Frankenstein Pursuit Of Knowledge

Victor Frankenstein, in Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, pleads, “Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge.” Victor’s obsession with obtaining knowledge is the antithesis of his and his family's downfall. In Frankenstein, Victor brings life to a creature with electricity that descends his life into madness, illness, and death. The story is told through the lens of Walton writing letters to his sister on a journey through the Arctic. Although the pursuit of knowledge is valuable to the mind’s development, in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein knowledge evolves into psychological distress and physical suffering. In the early pages of Frankenstein, pursuing knowledge is acknowledged as

After animating the creature, Even the mere concept of the creature's formed sentiance terrifies Victor. As a consequence of employing forbidden knowledge, there is a sense of karma, and Victor promptly understands this by the time the creature first opens his eyes: “but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart,” (Shelley 47). The “beauty” and sense of dreaming first presented as a passionate mission that he recognizes experiencing. The “disgust” and “breathless horror” he feels is a punishment for this mission. The word “dream” is also interesting, as it foreshadows other ramifications he will suffer for his pursuit. Victor has dreams throughout the novel that foreshadow deaths such as Elizabeth’s. These dreams alone cause him psychological distress. The dreams are a punishment to his actions of exploiting knowledge he should not have been searching for regardless. Once the creature is conscious, he makes mistakes in aspiring knowledge himself. The creature craves the knowledge of possible companionship from the Delacey family leading to his first rage. When rejected by the Delacey family, the creature has adverse feelings other than pain: “For the first time the feelings of revenge and hatred filled my bosom, and I did not strive to control them,” (Shelley 119). Companionship

The creature -in his early moments- hunts knowledge of harnessing warmth through fire; this causes him immediate and subsequent pain as a punishment. The new fire he finds brings joy, inducing him to touch it, and he “quickly drew [his hand] out again with a cry of pain,” as an instantaneous repercussion. This is forbidden knowledge as alludes to the story of Prometheus. When Prometheus gives the humans fire, he is abruptly punished for giving knowledge that he knew he was unauthorized to share. This brings physical pain just as it does the creature. The creature’s first fire also foreshadows his later retribution of his own death. The mental anguish experienced from earlier knowledge of his creator now feeds penalties of a horrible death. He sets himself on fire while acknowledging the pain that he originally experienced. This demonstrates how further knowledge can’t stop the consequences of originally pursuing it. Clerval also investigates too far into knowledge and faces catastrophe. Clerval seeks adventure and what the exotic world can teach him, ensuring his death and Victor falling unbearably ill. After Victor views his friend's lifeless body, he becomes increasingly ill recounting the first of this with, “The human frame could no longer support the agonies that I endured, and I was carried out of the room in strong convulsions,” (Shelley 150). When Victor is convulsing, it is an indirect