Victor Frankenstein’s creation of the monster and his subsequent abandonment blur the lines between creator and creation, responsibility and consequence. How does Shelley use the monster to explore these themes?
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In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster represents the consequences of Victor Frankenstein’s reckless ambition and lack of responsibility. When Victor creates the monster and then abandons it, he fails to consider the consequences of his actions. This neglect leads to tragedy for both the creator and the creation. Shelley uses the monster to show the importance of ethical responsibility in scientific exploration.
Initially, the monster is innocent and seeks understanding and companionship. However, Victor’s abandonment and society’s rejection turn the monster into a vengeful being. This transformation highlights the impact of neglect and isolation. Shelley criticizes the idea of the solitary genius, showing that scientific achievements without moral consideration can have devastating effects.
Through the monster’s experiences, Shelley explores themes of isolation and societal rejection. The monster’s tragic journey from innocence to revenge emphasizes the creator’s duty to his creation. Shelley suggests that creators must consider the moral and ethical implications of their work, and that neglecting these responsibilities can lead to catastrophic outcomes. The story raises important questions about the ethical limits of scientific discovery and the consequences of ignoring the responsibilities that come with creation.
Young Victor Frankensten comes from a caring family. His adopted sister, Elizabeth, loves him and he has a good friend called Henry. He is intelligent and deeply interested in science. At university he learn how to create life from human body parts but, at the moment of his triumph, he realises he has created a monster. The monster wants to be loved but Victor rejects him and the monster escapes from Victor’s laboratory. In his anger and frustration, the monster first kills Victor’s brother, William, but then comes to believe that he will be happy if he has a mate, He asks Victor to make him a female companion, promising to leave the country and commit no more evil in return. Victor agrees but later has doubts and destroys the female. The monster wants revenge and goes on to kill Henry and finally Eblizabeth on the night she marries Victor. Victor pursues the monster across the North Pole and eventually dies. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is considered a gothic novel because of its dark and eerie themes and its emphasis on horror and terror.
The novel draws heavily on the gothic tradition, and Shelley was undoubtedly influenced by the works of gothic writers such as Horace Walpole and Ann Radcliffe. Importantly, the novel is steeped in the ideas and values of romanticism and its critical reaction to the Age of Enlightenment.
This is evident in the way that the novel takes issue with the Enlightenment notion of humanity using reason and science to impose its will on nature and to reshape it in its own image. The main themes explored in Frankenstein are ambition, the pursuit of knowledge, nature vs. nurture, isolation, revenge, and the responsibility of creation.
Frankenstein asserts in its introduction that it is a book that presents a positive picture of “domestic affection.” That seems like an odd assertion in a murder mystery, sorrow, and hopelessness. However, the true source of all that misery, murder, and hopelessness is a lack of ties to society and/or family. Stated differently, solitude rather than Victor or the monster is the real evil in Frankenstein. Victor withdraws from human society when he becomes lost in his studies, which causes him to lose awareness of his obligations and the results of his actions. The monster becomes vindictive not because it is malevolent but rather because of the intense hatred and rage that solitude causes in it.