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The Pursuit Of Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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Mary Shelley was an English novelist, short story writer and was best known for her book “Frankenstein”. The book was written in 1816; but was not published until 1818. The main reason why she wrote this book was because of a contest between her and 3 others that were also on vacation, with Mary and her husband Percy. As a result, she won the contest and therefore was urged to publish the story, in which she did in 1818. All of them were at Lake Geneva, it was the coldest summer on record that year, that is what sparked Lord Bryon to start the contest. The reason why it was so cold because of a volcano eruption of Tambora, Indonesia. Therefore, ash from this eruption filled the skies and blocked the sun from warming the earth. However, with …show more content…

He had such vehement towards science that it consumes him. Therefore, this passion for science takes over his thoughts and when he goes to the University of Ingolstadt, he finds that there is an even more science to learn that he was not aware of. In learning all aspects of science, he spends 6 years learning and his pursuit of knowledge. However, his quest led him to make a creature that would come to find out later destroy his world. Additionally, as he is building the creature, Victor finds himself afraid of everything. After Victor, makes the creature and it becomes a living grotesque, mysterious, and physical being, additionally, Victor is frightened by what he had created. Accordingly, once he abandons the creature, the creature becomes incensed by this action. After, sometime the monster finds himself by Geneva, where Victor’s family lives and in the woods, he finds William, Victor’s younger brother and murders him. As a result, Victor realizes that Junita, the family maid, is accused of the murder once a picture that William carried around of his mother was found on Junita. Victor knows that it was not Junita, but the creature had committed the

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Obtaining knowledge is seen as a positive objective, but sometimes it may come with a negative outcome. Attempting to discover something new without thought of morality can bring you disastrous events. Learning something new can disappoint you and leave you with no option but to walk away. An attempt to get knowledge secretly can make people uncomfortable with you. Knowledge can be thought of as power, and if you can’t limit yourself; this can damage people’s life and lead to loss of trust.

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Knowledge can be Blessings and Curse A teenage girl Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein in the 18th century. A Gothic novel Frankenstein deals with two genres, Gothicism and science fiction. Victor, one of Mary Shelly’s characters represents man’s pursuit of knowledge which ultimately leads towards the path of destruction while another character Robert Walton implemented his knowledge wisely to get benefits for the society. Mary is indicating to the society that mankind has to pay full attention to science and scientific innovations in order to avoid the catastrophic events due to misuse of knowledge.

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He uses the little that he knows to fuel his hatred towards humans and his creator. This shows the exponential growth of the problems that Victor has created as a result of his desire for knowledge. Not only did he create the destructive monster, but now the monster is using a hunger for knowledge, the very thing that created it, to do even more damage. This root cause is linked to everything that is causing Victor’s suffering. The monster also compares his relationship to Victor to that of God and Adam, wishing that he had the same supplication to his creator that Adam did, “I remembered Adam’s supplication to his creator.

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Over the course of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein transforms into a melancholic and distraught man at the edge of death. From a youth Frankenstein was invested in psychology and the modern sciences; a curious boy, and a thirst for knowledge he alters into a remorseful, and guilty man. Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist and the eventual antagonist of the novel, begins his tragic tale as an innocent youth. Frankenstein was born in Geneva to Alphonse Frankenstein and Caroline Beaufort. As a child, he lived a lavish lifestyle, and eventually he received a gift in the form of Elizabeth Lavenza, his wife to be.

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The ambition for knowledge is a dangerous thing, especially if that knowledge is kept a secret. The novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, follows Walton who, while searching for new land, helps Victor Frankenstein and listens to his story. Victor Frankenstein is a wise character, but his passion for knowledge, his ambition, and his decision to keep his past a secret drives him and others around him to a short life. Frankenstein’s passion for knowledge drives him to isolate himself and make those around him worry. Frankenstein has a lonely life due to his pursuit of knowledge.

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Curiosity is a very important trait for normal people. It is only natural for all of us to be curious, for us, as humans, find it interesting discovering and learning new things. In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, curiosity is expressed as a negative feature us humans have. Mary Shelley describes Curiosity’s impacts and how it, for the most part, leads to misery and despair, but how it can also be used for better if you know how to control it. Curiosity can be essential if used correctly, but if it goes too far, it can lead to regretful pain.

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Shelly seems to be very against the idea that knowledge leads to happiness. She seems more amiable towards the idea that ignorance is bliss. Yet, it seems more that the despair both characters face in Frankenstein is a result of a tainted society. Knowledge is the light that illuminates this corruption for Frankenstein’s monster. However, while knowledge opens the monster’s eyes, the scene that they first gaze upon is painted by Victor.

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His thirst for knowledge drove him apart from the society just to read about ancient physicians and alchemists. He in his pursuit of knowledge studied chemistry against his father’s wish. Victor as an intelligent, ambitious and hardworking scientist moved to Ingolstadt University to pursue chemistry. After his mother died, he developed an obsession with death. The concept of reanimation the deceased became his new pursuit.

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The search of knowledge can help take away the doubt, but it can affect the ones around you. Victor doubts and knowledge cause the death of his wife, best friend, and his brother. Victor should have known that bringing something back to life would had consequences. His relentless search of knowledge did brought him suffering because he involved his family and didn't thought about the consequences. Victor’s passion about learning new things brought him to the creation of an ugly monster.

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The power of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. However, it is not always the content or amount of knowledge that is dangerous. It is the person behind that knowledge that has the potential to bring danger to society. No tale represents this better than Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein. Monsters and myths can be scary or frightening to young children.

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A story of creation and loss, Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein is one of the most renowned books of the gothic style. A story written in 1818, the novel is in true form with the romantic works of the era. Grandeur, not only in plot and emotional impact but in wording and phrasing as well. We’ve all seen Frankenstein in some form; whether that be a bad 80’s horror movie or the more comedic Gene Wilder film.

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It is often said that the more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know. Even Aristotle said, “The more you know, the more you know you don 't know.”. This can often lead to a yearning for more knowledge and sometimes, can be somebody’s downfall. In this case, it was Victor Frankenstein’s downfall. His love for science and his ever-growing quest to learn about the human body ultimately destroyed him, his family, his wife to be, and his best friend.

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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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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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The Dangers of Knowledge Frankenstein, a novel written by Mary Shelley, is notoriously accredited for its development and implication of multiple themes. Set in the 1700’s, Frankenstein is a gothic fiction telling of isolation, knowledge, and nature. The biggest of these being knowledge and inevitably its consequences. With knowledge comes question; What poses the most danger? The knowledge itself, or the journey to gain information?

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