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Consequences Of Playing God In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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The novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, is a classic work of literature that I enjoyed due to it being a cautionary tale about the dangers of ambition and the consequences of playing God. The story follows Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who is consumed by his desire to create life, which ultimately leads to the creation of a monster that ruins the lives of him and those around him. Victor’s actions are a clear example of a big theme in the novel, which are the dangers of playing God. He assumes his creation will be a perfect being, and that he is the creator of a new species, but fails to recognize the potential consequences, which ultimately leads to catastrophe. I feel like the end of the novel is due to Victor’s own arrogance, …show more content…

Since Victor created the monster, I feel like he should adjust it so it’s able to enjoy its life, not live in hiding and rejection. I think that creating the female counterpart just for the original creation to have was a good idea, and Victor was selfish for refusing to and forcing the monster to live in isolation. Even though the monster was harmful, it was only like that because of its inability to adapt and constant shunning from society. I think Victor refused the monster’s proposal only because he realized the consequences of his mistakes, and should have just accepted to get the creation to leave him alone for good. Though Victor was concerned for the possibility of the two monsters mating and creating other monsters, I don’t feel like this would have been a dangerous option. I think that the monster was only harmful because of his failure to adapt, and humanity’s perception of him, which is something that can not be passed down to offspring. If the monsters had children, I don’t think that they would have the same vengeful persona as the original

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In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses Victor’s selfishness and ambition for knowledge to questioned how far society has to go to satisfy our yearn to be God. Vicor’s God complexion shows the dangers of wanting to challenge the limits of human knowledge without thinking of the consequences. When Victor attends university and the material he has learned is belittled by a professor as a waste of time, Victor is determined to prove him wrong. As Victor becomes more interested in the sciences and in the creation of life he sees that as the only way to make advancements that others have not yet done. He succeeded in bringing the dead back to life but not in the form he had in mind.

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“You may render me [Victor] the most miserable of men, but you shall never make me base in my own eyes,” Victor says to the monster, meaning that the monster can do whatever he wants, but he will not allow him to make Victor lower himself more than he already has, but this is exactly what the monster does when he convinces Victor to make him a female companion. This is a prime example of a minor character foil contrasting a main character; the monster takes complete control over Victor and dominates his character, ultimately turning himself into a more prominent aspect of the storyline. The author most likely does this in order to employ a drastic shift in the meaning of her novel. As the novel started, it was portrayed that Victor would be a rising character and achieve great things, but with the creation of the monster, his character ultimately became his own

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Victor never gave his creation a female companion which his monster needed greatly because no human women would ever love the monster. The monster was neglected and the best way to help the monster get love and attention would be by giving him a female companion. Victor also knew the monster would kill his wife if he didn't give him a female companion because the monster himself told him. When Victor leaves his life alone in the cabin the night of their marriage that was completely his fault, Victor himself knew that his creation would try to kill his wife that night and he left her vulnerable and alone. Victor Frankenstein could have avoided this entire situation in the first place if he had been his creation's companion and showed love for him, instead of neglect and

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In Mary Shelley’s classic horror novel Frankenstein, neither Frankenstein nor the monster are devoid of blame for what transpired that lead to each other's imminent destruction. Instead, the blame should rightfully be put on both these men because of the ensuing pandemonium that they caused. While he is not entirely to blame, it was Frankenstein's, the protagonist of the story, inability to take responsibility for what he had created that caused the monster to be raised the way it was. Besides, it was Victor who wanted to “pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation” (Chapter 3, pg. 15). I am not sure that Victor understood the gravity of such an undertaking, he did not think about what he should do after he had finished the creation; he only thought of the

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In the end, Frankenstein can 't help but blame the creation. He never offers any affection towards the poor creature. All of the death and turmoil tie back to Victor and his blind ambition and fear of real responsibilities. The creature had simply had experiences that morphed his personality and drove him to terrible acts. If Frankenstein had simply taken care of the creation and gave him the correct guidance, lots of needless death could have been

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In Marry Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein selfishly goes on an unethical scientific journey to gain glory and fame. From a young age Victor has an abundant amount of knowledge and extraordinary ambition that he continues to cultivate through his unfaltering study of science and alchemy. After experiencing the tragic of death of his mother, Victor isolates himself in an attempt to reach the level of success he believes his knowledge and ambition entitles him to. Through his constant dedication to his work, the dangerous project that drives Victor insane comes to life on a dark and stormy night in Ingolstadt, Germany, forever changing his innocence and livelihood. The selfish manner in which Victor yearns to gain glory

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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein openly propounds the co-existence of good and evil that yields to inexorable carnage and unrelenting revenge. A maniacal devotion to reason makes Victor the true antagonist of the novel and therefore the real villain in Frankenstein. Victor’s ability to create a life out of lifeless matter unbounded the pious, circumscribed view of God as the creator. Nevertheless, this infringement of propriety leads Victor down a path of revenge, which ultimately sets forth his destruction. Lastly, Victor and the monster are two aspects of the same person.

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Likewise, Frankenstein has a rather ambitious and arrogant personality, to the point of consuming him completely. Because of this, it leads him to think irrationally about his actions in deciding to take on the role of God. During his experiment to create a new life Little by little, he was neglecting his health, family and happiness. Once his experience is over, Frankenstein acts irresponsibly by abandoning the monster. After constantly running from his creation, Victor finally decided to face him.

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As Adam Philips once said, “Tragic heroes are failed pragmatists, their ends are unrealistic and their means are impractical.” In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, the obsessed scientist Victor Frankenstein becomes fascinated with natural philosophy and undergoes a journey trying to manipulate the laws of nature. Victor is a great demonstration of a tragic hero and displays all the characteristics necessary throughout the novel. To begin with, Victor had excessive pride at the beginning of the novel, a characteristic of a tragic hero. Victor was obsessed with science and reading textbooks from the young age of 13 and as he ages, he becomes fascinated with alchemy and the decay of life, concerning his father.

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In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, it scrutinizes the punishments when a man creates life, and plays the role of God. Victor Frankenstein, is at fault for the creature’s actions. Victor was looking for some honor and triumph, but when he accomplished his experiment, not only did it bring terror to Victor, but to the whole world. The monster never learned right from wrong and was never raised correctly, his first moment of life, all he experienced was the fear in Victor's emotion, and was abandoned right from the start. Victor selfishly isolated himself from society and ran away from his responsibilities which caused destruction to the people Victor cared for and loved deeply.

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On the contrary, the monster's encounter with knowledge causes him to divert from morality and towards blatant hatred of humanity. In addition, the monster’s pursuit of knowledge causes him to undergo restrictions and disadvantages from engaging in any sort of

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In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, people are often too quick to pin all the blame on the monster that was created by Victor when it comes to who is responsible for all the unfortunate events that take place in this novel. There are several different things to take into account to help give insight into why the monster is the way he is. Victor along with the issues of society all play huge roles in the series of events that take place. Concepts such as actions having consequences, society’s role in the development of someone, and needing to take accountability for one’s actions/decisions, are all recurring themes in the novel that could also be found in real-world scenarios. The first thing that needs to be addressed is Victor’s involvement

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Such passion is seen in Victor’s ‘noble intent’ to design a being that could contribute to society, but he had overextended himself, falling under the spell of playing ‘God,’ further digging his grave as he is blinded by glory. His creation – aptly called monstrous being due to its stature, appearance, and strength – proved to be more of a pure and intellectually disposed ‘child’ that moves throughout the novel as a mere oddity, given the short end of the stick in relation to a lack of familial figures within his life, especially that of parents. Clearly, Victor Frankenstein had sealed his fate: by playing God he was losing his humanity, ultimately becoming the manifestation of Mary Shelley’s hidden desires, deteriorating into The Lucifer Principle by which the author Howard Bloom notes social groups, not individuals, as the primary “unit of selection” in human psychological

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