Enlightenment Philosophy in Frankenstein Essay

While attempting to uncover the meaning of life and death, and though he believed his experiments would further the paths of science, Victor fails to see the potential consequences of “bestowing animation upon lifeless matter” (Shelley 37). This, in turn, creates a monster. After his “great” experiment, Victor spends his life in grief. Despite this, he manages to belittle his creation, and act superior to him, claiming that “I [Victor] will not hear you. There can be no community between you [the creature] and me; we are enemies” (Shelley 84). Even later on, when assured by the creature himself that Victor would be left alone if he creates a female counterpart, Victor cannot see past the shreds of pride he has left and refuses, causing the death of his family and loved ones. It’s Victor’s pride and his fear of the creature that clouds his judgement and in the end leads to his

Due to his mistakes in creating his character of God, Shelley personified Victor Frankenstein as a cold creator to provide a commentary on the harshness of Milton’s God.

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.

Friends will determine the direction and quality of your life. Loneliness is a battle that all people will once face at a certain point in their life; it is how they handle it that determines the outcome of that battle. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein loneliness is the most significant and prevailing theme throughout the entire novel. Shelley takes her readers on a wild journey that shows how loneliness can end in tragedy.

One responsibility of a creator is to take responsibility of their creation, instead of abandoning it, they should nurture it. The creator should love their creation despite anything because it is something they created and their minds are still innocent; the creation just wants attention and to be loved. After Victor created his creation, he referred to him as a hideous monster because of how he looked. The creation in Shelley’s story emphasizes the loneliness of growing up feeling “miserable and abandoned,” (Shelley 165), and how Victor’s job as a creator was not carried out.

Victor pursuit of desiring to build a creature makes it seem as if he was an evil and mad scientist. Shelley demonstrates Victors madness by saying “a resistless and almost frantic impulse urged me forward; [he] seemed to have lost all soul and sensation but for this, one pursuit” (55). This reveals that because Victor was emotionally attached to his creation, he was willing to have sleepless nights just to create a creature. Victor is beginning to show signs of madness scientist because he starts to lock himself up trying to bring this hideous monster to life. Because Victor starts to “lock himself up in his apartment” Shelley makes it seems as if Victor is turning into a mad man and evil scientist (52). Victor’s fundamental quest for knowledge leads to his isolation because he locked himself in his apartment for 6 years without having any connect with his family in Geneva and becoming so fanatical with creating the monster he craved for in his

“Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow” (Shelley 60). In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, she expresses her beliefs regarding the danger of pursuing happiness through the attainment of knowledge, because true happiness is found in the emotional connections established between people. The pursuit of knowledge is not necessarily an evil thing, but it can cause destruction when it is pursued beyond natural limits. Victor Frankenstein becomes a slave to his passion for learning in more than one way; first his life is controlled by

Mary Shelley makes us question who really the “monster” is. Is it the creature or Victor? While the creature does commit murder, he does not understand the consequences of his actions. He is like an infant who is unfortunately left to learn about the workings of society, and his place in it, on his own. He has no companions and feels a great sense of loneliness and abandonment. The creature voices his frustration and anger and seems to try to project his feelings of guilt onto Victor, as if to show him that he is the ultimate cause of the creature’s misery while he is simply the victim of Victor’s manic impulse. Shelley utilizes words, phrases, and specific tones when the creature vents his misery to Victor and this evokes, amongst the

The novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley involves the complex issues with the creation of life through an inanimate life. Shelley uses these character archetypes to develop a deeper meaning of the characters intentions. Shelley does an excellent job at allowing the reader to have a peak at the characters inner thoughts and feelings. The archetypes presented in Frankenstein allow readers to identify with the character's role and purpose.

Mary Shelly’s novel, Frankenstein, can be greatly related to many horror novels, no consideration of morality or thought. Shelly writes her story in a real world perspective showing themes of corruption and downfall making it seem frighteningly realistic. It truly is mind-boggling how research can conflict with religion without a thought or care. During the enlightenment, science began to mask over faith and religion, creating a cultural phenomenon. This is still a factor in today’s world. Although experimenting and research can have poor and great affects, the common question comes to mind, “even though it can be done, should it be done?” While Shelly talks of science and technology, it seems to become more predominate that not all

What exactly is the pursuit of knowledge? One might say that the pursuit of knowledge is when one conducts irregular experiments and actions. One might say that the pursuit of knowledge is the process of the collecting information needed in completing that test. However, the universal truth says that one can never accumulate all the knowledge in the world. However, one might opinion that the pursuit of knowledge is a wonderful thing to have because knowledge is power. But what exactly is knowledge? Mary Shelley has her visions of the pursuit of knowledge all the way back in the 19th century. To tell her thoughts to the world, she creates the characters Victor

As a Romantic, Victor studied metaphysics and alchemy (through his study of Agrippa, Magnus and Parcelsus) in order to find "the elixer of life" (26). Mr. Krempe, professor of natural philosophy, complains: "I little expected, in this enlightened and scientific age, to find a disciple of Albertus Magus and Paracelsus" (31). So though he studied the sciences, his "inquiries were directed to the metaphysical" (23), which would please most Romantics. His studies of alchemy and metaphysics led him to the romantic act of creation. But instead of loving his creation, his "heart sickened and . . . [his] feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred" (132). He cried that he was "unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created. . ." (Shelley 42). The monster complained that he was born "benevolent and good; [but because of his creator's mistreatment] misery made me a fiend" (84). Shelley alludes that Victor's creation of the monster, is likened to God creating a "fallen angel" (84). The irony is that God never created

    In Mary Shelley's novel, Victor Frankenstein suffers an extreme psychological crisis following his violation of what is considered a fundamental biological principle.  His creation of life undermines the role of women in his life and the role of sexuality, and allows existing misogynist and homosexual tendencies to surface.  Victor represses what he has uncovered about himself, and it merges into a cohesive whole in his psyche that becomes projected on the instrument of revelation, the monster.

Romanticism began to make a great influence on art and literature during the eighteenth to the nineteenth century. Frankenstein was first published in 1818 during that period and the novel is flooded with Mary Shelley’s feelings of extreme good and bad emotions. English literature during the romanticism period is believed to be the most expressive in style, subject, and content. The discrepancy and chaos concerning the essential principles and competing philosophies were believed to be fascinating for several famous novelists along with poets that cited the Romantics as being their most eminent motivational voices. Romanticism in literary context means a movement in art and literature that depicts an emotional matter within an imaginative

The Age of Enlightenment occurred in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries; it was a period when scientists and philosophers made advanced discoveries in the fields of science and psychology. Particularly, they hypothesized many elements of the human nature that are recognized as truths today. Frankenstein, a novel by Mary Shelley written in 1817, portrays many concepts of the human condition that were prevalent during the Enlightenment. The story begins as Robert Walton, an explorer and seafarer of the North Pole, finds Victor Frankenstein in the Arctic ice, brings him aboard his ship, and nurses him. Frankenstein, a scientist obsessed with controlling nature, tells Walton of his monstrous creation that terrorized his world by killing