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Duality In Frankenstein

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“...-rather let me say such the words of fate, enounced to destroy me” (Shelley 27). Mary Shelley explored many themes throughout the book. Such as technology and science, love and hate, and light and dark. The one theme that I found significant as I read the book is, the duality of Victor’s personal choice but the effects of fate it will have on him and the people around him. People believe that they have the free will to do as they wish, but their fate is the outcome of their free will. Humans can choose what to do but they lack control over their fate. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein illustrates the duality of fate vs. personal choice in order to show the consequences of Victor’s choice to create the creature, rather than considering the …show more content…

“Natural philosophy is the genius that has regulated my fate; I desire, therefore, in this narration, to state those facts which led to my predilection for that science” (Shelly 20). Mary Shelley states that Victor’s interest in particularly the science field of natural philosophy. Victor’s deep admiration and interest in natural philosophy, that includes the philosophy of life and death, was the factor that regulated his fate and destined him to be where he is now. Before creating the monster, Victor was enthusiastic to bring animation to a non living body. He wanted to break the bounds of life and death. “Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which should I first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world” (Shelley 32). In this moment, without consideration of his fate. As result of his capability of free will, Victor is deciding on which unknown realm should pour light in first. This choice right here will have deep consequences of fate later on. Most of Victor’s choices are made to satisfy his curiosity and desires. Victor desires his creature to be strong, tall in stature, and brilliant. “ I resolved, contrary to my first intention, to make the being of a gigantic stature; that is to say, about eight feet in height, and proportionably large” (Shelley 32). Again, Victor is caught in the moment and doesn’t stop to realize what fate would bring on him by creating the monster proportionally large. Later, when Victor meets with the monster in the village of Chamounix at the summit of the hills, he tried to fight the monster but he was unable to because of his abhorred look and big stature. “I trembled with rage and horror, resolving to wait his approach, and then close with him in mortal combat” (Shelley 68). Repetitively, Victor is excited to create his creation and lacks to take into consideration what his choices will have on his

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Following Victor’s whole trial he was only saved because his father spoke out and someone from the justice system saw how the evidence did not point to him. Showing how dysfunctional and irresponsible society and the justice system at the time was what Mary Shelley intended. Commenting on these issues was what the novel proved effective on showing just how dysfunctional the government and their neighbors really

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6.How does Victor’s male ambition lead to dire consequences? Victor was blinded by his male ambition and neglected the outcomes of his desire. Men are thought to be able to achieve anything they put their mind to, that their conquest for knowledge and drive would ultimately be rewarded with the same level of success. Mary Shelley challenges this idea, showing that even the most driven people can also have their goals lost. Victor did not see that his neglection of the monster would result in the monster’s revenge.

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Victor would stop at nothing to finish his project and became so obsessed that he was isolated from his family and friends. His way of collecting lifeless matter for his creation is unethical and morally wrong. Eventually, he is punished for his actions: “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body.” (pg.56) Additionally, extreme devotion to the building of his creation caused Victor mental distress due to the fact that he neglected his own needs in order to work exclusively on the creature: “I had deprived myself of rest and health.”

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Frankenstein by Mary Shelley has been an American classic for almost 200 years, which contains both philosophical and moral themes in the text, making the reader question the limits of humankind and its desire for power. For every character presented in the story their independent desire to overcome their intentions becomes so intense that the future that lies upon them is nothing close to what they can imagine. Victor Frankenstein´s desire to quench his thirst for power ends up clouding his judgement and making him elude the future that awaits him. As Victor´s intention to succeed in natural sciences grow to an abnormal point, his judgement about what to do with that knowledge didn't let him contemplate the future consequences

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Victor first begins creating the monster, working tirelessly for selfish reasons. His body suffers tremendously and he drags himself along treating his body like a slave. He states: “My cheeks have grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement.” (Shelly 33)

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Light and Dark in Frankenstein Throughout Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the reader is torn between the forces of good and evil, as well as which characters represent which force. Perhaps the most masterful element of this novel is conveying how an individual can not be judged as wholly good or evil, and how having elements of both traits greatly forms the human experience. By using the motifs of light and dark to represent the positives and negatives of humanity, Mary Shelley is able to effectively convey character traits, depict transitions of good and evil within characters, and employ haunting symbolism and imagery into the novel and transform it into a literary masterpiece. The use of light and dark as imagery in the novel could not be

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But these are not thoughts befitting me; I will endeavour to resign myself cheerfully to death, and will indulge a hope of meeting you in another world”(24). Victor shows the strong love of family in his childhood “No human being could have passed a happier childhood than [me]. My parents were possessed by the very spirit of kindness and indulgence” (Shelley,40), he raised with excellent conditions and with parents who loved their children, but we do not see that Victor gives this love to his creature and ignored him, notwithstanding the fact that the two figures shared many characteristics. As a result of Frankenstein 's darkness and ignorance toward his creature, he refused to accept the monster because of his physical appearance and Frankenstein sees the creature as if he were the monster when the creature

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Mary Shelley shows this burden of responsibility throughout the book by continually showing the reader how much Victor’s unthoughtful actions affect his future, and how he copes with the results. When Victor first gets the idea

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He created the monster to fulfill his need to caretake, much like how Shelley used the novel to fill her void. In addition to this, Colleen Hobbs also blames Victor’s upbringing on the creation of the monster. Because Victor suppressed his childhood trauma, he was never able to fully express his emotions to any other being. These two sources both agree that there were many factors as to why Victor is the way he is. I think it's fascinating how neither of them even touch on how scary the monster is, for the true fear in the story should come from Victor

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Depending on one’s ambition can lead to tremendous leaps of advancement for mankind or its inevitable destruction. Thus, Victor Frankenstein demonstrates that tragic

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In Frankenstein, the theme of destiny is developed by the creation of the monster, Victor's actions, and Victor's final devotion. The theme of fate can be seen in Victor’s studies when trying to uncover nature's secret of life. For example, in Chapter 2, Victor states that “Natural philosophy is the genius that regulated my fate, I desire, therefore, in this narration, to state facets which led to my predilection for that of science” (Shelley 16). Victor mentions that he was destined to find his adore for science, which led him to embody the concept of unrestrained science.

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Duality is shown in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, a gothic tale of a scientist whom looks to advance the life-giving qualities of mother nature. Through this novel, Shelley proves that good and evil in human nature is not always simple to define, and that everyone has both of these qualities within them. The duality of human nature is shown through the characters of Victor Frankenstein and his monster, who are both heroes in the novel while simultaneously displaying anti-hero qualities. Shelley forces the reader to sympathize with them both but also creates gruesome ideas of the two. Frankenstein’s creature places himself in a submissive position when he begs his creator to have mercy on him and asking the creator to “create a female for [him] with whom [he] can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for [his] being.”

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Shelley’s novel encompasses the unknown and how ambition drove Victor’s passions, ultimately leading him to the tragic end with many other bumps in the road along the way. As Victor had been in the study of life and its cause, the death of his mother had catalyzed a movement of grief which had started, “…depriv[ing him]self of rest and health. [Which he] had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation…” (Shelley 35). Even though he knew that he had been raiding graveyards, Victor believed that he created the body with the ‘finest body parts’ available.

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In the novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the two main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his creature, both display a sense of moral ambiguity. Each character has committed both good and evil alike, and neither knew the consequences of what they had done. However, Victor Frankenstein is generally the morally ambiguous character by his treatment of his creation and his own imperious personality. He wanted to be able to help science by recreating life or bringing it back, but at the same time, he did not want to consider the consequences of doing so. Victor tries to prove himself as a good moral character in the relationship between his creation and himself.

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Like a child blind to the error of his or her ways, Victor often rationalizes his actions which lead to the monster’s creation as the result of powers beyond his control, such as fate and destiny. His frequent use of passive voice, such as when describing how his ideas “received the fatal impulse” which led to his downfall or how his “mind was filled” with his obsession, indicates a rejection of responsibility for his pursuits (46, 53). He describes his momentary distaste for alchemy as “the immediate suggestion of the guardian angel of my life- the last effort made by the spirit of preservation to avert the storm that was even then hanging in the stars, and ready to envelope me” (49). Not only does Victor attribute the course of his life to another, more powerful individual, but he also presents himself as the victim to his obsession with science by equating it to a force as unavoidable as a natural disaster. The reference to the stars furthers the impression that Victor believes his life to be in the hands of the universe, while the phrase “even then” suggests that his actions have been predetermined, explaining why he makes little effort to assert autonomy over his decisions.

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