Examples Of Pride In Frankenstein

Paul Watson

Tim Salow

Honors British Literature

05 March 2023

Pride and It’s Horrors

Pride, being the most evil sin, creates the most evil things. This is shown in many ways, in our world and in art. Many artists and writers especially in the era of British Romanticism showed this in their work. Including Mary Shelley and her most famous novel Frankenstein. Mary Shelley and other artists show that pride is the worst thing one can have too much of, because of what it can bring. Shelley shows this through the creature, who can only be described as demonic. Even Shakespeare’s Macbeth shows that pride is the worst sin, showing that it can only make life worse, Shakespeare and Mary Shelley both use their main characters as the one causing the inciting

According to the University of Houston. Romanticism is “A movement in art and literature in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in revolt against the Neoclassicism of the previous centuries.” This movement encouraged the use of strong meanings in novels as well as the radical use of emotion. Many authors took advantage of this, making many terrific stories. Pride is in some ways similar to parts of romanticism, but leads people to create or do their worst. According to Baylor University, pride is “an irreligious and antisocial assertion of the self.” This quote shows that pride is a sin that can cause one to become so invested in oneself that they become a threat to themselves and those around

These characters often caused problems for themselves due to a flaw that all the characters had in common. Too much Pride. Pride, being the worst of the sins. Is usually the problem in many stories and in our world. Mary Shelley supports this claim in her book Frankenstein. Where the main character makes the decision to commit hubris, or thinking that he is like God. However this can be debated because Frankenstein has no religious knowledge whatsoever, yet he did know what he was doing was wrong. Frankenstein dives into his research on the living, the dead, and the alchemy of them. Soon gathering the materials to make his own man. The creature or “monster” as it is called in the book, is the outcome of Frankenstein’s pride. The monster then commits many evil deeds including murder, and framing someone for murder, forcing her to be executed. Justine was the victim of the unjust execution, and Frankenstein knows it. “Justine died, she rested, and I was alive. The blood flowed freely in my veins, but a weight of despair and remorse pressed on my heart which nothing could remove.” (Shelley 101) The outcome of Frankenstein’s pride has become a terror. Frankenstein only realizes that what he made is demonic after he is done creating it. Shelley writes that “No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch.”