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Religion In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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Frankenstein was an exploration of the role of Christianity within a society evolving towards secularism, science contending with religion. The monster of Frankenstein was born from science, a controversial subject in the time of horse-drawn carriages and still relevant religious presence. Victor’s philosophies and inspirations are directly derived from empirical evidence and scientific discovery, and even as a child, he took to books of science instead of theology. The character of Frankenstein directly opposes creationism, instead promoting the scientific discoveries of the day such as galvanism. The novel wasn’t a warning about treading on the work of God, but instead a criticism of religion and proof that man could accomplish the same things …show more content…

As an enlightened contemporary in the 19th century, Mary Shelley was a natural skeptic and was known for criticizing the Catholic church at the time. For example, within Frankenstein, Victor said, “Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds” (Shelley), thus rejecting the traditional views of mortality as dictated by the church. Moreover, Mary Shelley also wrote another book called, Valperga that criticized the supernatural elements of the church and the dependency of pupils on the church, indicating a preference for realism and independence. “Shelley especially condemned the Roman Church for encouraging superstition during the plague of 1837” (Schiefelbein), so it can be assumed that Mary Shelley made Victor non-religious in order to criticize the superstitions of the church and its members. As a result of Mary Shelley’s dislike for the dependency people had on the church to determine their belief system, she demonstrated through Victor Frankenstein’s monster that there does not need to be a predetermined dogma set in order to learn morality, “Shelley concludes that moral and spiritual development can best be attained through the shedding of dogmatic belief structures, resulting in the elimination of God towards the attainment of self-realization” (Smith). For example, Frankenstein’s monster learned morality not by attending a sermon, but by observing a family’s interactions, “The presence of a bible or other religious scripture is conspicuously absent from his education, yet he is capable of developing a thoroughly structured sense of morality and ethics” (Smith). Victor Frankenstein opposed the theological and embraced the science of the day, preferring to find answers himself instead of being told what to think by the

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Firstly, he denies the existence of a single Creator. Although he mentions spiritual elements throughout the novel, Frankenstein quickly proves non-Christian with his ungodly behavior and sinful acts. Insane and engaged, he becomes a “creator” himself when he builds the monster. Victor Frankenstein, unaware of the future consequences of his invention, unknowingly acts as a god, thus disobeying the Lord. After his miscreation murders one of his loved ones, Frankenstein fills with vengeance, wanting to destroy the repulsive demon and “avenge the deaths of William and Justine” (Shelley 82).

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These behaviors and attitudes of the animals was a reflection of Snowball’s successful leadership. He involved everyone in the process of change, as well as explaining to them why changes needs to be made and what is the benefit. This was evident when he wanted to build a windmill so they can be electricity and improve their living conditions. Snowball knew the environment of the farm was central to the farms survival, by explaining to the group (animals) what needed to be done, it empowered them to have a choice and a voice concerning what is going on around them. The animals knew it was going to be a challenge due to their limitations, none the less they were motivated to completing the task to their own capacity.

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The devastation behind the soldier stood on the edge of his mind, but nevertheless was not in his thoughts. The man standing in front of him dominated his thoughts and instigated a war deep within the soldier. The man was plain on all accounts; he was middle-aged, wore glasses, had a receding hairline, but his image was now stained in the soldier’s memory. This man merely wanted to get by, most likely to confirm the death of a loved one, but no matter how many times the soldier thought about it, he would never know exactly why. The only knowledge that burdened the soldier was his duty, and his duty was to keep this man at bay.

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In Frankenstein, references to the bible are shown throughout and are very influential to the the deeper meaning of the story. "will I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation"(Shelley 33). Here Frankenstein decides to further his exploration into science surpassing that of which most of society considers natural. He will attempt to create and animate life from the dead which is unnatural and beyond what is capable for mankind to accomplish. His unwavering quest for knowledge and what lies beyond the natural world entices him.

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Furthermore, Shelley examines the relation that Frankenstein and his monster have towards relevant motifs of Enlightenment such as science, religion, and humanity. To begin with, the era of Enlightenment was characterized by numerous scientific discoveries in Europe. Advances were made in various scientific fields such as astronomy, physics, and mathematics. They caused large controversies which had a deep impact on people’s thinking about God and religion.

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In the end of the novel, Shelly concludes that moral and spiritual development can best be obtain through the rejecting of dogmatic belief structures, resulting in the elimination of God towards the realization of self-realization.   Despite the lack of learning in the morals and ethics of Christianity, the monster in Frankenstein is able to form his own code of behavior based on example and the behavior he views from others.  It should be mention that his instinctive sense of morality comes without the  knowledge of God or a creator. While this seems to be an atheistic way of thinking about how morality is "inborn" it is impossible to ignore the way the bible and religious learning influence even this aspect of the novel.

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At first glance, Frankenstein may appear to be simply a novel about a monster. In reality it not only challenges reader’s beliefs on the power of science and nature over man, but the power of females as well. All of which show Mary Shelley’s responses to the scientific and industrial revolutions of the 18th century as well as the feminist issues of the time period. The entire novel showcased very clearly how Shelley felt about the issues of her

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When one reads any book or magazine, one should always read from a Biblical standpoint. One should think through every sentence read to determine the writer’s worldview. However, in Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein, the answer may be difficult to find. Readers should ask themselves, “Was Shelley presenting the Biblical worldview through her novel or was she expressing a different view of God, mankind, and nature?” If one reads using Christian worldview glasses, the answer to this question is a clear and resounding “no,” for Shelley’s ideas are different from the Bible’s.

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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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During the Romantic era, Mary Shelley wrote one of her famous book called Frankenstein, which became respected literature of Romantic era. Even though Frankenstein was created mainly to emphasize horror, it rather developed different point of views; it captured many audiences who sought for ideas of science and nature. Throughout the story, Mary Shelley mingled science, human emotions, and nature in order to create supernatural tale that can be understood despite specks of illogical ideas. To make the story as much as smooth as possible without any disbeliefs, Mary Shelley incorporated science and morality in order to enhance her story to be easily absorbed and felt.

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(Shelly 42, 43) Here, the effects of his continued pursuit of knowledge and neglect of well-being is shown evidently. Once Frankenstein creates the monster, his unquenchable thirst for knowledge is frightened into silence. He then presently returns to the outside world,

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Previous to the existence of the monster, readers are introduced to an ambitious, benevolent Victor Frankenstein. He exuded an excitement and passion about learning, though only for very specific subjects. “My temper was sometimes violent, and my passions vehement; but by some law in my temperature they were turned not towards childish pursuits but to an eager desire to learn.” (Shelley 19) Though his studies on creating life artificially had eventually grown tiresome—“My cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had

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ENG-3U0 November 20 2015 Frankenstein: The Pursuit of Knowledge Throughout the course of their individual journeys, Victor Frankenstein’s extreme passion for gaining knowledge about creating life, Robert Walton’s curiosity to discover land beyond the North Pole and the monster’s eagerness to obtain knowledge about humans was the principal cause of each of their suffering. As such, In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the pursuit of knowledge is a dangerous path which leads to suffering. Victor Frankenstein develops a keen interest in discovering knowledge about living beings which ultimately results in his personal suffering as well as others suffering. To begin with, Victor embarks on an assignment through combining body parts and following various

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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Critical Analysis About the author Naomi Hetherington is a member of the University of Sheffield, the department of lifelong learning. She is an early researcher in sexuality, religious culture, the 19th-century literature, and gender. She holds a BA in Theology and religious studies, an MA and a Ph.D. in Victorian Literature. She currently teaches four-year pathway literature degree at Sheffield University for students who have already attained foundation degrees. Among the books, she has written the critique of Frankenstein.

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The supernatural is one of the elements of Romanticism. It may not be one of the more major ones such as nature or emotions, but it is a relevant one in Shelley 's novel, Frankenstein. It is very difficult to discuss only one of the traces of the romantic movement in a novel as they are all interconnected. The supernatural, for example, is very hard to distinguish from nature as an element in some scenes in the novel as there is a very thin line differentiating all the elements from one another. Furthermore, supernature can also be related to Gothic literature, which makes it hard to identify the exact genre of the novel.

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