ipl-logo

The Role Of Nature Vs. Nurture In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

894 Words4 Pages

The argument in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is nature vs. nurture between the two main characters. Victor Frankenstein and the Creature he created, both have a unique part in each other’s way of life. Frankenstein and the Creature have two very different up brings. Nature and nurture are very important throughout the chapters because how each character is treated. The nature part of the argument is Frankenstein and his background, while nurture is the reason for the creature failing. Shelley makes these points to us through her expression of words when she is describing Frankenstein’s and the Creature’s personalities and the ways they go about handling life. Shelley talks about light and fire as a symbol for intelligence and fast moving pace, at the same time it is a physical vicious force. This symbol is key to supporting the nature vs. nurture argument through out the novel giving us much needed information. Frankenstein’s behavior is partly because of how he was brought up in an powerful family. Shelley begins to talk about Frankenstein’s history and of his nature. He tells us of being born “a Genevese” family that is “one of the most distinguished of that republic”(Shelly 17). Frankenstein explains that his ancestors had been a cornerstone of the …show more content…

nurture argument are shown to the reader with the two main characters; Victor Frankenstein and the creature he creates are being portrayed to the reader through the use of careful wording. Frankenstein had fallen victim to nature because he was raised in a wealthy environment and had family around him. The creature had fallen victim to nurture because he was left alone from birth and was disliked by many. Shelley reveals this to the reader through her wording and the symbolism using light and fire as an intellectually intriguing, yet physically destructive, force. But over all Shelly supports the creature’s actions because of how he was treated by the

Show More
Related
1439 Words | 6 Pages

After successfully creating the monster, Frankenstein is perplexed by what he has created. Due to the monster’s annoyance with Frankenstein, he acts back against Frankenstein mostly due to his lack of parenting and responsibility. Shelley’s novel strongly connects with the act of parenting. It is clear that Victor Frankenstein did not complete his role as a parent. Due to this, it further led the monster to misbehave and feel as if he does not have a purpose in life.

Read More
887 Words | 4 Pages

Is one born with a set of predetermined characteristics or shaped by their environment as they grow up? This directly relates to the controversy stirred by nature vs nurture. This topic is repeated throughout Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley. The novel shows us that Victor Frankenstein produced an experiment that he deemed a failure. Resulting in Victor leaving his creation, which led to the many repercussions that played out in the story.

Read More
1281 Words | 6 Pages

Frankenstein: Lack of Parenting Parenting is needed in every child’s life. It is one of the most important things that will help a child grow. In the same way though, children need good parenting.

Read More
738 Words | 3 Pages

The internal conflict in Frankenstein creates interest because it evokes emotion from the reader, causes character motivation, and displays dynamic characters. Victor Frankenstein’s internal conflict evokes emotion and creates interest in the novel. Victor Frankenstein debating his fate makes the reader sympathize with him and feel his emotions. The reader can picture their facial

Read More
825 Words | 4 Pages

Overall, Shelley believes in nurture. Frankenstein is born into a wealthy family and has a natural curiosity. Whereas, the Monster is abandoned by his creator. There are signs the defer Victor from his original studies and lead him to creating his Monster. The horrible treatment leads the Monster to his bleak outlook on society.

Read More
1617 Words | 7 Pages

The Duties a Parent Has Towards Their Children What gives humans the right to create life? Moreover, what responsibilities does a parent have to his child. Multiple philosophies have been formulated that address this question; communism and Christianity being two of the most prominent in the western modern world. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses Frankenstein’s monster to convey her belief that a parent's most basic duty to their child is to be present in their live while caring and nurture them. She does this through a multitude of literary devices.

Read More
514 Words | 3 Pages

Victor Frankenstein, a young, Swedish scientist and the protagonist of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, displays hubris when he decides to create a monster using dead body parts and electricity. He develops this idea and and acts on his emotions rather than truly thinking out his entire experiment and its ethicalness. His lack of preparation leads to him creating a creature he chooses to reject, leaving the creature to fend for itself, alone in the world. Frankenstein develops his idea of using electricity to bring a creature to life solely by witnessing lightning strike a tree, a common event of nature. His narration then states that “the catastrophe of this tree excited my [his] extreme astonishment; and I [he] eagerly inquired of my [his] father the nature and origin of thunder and lightning” (24 Shelley).

Read More
395 Words | 2 Pages

Interestingly enough, the novel resembles Shelley’s own life and can be interpreted as a reflection of her perception of families. Shelley shares many of the same characteristics with most of her characters. As the main character in the novel, Frankenstein’s creature is depicted as “a motherless orphan” who had an “unnatural birth” (Griffith). This correlates with Shelley’s own childhood as she was raised without a mother and her birth was in some ways “unnatural” as mothers are not naturally made to die during childbirth.

Read More
819 Words | 4 Pages

Duality is shown in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, a gothic tale of a scientist whom looks to advance the life-giving qualities of mother nature. Through this novel, Shelley proves that good and evil in human nature is not always simple to define, and that everyone has both of these qualities within them. The duality of human nature is shown through the characters of Victor Frankenstein and his monster, who are both heroes in the novel while simultaneously displaying anti-hero qualities. Shelley forces the reader to sympathize with them both but also creates gruesome ideas of the two. Frankenstein’s creature places himself in a submissive position when he begs his creator to have mercy on him and asking the creator to “create a female for [him] with whom [he] can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for [his] being.”

Read More
782 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel Frankenstein,by Mary Shelley, the mysterious and unnatural origins of the character of Frankenstein’s monster are an important element. The Monster, having been created unethically and haphazardly, is at odds throughout the novel, resulting in his alienation from society and prolonged feelings of anger, desertion, and loneliness. Shaping his character, his relationships with other characters, and the meaning of the work as a whole, the Monster’s origins are what define him. The Monster faces rejection and violence every time he attempts to make contact with the new, foreign world he has been thrust into.

Read More
1921 Words | 8 Pages

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

Read More
758 Words | 4 Pages

In Mary Shelley’s iconic gothic novel, Frankenstein, Romantic themes are strongly represented in order to propagandize Romanticism over the elements of knowledge and the Enlightenment. In her novel, Shelley uses gothic nature settings to foreshadow dark events that are about to happen in the novel. She also uses nature to intensify the effect that is brought during significant scenes, a strong example being, when Victor Frankenstein’s monster approaches him after a long period of time. Nature and its use to influence mood is one of the most paramount themes of both Frankenstein and Romanticism.

Read More
1819 Words | 8 Pages

Shelly is therefore claiming that one's own nature and forms in which they were nurtured (Frankenstein) have an effect on those of others, and can even cause someone else to be more inhumane than the original person (the daemon). This is seen in human nature, where one who experiences abandonment from a parent because the parent's nature causes them to flee, this person will be more likely to commit crimes due to their loneliness and lack of direction by a parental figure. This translates directly into the plot of the story,

Read More
1246 Words | 5 Pages

Frankenstein: From Benevolent to Feind “I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend.” (Shelley 69) Said by Frankenstein’s monster, this quote truly defines him: initially an affectionate, love-seeking creature, he transformed into an enraged killer, angry at humanity for the undeservedly poor way he was treated. Victor Frankenstein is an unique, complex individual who encounters a similar change of nature for similar reasons. The quote—though spoken by the monster—encapsulates the evolution of Victor Frankenstein’s personality; misery—a product of isolation and loneliness—aroused a deterioration of temperament from an initially benevolent Frankenstein.

Read More
938 Words | 4 Pages

Parents are everyone 's first role models. Regardless of biological relation, those who raise us have a profound influence on the way we perceive and interpret life. Parents lay the foundation of our first sense of morality and empathy, and usher us to the path of our development of social skills. No matter how consciously one may attempt to have no resemblance to their parents, it is an inevitability of life that we will harness aspects of their influence and carry them through our lifetime. In Mary Shelley’s, “Frankenstein”, the influence of parental figures is displayed by the morals and values instilled in the monster.

Read More

More about The Role Of Nature Vs. Nurture In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Open Document