Coy Pagliughi
English IV Honors
Mrs. Schroeder
12/1/17
Frankenstein, A Story of Ambition
Frankenstein catches the interest of readers because it's supernatural, placed in a medieval setting, and the horrific events that take place. We see Victor Frankenstein makes this ghastly creature that goes around, and tries to fit in with the rest of society even though he has killed people before. The setting of the novel takes place in a medieval time, where things like castles, and evil lairs were present. When Victor Frankenstein made his mutant human he was determined to finally make this creature. Even though it would eventually haunt him for the rest of his life.. Instead of spending more time with friends or family he isolated himself just to study and work on his creation. He had become so engaged with his studies in natural philosophy he had completely had dropped everything he learned about the alchemists. He had spent years studying alchemists at Ingolstadt, but after just one lecture from a professor in Geneva he absolutely turned his focus. Victor wanted to do something extra so he could be remembered for his creation. Most people who want to be remembered for a cure to a disease or an extreme discovery. But not Victor Frankenstein, he wanted to be remembered for creating some monstrous humanoid. Of course this have never been done before so he knew it would take a lot of determination, and hard work to make something with a working heart out of scratch. Many would believe that this is close to impossible but the word`s of others would not stop the ambition of him discovering something extraordinary. The creature felt as if he
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Even though each character had different forms of ambition, they still gave it their best effort to help to try to obtain their
Temptation is a desired action that attracts a person and can often result in a negative effect due to the ignorance of lasting consequences. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, we watch as temptation works its evil on a inspired scientist Victor Frankenstein, who seeks to create a life form using dead body parts from a graveyard. Remarkably his knowledge leads him to success, yet Victor was too focused on whether he could instead of worrying about whether he should. In Frankenstein, Shelley shows throughout the book the temptation and power in knowledge can lead to danger when boundaries are overstepped or knowledge is misused.
Mary Shelley, the renowned author of Frankenstein, explores the consequences of man and monster chasing ambition blindly. Victor Frankenstein discovered the secret that allowed him to create life. His understanding of how bodies operated and the science of human anatomy enabled him to make this discovery and apply it to the creation of his monster. Walton wished to sail to the arctic because no sailor has ever reached it. The monster was created against his will, his ambition was to avenge his creation as a hideous outcast. These three characters were all driven by the same blind ambition.
In Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster is portrayed as a grotesque abomination. However, as Hopkins states in Contending Forces, the cultural and geographical situations, or lack thereof, in which one matures in play a crucial role in the proper development of one’s mind and brain. The monster is simply a product of circumstance. The lack of social interactions alongside geographical isolation propelled the daemon to be alienated from society, ultimately resulting in a lack of morals and an underdeveloped psyche. By being a culmination of his surroundings and experiences it is revealed that the true monstrous entities are the factors that leave the daemon predisposed to fail in a modern society. Arguably, Victor created a being, while the circumstances that said being was placed in “created” a monster. Shelley purposefully terrorizes the monster with such intensity to provoke and justify the overarching theme in this novel which states that people should not be judged on their physical appearance.
In Frankenstein, Shelly demonstrates how Ambition prevents people from seeing reality and knowing the consequences of their actions. The book presents the idea that when people become too ambitious, they seem to lose the concept of right and wrong. For instance in a series of letter to his sister, Walton describes his exploration to the north pole in hopes of chasing after the unpossessed knowledge, however his dreams are short lived as his ambition leads him to a life threatening situation. Walton himself agrees with the situation when he states," So strange an accident has happened to us ... we were nearly surrounded by ice, which closed in the ship on all sides, scarcely leaving her the sea-room in which she floated.
The question “What makes us who we are?” has perplexed many scholars, scientists, and theorists over the years. This is a question that we still may have not found an answer to. There are theories that people are born “good”, “evil”, and as “blank slates”, but it is hard to prove any of these theories consistently. There have been countless cases of people who have grown up in “good” homes with loving parents, yet their destiny was to inflict destruction on others. On the other hand, there have been just as many cases of people who grew up on the streets without the guidance of a parental figure, but they chose to make a bad situation into a good one by growing up to do something
Critic Northrop Frye once commented that "Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscapes" (Frye 1). Few characters illustrate this characteristic of a tragic hero better than that of Victors Frankenstein, the protagonist of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. His story is one of a brilliant man whose revolutionary ideas brought suffering to himself, his family and friends, and his creation. Victor is an instrument as well as a victim to this suffering throughout his story.
Another of the universal theme that was use in “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley is Broken Promise and Greed. Broken Promise is one of those ideas that the authors put in the piece of literary to make more interested plot, climax, or any literary elements. When comes to broken promises in “Frankenstein” there are many promises broken by Dr. Victor Frankenstein; When he made a promise his wife/adapted sister that he will be back or returned with her but instead he made a decision of making the monster. Another of the examples of broken promise is when the creature told Victor if he does not find the dead body/bride for him or else Elizabeth will die, so the creature took the heart from Elizabeth just for raw materials. She was revived but she dies
Any word spoken or written in any shape or form carries a strong influential power. However, when they are written, they have the opportunity to be revised again and again until perfection is met in the eyes of the writer. A writer desires to communicate with its readers and impart an influential piece of knowledge. The monster within the book Frankenstein could have been persuaded into another course of life had his literature been a different selection. Sorrows of Werter focusses on the importance of emotion and romance in one’s life.
For as long as man has encompassed this world, the divisive enigma of humanity has prevailed. Seeping its way into each generation, while sparking heated conversations, it has become evident that there is much we do not know about what truly makes us human. Regardless of our genetic composition, philosophers often ponder the deeper meaning of humanity. We know that, biologically, recreating the genetic makeup of a human does not yield humanity, so what is the missing aspect? Humans -have the ability to contemplate their own existence in this world. Awareness of existence. This driving force enables us to analyze situations while placing ourselves within them. Our involuntary ability to understand the impact of our actions and the affect they have on others causes us to be inherently human. Our actions evoke strong emotions within us that allow us to learn through our experiences. We retain the resonated feelings of certain occurrences and apply them to others in order to deduce outcomes. Often this facet of mankind is taken for granted, yet we are reminded, through both literature and hypothetical scenarios, of its importance. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, constitutes as one of these profound reminders. Shelley develops a theoretical story in which the humanity of Frankenstein’s monster is questioned. Despite having the accurate organs and framework of a human, Shelley causes the reader to seek the missing aspect that is preventing the monster from being human. Likewise,
Victor’s driving, obsessive ambition ruined his life and led to his own death and the murder of his loved ones. Illustrate how ambition affects not only Victor and Robert Walton, but also the creature in Frankenstein.
Tragic hero’s can come in all shapes and sizes. They may appear as a villain in multiple works of literature. In the novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the tragic hero is the creature. He is a main character whose faults led to his overall downfall. Often, the creature is misinterpreted by people to be named Frankenstein because he is such a prominent character. While the creature is able to identify the faults in mankind it is only after extreme suffering on his own part.
Ambition is the foundation of success, it drives people to strive for something better, gives them the dedication to improve themselves and their circumstances. Mary Shelley’s character Victor Frankenstein in “Frankenstein” started off as a very ambitious kid yearning for knowledge. However, the line between ambition, obsession, and pride is oftentimes blurred as Victor’s was. Once ambition turns into obsession and pride, it can be a downwards spiral that leads to misfortune and isolation.
It is vital that you know who the real monster in the Frankenstein book, Victor Frankenstein is the number one contender for this position. He creates a monster, but who knows if the actual monster he created is the true monster in this story. In later chapters the true monster is revealed, Victor Frankenstein takes fault for the deaths of Justine, William, and Henry even though he wasn’t the actual cause of their death. Although the monster was created by Victor, he is still horrid and disgusted by how his monsters look and abandons his creation because of his unpleasant demeanor. Victor didn’t accept the monster and decided to avoid coming into contact with the monster, woefully the monster later commits an evil act and kills Justine
There are different forms of literature which can include essays, poems, novels, reports and more. The one thing all forms of literature have in common is that they all have meaning, purpose and form, but how it is expressed is all different, the question is how. Most of the times authors have a reason to convey such messages, and how the messages are delivered is up to the author as well. The author uses the form, it’s aesthetics to send the readers an image; what kind of literature it is. The authors also send the readers a blatant message, the message is sent through the text of the literature. Through the text on the literature the author portrays purpose, and with the form of the
Frankenstein was a story written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley while she was on her vacation in Switzerland with her husband. The story got published in 1818 without letting the public about the author. It was in 1831 when the novel revised edition was out and Mary Shelley name mentioned as an author. The novel focused on social, cultural and political facet of the societies during Mary’s lifetime. The fictional character in the novel clearly shows the battle against the pre-established people’s attitude during that time. Religion and science always create a controversy in the society with religion always differencing from any scientific principles and experiments. Shelley’s tried to addresses the above controversy and showed how science and modern technology is sometimes wrong. She tried to show how scientists and inventors are sometimes selfish only care for achieving their plan without evaluating the end result.