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Frankenstein Pursuit Of Knowledge Essay

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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein examines the pursuit of knowledge of society while ignoring the moral, ethical, and religious consequences of science. This novel was written in direct response to the growth of the medical and industrial industries. Shelly novel exemplifies the dangerous effects of the desire by society to posses the secrets of the universe to propel itself into the future. Individuals in society are looking for specific ways to sustain and lengthening the life of the individual within it. This drive is part of the innate human condition found with mankind. However, her novel warns that society must set limitations are its downfall will occur. The character of Victor Frankenstein illustrates man’s thirst for knowledge, without consideration to the laws of nature. Victor states, “It was the secrets of heaven and …show more content…

Victor Frankenstein forgoes morality to fulfill his own desires and needs. He isolates himself emotionally and physically to create his own aspirations. In his mind he does this to gain value and worth. Frankenstein becomes a representation of mankind and its thirst to gain superiority of all things found within it the nature world and surpass even the creator. Thus, the novel implies that society holds an ambition in higher regard and it is superior to seek information than to than suffer in ignorance. However, the novel becomes a warning that knowledge can many times led to both social and individual destruction. Mary Shelley offers a warning to society on the consequences of unbridled curiosity. For society to function and forgo destruction it must accept natural limits. If the limits are pushed, then uninhibited knowledge will lead to downfall and the destruction of mankind. During the specific era that the novel Frankenstein was written scientific advances were occurring at a rapid rate. Shelley used her novel to illustrate that all knowledge comes with a

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Destruction Through Knowledge in Frankenstein Knowledge can be redeeming or atrocious; it all depends on how it is used. Knowledge requires a responsible mind to use it for the greater good. In the novel Frankenstein, knowledge was given to a mind that was not ready for it. Victor, the man with the knowledge, was not in a healthy state of mind to be able to use it responsibly. As a result of this, global destruction was unleashed and people’s lives were changed forever.

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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a novel about the dangerous pursuit of knowledge, as it explores the consequences of unchecked ambition and the implications of playing God, through the characters of Victor Frankenstein, the creature, and Robert Walton, ultimately emphasizing the idea that the desire for glory can lead to catastrophic consequences. Frankenstein's inexorable craving for knowledge proves to be a risky endeavor as seen through his obsession with reanimating life. When Frankenstein speaks to Walton concering his research and results of those experiences, he says, “Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be

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The novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley is a horror filled book produced during the Romantic era. The novel is full of romantic ideals of Shelley’s time and is also filled with many themes that show throughout the story. The theme that shows itself through the entire novel, along with other literary elements, reflects the culture in which it was created. The theme of the novel is the theme of the danger that comes with knowledge. Victor, through the whole novel, must make decisions on how he uses his knowledge and faces the consequences that come with his decisions.

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In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein (1818), Shelley shows her audience that while acquiring knowledge leads to survival for the Creature and power for Victor Frankenstein, the path to obtain this knowledge leads to the destruction of one’s self. Education and knowledge have major negative effects on both of the characters’ attitude, perception, and decisions. The life experiences of each character is dependent on the amount of knowledge that the character possesses. Knowledge gives Victor Frankenstein a superiority complex, and it changes the Creature’s perspective of the world and the people in it. The Creature, like a baby, is brought into the world with no prior knowledge of how society behaves.

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