...Thomas Reyes ENG 1A – Literary Analysis Ms. Lyn Schrader 04 March 2015 The classic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus, written by Mary Shelley, tells a story of dangerous pursuits of knowledge, abandonment, human cruelty towards the unknown and different, and the consequences of such actions. Much like the story’s antagonist, simply and quite aptly named the Monster, who was made out of stitched-up body parts and organs, the novel is a patchwork of various voices and perspectives that enables the readers to delve into the thoughts of the characters and have a more personal understanding of each. This paper aims to dissect the novel based on my personal reflections as an avid learner and as a homosexual, and analysis of the gender-bias issues apparent in the novel. The Creator I have always been a keen reader. I have been reading since I was three years old. When I was a young boy, I was always holed up in our family’s library, going through every single book that I can reach. My favorite ones were the several sets of encyclopedia. Usually, I would grab one book based on which letter I thought extra interesting that particular day, and just read through pages and pages of diverse topics until I fell asleep. I also enjoyed reading the newspaper on Sunday mornings with my grandfather. I found myself personally relating to Victor in this regard. He was an accomplished reader, going through the works of scientists, philosophers, alchemists, and sorcerers. He...
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...If one gets neglected, then there is a chance that that person can become full of resentment and hate. That hate could infect the heart by causing it to darken to transform that person into a villain. Villains preform evil deeds full of strong hateful emotions that stemmed from a dramatic event that has happened to them. The last scene in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley illuminates the novel as a whole because it proves that villainous acts are formed from neglect. In the last scene, Victor is finishing up his life story to Walton. While Victor was telling his story, the creature was leering in the distance listing to everything that he said. Walton walked in on the creature after Victor died of illness and sees him hung over Victor’s body....
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...Introduction: Frankenstein or (the Modern Prometheus) known as the first science-fiction novel written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, at the age of 21, the widely famous novel was published in 1818. Although serving as the basis for the Western horror story and the inspiration for numerous movies in the 20th century, the book Frankenstein is much more than pop fiction. The story explores philosophical themes and challenges Romantic ideals about the beauty and goodness of nature. But what’s the difference between Frankenstein the story and the film? About the novel (Frankenstein): This novel functions on symbolic many levels such as Frankenstein’s monster symbolize the coming of industrialization to Europe also the destruction and the death...
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...Dialectical Journal – Frankenstein Quotation (with Pg. #) Commentary Letters through Chapter 6 “…the sun is forever visible, its broad disk just skirting the horizon and diffusing a perpetual splendour.” ~ p. 1 The author uses personification to give a playful and happy mood to the sun. "I have often attributed my attachment to, my passionate enthusiasm for, the dangerous mysteries of the ocean, to that production of the most imaginative of modern poets." ~ p. 7 The author uses an element of Romanticism of nature to reveal the hidden secrets to the world. “Why not still proceed over the untamed yet obedient element? What can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man?” ~ p. 8 The author allows each individual’s power to show a rebellious style of Romanticism. “…the mist cleared away, and we beheld, stretched out in every...
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...In her 1818 preface to Frankenstein, Mary Shelley wrote that Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron sojourned into Nature leaving her behind at Villa Diodati near lake Geneva. After weeks of rain, the weather suddenly clears and she writes “my two friends left me on a journey among the Alps, lost, in the magnificent scenes…” (8) This would be the first of many excursions from which she would be left out. Though exceptionally educated and progressive, Shelley was a woman trapped by the mores of the nineteenth century. She was no stranger to the social constraints placed upon her sex. Her experiences as a woman of her time are mirrored in her portrayal of men and women and their relationship to nature in the novel. While creation, pregnancy and birth, were intrinsically the provenance of women, the quest for a rational, scientific method for understanding and conquering Nature was the objective of men. This...
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...In Chapter 24 of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein decides to leave Geneva and its painful memories after his entire family is destroyed. After searching for the monster for months, Victor eventually runs into Robert Walton and tells him his story. At this point of the novel, Walton regains control of the narrative and continues to send letters to his sister, Margaret. He begins to tell his sister that he asked Frankenstein how to create a monster and bring it to life. To that, Victor replied “are you mad, my friend . . . or whither does your senseless curiosity lead you? Would you also create for yourself and the world a demoniacal enemy? Peace, peace! Learn my miseries, and do not seek to increase your own.” Victor’s outburst raises the question of whether or not knowledge is dangerous. Knowledge is in fact dangerous when it is either broad, or far beyond our need in life. “Such words, you may imagine, strongly excited my curiosity; but...
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...The poem “Making Frankenstein” by Wyatt Prunty is a coming of age tale about a young boy and his many curiosities. It dramatizes a young boy and his curiosity of maturity and his lack of understanding due to his innocence. The speaker is an older man who is reflecting back on his innocent childhood and his many curiosities. The story begins with an agitated child imploring his parents to allow him to go watch The Curse of Frankenstein. Although the child pleads for permission, his parents refuse. However the child’s uncle convinces his parents otherwise: “Then his uncle called and offered and they caved” (LL. 5). The following evening he began to act slightly skittish and headed off to bed. While drifting off to sleep, he had a night terror: “No but, midnight he woke up screaming” (LL. 10). There is a subtle awkwardness the following morning when his father tells him he is too anatomical: “too anatomical.’ ‘What’s...
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...The theme of supernatural events and hideous beings encompasses Frankenstein. Over eight feet tall and uncharacteristically dreadful, the Creature is abandoned by his creator and shunned by society. He develops negative emotions in response to this rejection. Those feelings are furthered through his exposure to Paradise Lost, Plutarch’s Lives, the Sorrows of Young Werther, and Ruins of Empires. Ultimately, these experiences and works of literature foreshadow the ultimate downfall of the Creature and his creator, Victor Frankenstein. The Creature is not only the product of various body parts stolen from cemeteries but is also a product of the dark and supernatural. “Resurrected” on a dark, stormy night, the Creature immediately reveals himself as a monstrous being equipped with elementary emotions and reasoning. Victor Frankenstein, the Creature’s creator is shocked by his creation. Living a nightmare, Victor seeks rehabilitation and thus prepares to return home to his family. Unlike a relationship of father-to-son, Victor abandons the Creature in a futile attempt to rid himself of the nightmare he created. However, just before Victor leaves to go back home he receives news of his younger brother’s death. As he walks through the woods where his brother was killed, he catches a glimpse of the Creature and knows that he murdered his brother. As the novel progresses, more of Victors’ loved ones die at the hand of the Creature – even his fiancée. One day, Victor takes a vacation...
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...In her novel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley covers an array of themes which have been subjects of heated debates and controversy. The provocative nature of these themes has also arrested the interest of numerous literary critics, resulting in a huge assortment of critiques that detail their understanding and interpretation of the content and sentiments expressed in the novel. Topics of interest among the reviewers have ranged from the materialist inclinations and utopian ideals expressed in the novel, to the creativity of the author and relevancy of the content, to her own upbringing. This paper seeks to critically analyze the article, “‘Frankenstein’- a cautionary tale of bad parenting” by Susan Coulter, which reviews Shelley’s novel in relation...
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...Alicia Bozzuto Period 6 Frankenstein Textpert Project: In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, has captured the attention of millions of readers over the centuries. There are many questions one must ask in order understand the full purpose and intention of Frankenstein; can someone devaluate life so easily? What is the meaning of life? Can science really go too far? The outcomes of technology and science, even God for that matter, both positive and negative, can drastically affect the outcome of a creation. In Frankenstein, Victor realizes that triumphing science, the forces of nature and the mocking of God can, just as quickly, back fire. Victor Frankenstein, even as a young boy, was fascinated with the way things work and why they happened. In order to fulfill his quest social standings, he becomes obsessed with an idea that no one had ever thought or attempted before; creating a “perfect being”. With this idea, possibly mad idea, he did construct a being but certainly not “perfect” in his eyes. Victor shows as the devaluation of life and the society that demands for perfection by the creation of the monster. “Victor’s characteristics of selfishness, pride, dishonesty, and lack of value for life are presented.” (Lundsford) In his creation of life, something so incredible, once thought impossible, had finally come to a reality, but it was still not perfect enough for him. Frankenstein was unable to cope with his status as a creator; the thought of his creation haunted him...
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...Khizer Awan AP LIT Frankenstein Literary Analysis I Must Know More Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley is a romantic era novel based on the theme of knowledge. The word “knowledge” reoccurred many times throughout Frankenstein and forced the reader to understand the definition of it. According to Webster’s Dictionary, knowledge is defined as “Knowledge: n. Understanding gained by actual experience; range of information; clear perception of truth; something learned and kept in the mind.” The word knowledge is very simple, but has different meanings to all of us. Knowledge is the tool we use in making proper judgement. Knowledge is an extremely powerful thing and it must be used wisely and properly. Carelessly using knowledge can cause terrible consequences. The novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, is a novel that has many comparisons of powers in life. It pertains to many themes in society today. Frankenstein contrasts science, technology, life and death, and most importantly knowledge and ignorance. It shows the consequences of knowledge in both negative and positive ways. In Frankenstein, three characters searched for one thing - knowledge. Unfortunately the results of their search differed from what they had anticipated. Walton, blinded by ambition, believed that search for knowledge on the route to the North Pole would bring fame to his name, but he quickly learned that he ended up only with the danger to the lives of his crew. Frankenstein, driven by passion...
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...Have you ever read a book that's so sad that it left you wanting to save the monster or creature? The book “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley focusing on abandonment of relationships formed through creation, labor and death which creates such a feeling in its readers. “Frankenstein” is a type of autobiography where the author uses her experiences in these areas and works out her own fears in the novel. In the beginning of the book “Frankenstein” she demonstrates abandonment with Victor Frankenstein’s mother passing away which results with Victor Frankenstein creating a creature in search of a companion, which in doing so isolates himself from all whom he loves resulting with him not being able to trust his loved ones with the truth about what...
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...How does the creature elicit sympathy during his narrative in Volume II? In Frankenstein, Mary Shelly allows the creature to share his story of abandonment and sorrow in order to elicit sympathy from both Victor Frankenstein and the reader. The creature manipulates his tale, describing each event and circumstance that culminates in the murder of William, so that his creator – Victor Frankenstein, will grant his request for a female companion. The creature illustrates his pain and loneliness from the moment of his ‘birth’ in the beginning pages of Chapter III; we see his growth in consciousness; much like a newborn. His inability to express himself through words is poignant as the reader is witness to the frustration the creature feels. His innocence is clear as human needs that torment him like “hunger and thirst”, cannot be quenched as his is unaware how and has to rely on his primitive instincts rather that having the luxury of being taken care of. This early pain and abandonment are told of, in an effort to make Frankenstein regret his decision to leave his creation and therefore fulfill the creatures request. The attachment the creature forms with the DeLacy family evokes sympathy from the reader for numerous reasons. Firstly it is a one sided relationship – they are the first people the creature forms a bond with when in fact they have no idea about his existence. Secondly when they do find out they are disgusted by his presence due to his unconventional looks....
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...the reader visualize what is going on. It also gives deeper meaning to the story by relating it to another story with a similar theme, and it gives a way for the author to further emphasize the main point which he or she is trying to make with the story. By using allusions it may give the reader a chance to better understand and they can draw the similarities between the two different stories and so how they relate to one another. “Frankenstein” and “Adam and Eve” have a lot of similarities. Both stories have characters that portray curiosity that leads to...
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...Frankenstein Essay Assignment For this essay, you will choose a focus in the novel, Frankenstein, and create an original argument based on it. Your writing may be strictly literary analysis or it may take the form of a compare/contrast essay that works to connect an aspect of the novel to concepts or events outside the book. You are free to choose whatever focus you like in the novel. A good starting point is to consider what aspects of Frankenstein interest you most as you read it; for example you might be particularly drawn to the monster’s development, the relationship between Victor and Walton, Victor and the monster, the role of women, the nature vs. nurture debate, the importance of companionship, or the role of nature in the book. Here are some topic ideas that you may choose if you would like to connect the novel to outside sources: 1) Psychology/Identity formation- research child development, nature vs. nurture, and connect what you find to the monster’s development in the novel. What does Shelley’s novel seem to suggest about how identity is formed? Compare and contrast Shelley’s views with your research. 2) Philosophy- Shelley was heavily influenced by Locke and Rousseau, two major philosophical thinkers. Read excerpts of their works, and apply concepts from their writings to the novel. 3) Shelley’s biography- If you are interested in learning more about the writer behind the story, this is a good option for you. It won’t take you long to see...
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