. I believe that Victor now feels alone and is now empty. The empty that was created is why Victor later on focuses on nothing but his studies. This single quote causes a chain reaction that creates the amazing story,

Provided with a sufficient amount of love and care throughout his childhood, Victor Frankenstein still has natural desires that are unalterable. He was of the most importance in the house and his parents understood the responsibilities that came with raising a child. Every need of his was met, and every wish was bestowed upon him. Victor even admits “No human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself,” (Shelley 21). Victor’s childhood did not cause his selfish and immoral actions. Naturally, the spoon-fed child is intrigued by science and the process of life and death, this interest is not influenced by the mentors in his life; Victor complains that his father is “not scientific,” and blames his ignorance on his father by claiming that he left him to “struggle with a child's blindness,” (Shelley 24). Choosing his own course of study and possessing natural desires, no one is left to blame for his careless

Victor Frankenstein was a young boy, born in Naples, who wanted to explore and figure out what was just beyond his reach through science. “My temper was sometimes violent, and my passions vehement, but by some law in my temperature they were turned, not towards childish pursuits, but to an eager desire to learn… It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn,” (Shelly 37). At the age of thirteen Victor read a work of Cornelius Agrippa‘s, a German physician who was persecuted during his life for his mystical philosophies, while vacationing off the French shore of Lake Geneva. After reading Agrippa, Victor’s feelings toward natural philosophy soon changed into enthusiasm, and he continued to read other author’s including Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus. “I read and studied the wild fancies of these writers with delight, they appeared to me

Throughout chapters 18 to 24 of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, much happens to affect the life of both Victor Frankenstein and the monster he created. At the start of chapter 18, VIctor has been putting off the creation of a female companion for the monster. He is overcome by the guilt that is still with him over the deaths of William and Justine and the thought of bringing another monster into the world is too much for him to handle. Victor and Henry travel to England and Scotland and Victor finally decides to part from

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.

He spends a lot of time studying and expanding knowledge in chemistry and natural philosophy, and impressively finds a way to recreate human life. His creation, the result of so much time spent in solitude, led to horrendous outcomes for Victor’s emotional well-being. For the two years he actually spent creating the monster, he had a “resistless, and almost frantic impulse” pushing him forward, but in the end he was unsatisfied with the results, fleeing from the scene immediately after animating his creature (33, 35). In the period of creation, Frankenstein already exhibited frightening levels of what one would call insanity in order to complete his project, but it was the effects monster the monster had on Victor that really damaged him. One instance of this came after the murder of his brother, William.

Frankenstein has recovered his health but his dark promise looms over him like a storm cloud. He postpones his labors as much as possible because of how terrible they are. When before he was eager to get started on his work, he now avoids any thought of it. His father misinterprets the man’s actions as extreme melancholy and grief. He thinks that Victor is smitten with a woman but is bonded to Elizabeth.

The novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley starts off with a man named Robert Walton who meets Victor Frankenstein. Robert retells Victor’s story to his sister in a series of letters. Victor Frankenstein is an alchemist who creates a monster out of human body parts. Victor then goes through many events that put his loved ones in danger because of his creations. In the story, Mary Shelley hints many types of themes.

In the book Frankenstein, young Victor had everything he could want for a family, two loving parents, siblings to keep him company, and even an adopted cousin Elizabeth. Yet, he still began to isolate himself from them with his study of outdated natural philosophy and alchemy. A few years later, Victor leaves for Ingolstadt, a college in Germany. This further separated Victor from his family, and also from society. After arriving at Ingolstadt, Victor’s professors tell him that he has wasted his time with this nonsense. After this, Victor begins his studies anew, and all the while he has a side project, one so horrible and outlandish that he never speaks of it. This ambition eventually leads Victor to his ultimate demise.

Throughout Frankenstein, there are many different themes that run throughout the book. One of the themes in the book is education. In the novel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley points out the important impact that education has on mostly Victor and the creature. This shows how two people’s perspectives on the world can be shaped differently just by the form of education they received.

He speaks of his interests of study and what past events have sparked his curiosity. At this point in the novel, Victor Frankenstein is portrayed as a highly intelligent and driven person, though a bit obsessive. Victor is extremely interested in his studies and, as a result, devotes the majority of his time to them. This can be seen at the the beginning of chapter four, “From this day natural philosophy, and particularly chemistry in the most comprehensive sense of the term, became nearly my sole occupation,” (Shelley 42). The fact that Victor is so largely consumed by these studies eventually becomes almost frightening to the reader. As the novel progresses, and as the monster is closer to being stricken with life, it appears to the audience that Victor Frankenstein is ignoring most social interactions. He continues to interact solely with professors he finds to be helpful in furthering his knowledge towards his particular goal. It becomes apparent to the reader that Victor is obsessed with the idea of reanimating the once lifeless creature he has created to the detriment of all else in his life. This becomes the character that Shelley leads the reader to

His parents fell in love due to the death of Victor’s grandfather, Mr. Beaufort’s, untimely death. Victor’s parents loved him deeply, as he was the only child in his family, at least until the family finds Victor’s eventual adopted sister, Elizabeth. After living with Elizabeth for a few years, Victor’s parents had a baby boy, who they decided to name Ernest. Victor discovers the works of philosophers and scientists, leading to him eventually becoming a scientist, while also befriending an artistic mind, Henry Clerval. Henry creativeness is a starkcontrast to Victor’s scientific and analytic mind.

Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein shows the life of an early scientist and the effects of uncovering a truth that has not been known or experimented by other scientist’s. The story of Frankenstein portrays mainly the characters Victor Frankenstein, Henry Clerval, Frankenstein’s creation, Captain Walton and Elizabeth Victor’s future wife and relative. When Victor animates a lifeless object he is horrified by the concept of what he had just done and how it looks. After running away Victor’s loved ones are affected greatly by his choices that he makes along the way, while also changing his relationship with his creation. Through his feelings of fear when approached by the monster, the trauma of multiple deaths and the arrest of Justin, Victor