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Similarities Between Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein And The Problem Of Modern Science'

534 Words3 Pages

Abagail McMaster
Ginnette Wafford
English 2333
3/7/23
Annotated Bibliographies
Smith, Johanna M. "Frankenstein and the Problem of Modern Science." Literature and Medicine, vol. 21, no. 2, Fall 2002, pp. 186-204.
Smith looks at the connection between technology and science in Frankenstein in this article, saying that the book represents Shelley's concerns about the risks of uncontrolled scientific progress."Mary Shelley's novel can be seen as a warning about the dangers of unchecked scientific ambition, as Victor Frankenstein's obsession with creating life ultimately leads to tragedy and destruction." In front of the historical part of the Industrial Revolution and the growth of today's science, she analyzes the egos of Victor and the creature. …show more content…

"Frankenstein, Psychoanalysis, and the Gothic." The Gothic, edited by Fred
Botting, Routledge, 1996, pp. 97-108. Frankenstein's psychoanalytic themes are studied by Bloom, who believes that Shelley's own psychological struggles and concerns are shown in the text. The author argues that the book can be seen as a "family romance" that shows Shelley's ongoing continuous conflicts with her own family by studying the relationships between the roles of Victor, the creature, and Elizabeth. "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a powerful representation of the uncanny or the unheimlich, and it embodies many of the preoccupations of the Gothic genre, including the fear of death, the anxieties of gender, and the problem of authority.
Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar. "Mary Shelley's Monstrous Eve." The Madwoman in

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The article discusses ways that “Frankenstein” should serve as a lesson and impact the actions of present-day scientists. Van Den Belt focuses on an overarching theme of the novel, which is the possible dangers of scientific exploration. He writes, “The story is commonly taken to imply a dire warning about the dangers of scientific hubris” (Van Den Belt). Victor Frankenstein, the main character of the novel, is an iconic example of a science experiment gone wrong. In many different aspects, the story should be studied by explorers to prevent the repetition of Frankenstein’s errors.

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Society today is greatly affected by science. Cell phones, computers, and social media are just some of the many facets of technology that we use in our everyday lives. To most people, this technology is wonderful, but Mary Shelley provides us with a caveat. In her novel Frankenstein, science and the pursuit of knowledge are recurrent themes. The novel starts off with Walden trying to make a discovery in the North Pole, and follows with a story about how Victor Frankenstein deals with his creation.

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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein warns against the forces of the Industrial Revolution. As a leading figure in the Romantic movement, Shelley celebrated nature as a healing and restorative force, one which humans neglect to their own peril. In Victor Frankenstein's remarkable scientific achievement, and in the creature's incredible power, Shelley acknowledges the benefits of modern innovation. Yet Shelley cautions that with each benefit comes an equal if not greater risk: The monster's resilience proves that humans are expendable. He resembles the new industrial machines that make humans, and the workings of nature, look pitiful in comparison.

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Written during the ninteenth century, the gothic Frankensteinnovel by Marry Shelly, tells the story of a young educated student Victor Frankenstein, who creates a grotesque but fantastic creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment, which leads to different tragic events. Shelly writes about the creation of the creature and how he is first introduce to his livelihood and this world. In this novel Shelly uses different types of literary techniques to convey the expression of the creature as a baby just learning about life and the world, and by employing innovative literary techniques such as imagery, setting, theme, and characterization, she creates a feeling of sympathy on the readers. This feeling is created through Shelly establishment of pity on the readers by reavealing the creature’s loathsome creation, habitat, or even existence.

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The novel, Frankenstein, has been regarded as revolutionary in the eyes of western literature. It’s considered to be the modern Prometheus, tackling themes of power and the consequences that follow. Frankenstein, a horror science fiction novel written by Mary Shelly, is about the relationship between Victor Frankenstein and his Creation. Throughout the book, Victor is haunted by his Creation, growing notably sick from an eerie encounter with his Creation. Despite Victor’s illness, everyone around him still remains unafflicted.

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Victor Frankenstein’s obsessive pursuit of creating life epitomizes the era’s scientific ambition, but also serves as a cautionary tale.

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“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change” (206). Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, is a gothic thriller that sends readers spiraling into a compelling, yet emotionally unstable story where our deepest and darkest emotions are exposed. Shelley illustrates gothic friction by exploring how one can gradually wither to their worst forms under traumatic fear. Shelley uses gothic elements such as intense emotions; exploration of the fear of the unknown; and suspense and mystery in great detail to present readers this twisted ideology.

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Shelley characterizes anything dealing with scientific advancement as technology and, as a result, corrosive. Immediately after returning to college from his invigorating trip to the countryside, Frankenstein receives a horrid letter from his father detailing Victors brother William’s death. Shelley heavily juxtaposes nature and technology in through this event. Victor goes from “feelings of unbridled joy and hilarity” (76) while in the countryside of Ingolstadt to feelings of “grief and fear” (82) once he reenters the college. Shelley exposes technology as the dark, grimy underside of humanity that weighs on the consciousness and soul of humanity the more it is utilized and as the opposite of nature.

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In Shelley’s novel, Victor Frankenstein, the fanatical natural philosopher, represents the scientists’ collective perspective while his creation embodies the very ideal of technology. As Victor becomes extremely obsessed with finding the origin of life, he does not care about any other elements around him, including his friends and his environment. On the other hand, his creation, though a naturally gentle being, becomes destructive as he is disdained by humanity for his monstrous appearance (Shelley). These two characters parallel the trend of Industrial Revolution. While the role of technology was to make peoples’ lives easier, when unguided, it gradually transformed into a devastating existence similar to Victor’s

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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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Throughout the 19th century, a great deal of men emerged themselves in the sudy of nature and the discovery of unknown land. Focusing on transformation in scientific idea across a variety of subjects, those scientists raised the period of great advance in science, known as the Scientific Revolution. Even if much of scientific products expanded the knowledge and encouraged of different thinking, but some of scientific products were too power to destroy the nature resulting in posing a threat the community. In the novel Frankenstein Mary Shelley demonstrated that the creature transformed himself from longing for love to seeking revenge on humanity as whole. Humanity, knowledge and loneliness all lead to his corruption and tragedy through his emotional distortion.

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Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a gothic novel that tells the story of scientist, Victor Frankenstein, and his obsession with creating human life. This leads him to creating a gruesome monster made of body-parts stolen from grave yards, whom upon discovering his hideousness, the monster seeks revenge against his creator, causing Victor to regret the creation of his monster for the rest of his life. Shelley uses the literary elements of personification, imagery, and similes to give a vivid sense and visualization of Victor Frankenstein’s thoughts and feelings as well as to allow us to delve deeper into the monster’s actions and emotions. Throughout the novel, Shelley uses personification of various forces and objects to reflect the effect in Victor’s actions.

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The gothic fiction novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley centralizes on humanity and the qualifications that make someone human. The content of the novel Frankenstein depicts a monster displaying human traits that his creator Victor does not possess: empathy, a need for companionship, and a will to learn and fit in. Throughout the novel Shelley emphasizes empathy as a critical humanistic trait. The monster displays his ability to empathize with people even though they are strangers. On the other hand Victor, fails to show empathy throughout the novel even when it relates to his own family and friends.

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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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