Answer 2 of the following open-ended questions:
- In his afterword in the Signet Classics edition of Frankenstein, Harold Bloom asserts that “all Romantic horrors are diseases of excessive consciousness, of the self unable to bear the self.” Does this Romantic characteristic apply to Victor and his treatment of the creature? Explain. Consider the fact that Victor never gives the creature a name.
3. Explore the parallels between Victor and the Monster (creator and creation)
4. Discuss the role of Nature in this text. What does it provide for the plot, characterization, extended metaphor, etc. (not just setting!).
3. As soon as the reader is introduced to Victor Frankenstein, it is obvious that there is a sense of mysteriousness about him. The next portion of the novel delves deep into Victor's past and what leads him to be traveling via dog-sled across the North Sea.
ReplyDeleteIt is discovered that Victor made a monster from human remains and was able to endow life upon it. Victor spent several years of intense learning, reading and researching natural philosophy to be able to discover the secret behind life. It is clear that Frankenstein has extremely high intelligence and determination to be able to complete this task. Once the monster comes to life, it is left to fend for itself and is able to learn about the basic necessities of life very quickly. This is exemplified when he goes to make a fire. He did not want the flames to be extinguished but, "the wet wood which I had placed neat the heat dries and itself became inflamed. I reflected on this, and by touching the various branches, I discovered the cause..." (86). He is a very insightful being and is eventually able to speak in a language and recognize complex emotion through observational learning.
Another attribute that the creator and creation share is their feelings of isolation. From the moment he comes to life, the monster does not have a single companion, not even his own creator. The townspeople that he encounters scream and beat him out of their village, the man that discovers him saving the drowning girl shoots him, and the family that he watches diligently and loves reject him without a second thought. He feels like "an unfortunate and deserted creature; I look around, and I have no relation or friend upon earth. These amiable people to whom I go have never seen me, and know little of me. I am full of fears; for if I fail there, I am an outcast in the world for ever" (113). He turns to Frankenstein who, again, lets him down by destroying the female monster and turns his self-pity into rage. This rage leads to the death of every person that Frankenstein cares about. At this point, Victor's loneliness is at an all time high. He, however, is no stranger to isolation. When he was working on the monster, he secluded himself for 2 years so that he could see his project to completion without distractions. He also feels alone when the monster kills William and Justine but he can not tell the truth behind their deaths. All of this tension builds up to a battle of revenge.
Both characters have an extreme thirst for revenge and both believe that they have the moral high-ground in the situation. There is a power struggle between the two in that Victor has the ability to create a companion for the creature while the monster has the ability to take away companions from Victor. They both go to great lengths, traveling across the world, to avenge the wrongs done to them.
2. In Frankenstein, there is the question: are beings the products of their environments or their upbringings. The monster, created by Frankenstein, is molded by his experiences in to a vengeful and vicious creature.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as he is given life, he is abandoned by the only soul on earth that knows he exists. He then must find his own way to navigate through life. His second encounter with other beings occurs when he stumbles into a town. He describes how "the whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons, I escaped to the open country and fearfully took refuge in a low hovel... I lay down happy to have found a shelter, however, miserable... from the barbarity of man" (87-88). He has no idea why he is being treated this way but still is able to find a source of happiness. He then begins his period of watching the De Lacey family. Through his observations, he learns about kindness, companionship, and love, causing him to desire them more than anything in the world. He grows to have his own feelings of attachment and love towards this family and he craves their acceptance. When he is ultimately rejected by them, he feels utterly hopeless. While traveling, he is taken aback by the beauty of nature and he "felt emotions of gentleness and pleasure, that had long appeared dead, revive within me" (120). He finally found happiness but not long after, he is shot by a man for trying to save a girl drowning in a river. Rejected and in immense pain, he continues to build up his hatred for humans. Every time the monster is able to find a source of comfort, he is forced away from it by humans.
Insult is added to injury when Victor begins to make a companion for the monster but then destroys it out of fear of its power. This is heartbreaking for the monster because all he wants is a friend.
The monster was given absolutely no reason not to loathe the human race after being repeatedly and violently spurned by them. His evil killing spree that ensues shortly after the destruction of the female monster is due to the buildup of rejection experienced by the creature.
3. The parallel between Victor and the creation begins with the lonely life of Victor Frankenstein. Victor never had that many people who he deemed important in his life. In his life he only had one true friend. Besides that he essentially had no one else who was important in his life. He abandoned his family after the death of his mother without consideration of his family so that he could pursue his project of bringing the dead back to life. He spent most of his time on his own and was very selfish and was mainly worried about how he felt. When he created the monster he was completely disgusted by it and when he saw what he had created he was immediately repulsed and ran off without worrying about what the monster would do.
ReplyDeleteQuite similarly, the monster was very lonely in the world. He was created all alone and he scared off everyone he saw wherever he went. He could not have any friends or any mates because everyone was disgusted by him so he was completely alone.
Both characters were similar in the way that they mainly worried about their own concerns which were mainly about their own feelings. The Monster worried about finding his creator and finding someone to be with while Victor worried about how he felt after seeing what he called the hideous monster. Both characters also had a hatred for each other which shows the contrast of creator and creation. Usually the creator is supposed to be proud of his creation because despite what the creation may be, the creator would usually be proud. However Victor is repulsed by his creation and therefore runs away in fear of it and even falls ill because if it. In a parallel sense, when the monster finds out just how disgusted his creator was of him, on top of the fact that no one else loves him, he grows a hatred for everything, especially Victor and seeks revenge.
1.In chapter 10 Frankenstein ridden by guilt from the deaths of Justine and William seeks comfort in the woods. There he reflects how his consciousness overpowers all his thought and causes him pain and sorrow. Frankenstein states “why does man boast of sensibilities superior to those apparent in the brute; it only renders them more necessary beings. If our impulses were confined to hunger, thirst, and desire, we might nearly be free..” What separates man from beast is the ability to reason, and while it is popular belief that humans sensibilities are what makes human superior to animal, Frankenstein claims it makes him weak. Man’s ability of consciousness forms this guilty that controls Frankenstein to the point where Frankenstein says he can only barely escape his guilty thoughts in his sleep. Frankenstein understands that if humans were only limited to basic survival thoughts, he would not be burden by his consciousness. At times, this extreme when he cannot bear himself is reflected when he denies himself other human contact and interactions because of the guilt of the evil he has done. Giving the creature a name would strip the creature’s title as “a monster.” If the creature is no longer the monster, Frankenstein would be even further confronted by his actions that lead to the deaths of those he loved. Frankenstein is responsible for those deaths, by creating the creature and by not preventing some deaths, making him the real monster.
ReplyDelete4. Nature as presented in Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, is a staple of romantic literature. According to the romantics, nature is a powerful force in human lives, giving the power to destroy or heal. Shelley uses nature throughout her novel in order to capture the mood of each scene and as a metaphor for what is happening at that instance of the plot. For instance, Shelley utilizes the symbolic meanings of storms to portray Victor Frankenstein’s guilt after William died: “I quitted my seat and walked on, although the darkness and storm increased every minute and the thunder burst with a terrific crash over my head. … vivid flashes of lightning dazzled my eyes, illuminating the lake, making it appear like a vast sheet of fire” (Shelley 59). The storm is a universal symbol for terror or disaster, and the storms that Shelley is no different; Shelley presents a storm that both conveys Frankenstein’s fluctuating emotions and foreshadows disasters to come, beyond the horror that is William’s murder. During the same storm, the lightning allows Frankenstein to observe a “gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect” (59). To say the least, Frankenstein is beyond haunted as he realizes who the murderer was; this horror that he faces sticks with him for the rest of the novel and sets a pattern of future terror and guilt.
ReplyDeleteShelley utilizes the power of nature to foreshadow renewed terror just before Frankenstein finds himself accused of murdering his best friend. That morning, he finds himself at the mercy of the hot sun and the rough waves of the Atlantic after falling asleep on his boat: “I might be driven into the wide Atlantic and feel all the tortures of starvation or be swallowed up in the immeasurable waters that roared and buffeted around me. I had already been out many hours and felt the torment of a burning thirst, a prelude to my other sufferings” (150). Here, Frankenstein is at the mercy of nature’s wrath just as he is at the mercy of his Creature’s malice. After navigating himself onto a foreign shore, he finds himself ostracized and accused of murder. Confused, he submits to the people’s will to be taken to the magistrate in hopes that he could prove that he could not be the murderer. Frankenstein is dismayed to find that the victim is his dear friend, and comes to the conclusion that in reality, Frankenstein is at least partly guilty of Clerval’s death in refusing to craft another monster. From this point on, Frankenstein is tormented by the power that his monster has over him, reflective of the power that nature has over humanity.
1. Victor’s feverish quest for knowledge is ultimately his undoing. From an early point in the novel, Frankenstein had already begun to point out that his “passions [were] vehement… they were turned not towards childish pursuits but to an eager desire to learn…” (Shelley 23). In his hopes to gain an understanding of nature, or his surroundings, he is left broken and afraid. This is because his curiosity takes the form of a creature whose presence would destroy Frankenstein from the inside out, but much of that destruction is self inflicted, meaning Frankenstein himself exacerbates his pain. In this way, the Romantic characteristics noted by Harold Bloom apply to Victor Frankenstein. Victor knows that he is, on some level, at fault. His creation kills innocents, many of whom are his own loved ones, from William to Elizabeth. Even before the creation had killed any humans, Frankenstein immediately felt the repercussions of his actions, and this made him ill for several months. The entire time he was fixated on the image of “the monster on whom [he] had bestowed existence” (46). He had defied the natural order and brought life where there was none, to a creature whom he perceived to be a personification of pure evil. This notion broke Frankenstein and whatever goodness he may have had. He was unable to handle his grief and suffering because he knew he was the one who created it. Victor often seems to be rather narcissistic, so this extreme level of self-pity was not particularly surprising.
ReplyDeleteBut, Victor is not only hard on himself; he speaks to and of the creation as if he is the devil. He curses the creation and refers to him as a “fiend” with a face “too horrible for human eyes to behold” (125). Victor treats the creation this way because the creation is almost like a mirror. The creation is Victor’s child basically, his work, his doing. To see the creation before him is to see his greatest regret reflected back at him. Frankenstein fails to give the creation a name because that would humanize the creation. It would solidify the fact that the creation is indeed real just like Frankenstein is. Once Frankenstein gave the creation a name, he would be forgiving himself for what he did and accepting it. But, Frankenstein is diseased by his “excessive consciousness”, which takes the form of guilt, and he cannot bear the sight of himself or the extension of himself, which is the creation.
3. Victor and his creation are very similar and parallel each other in many ways. They are both very intellectual beings. Frankenstein, obviously, seeks information and has a keen interest in natural philosophy. The creation seeks information from the cottagers in the first year of his life. He learns to perceive his surroundings and walks, and then, he is able to miraculously learn to read and write. Most importantly, the creation learns about the core values of humanity and what exactly it means to be human and to feel emotions.
ReplyDeleteBoth of them also experience fits of passion. They are guided by their vengeance and hatred. After being rejected and receiving no kindness from humanity including his creator, the creation planned to destroy Victor by destroying those in his life. The creation makes the ultimate promise to “be with [Victor] on [his] wedding night” (147). Victor could deny the creation his true desires but “revenge remains-revenge, henceforth dearer than light or food!” (146). After that horrific night in which the creation took the life of Elizabeth, Victor vowed to chase the creation until either Victor died or the creation died. He kept his vow and followed through until his own death of Walton’s boat. It is interesting to see that both Frankenstein and the creation are convinced that the other is at fault. They both feel guilty for their own actions, yet they shift most of the blame onto the other. Frankenstein is tormented when he thinks of the role he played, yet he feels no pity for his creation. He views the creation as an unredeemable monster who shows no mercy. The creation feels guilty for the lives he’s taken, but ultimately, he cites man’s hatred and scorn as the cause of his actions. Perhaps both are at fault and should take more responsibility for their wrongdoings.
I never actually thought of the revenge as a parallel but now that you bring it up it's a very good point. Both want revenge over the other for the wrongs they have done but it seems they would have been better off just settling their differences. I believe had they been on good terms to start with, their similar personalities might have sparked a nice friendly relationship between the two. But instead they went the complete opposite and tried to kill one another.
DeleteFrankenstein appears from early on in the novel to shy away from social interactions and finds comfort in his studies and book. Besides his family, he has one friend, Henry Clerval. Obsessed with his work in science, Frankenstein when working on the creature denies himself interactions with others. This is further demonstrated when he isolates himself due to the guilt of his actions. While Frankenstein isolation appears to be self-inflicted, the creature’s isolation is not. The creature is rejected by society and Frankenstein due to his unnatural nature and his vulgar appearance. The creature forces Frankenstein to experience the extreme loneliness he has felt by murdering anyone Frankenstein held dear.
ReplyDeleteThis leads to their next similarity in revenge. Since the creature killed everyone Frankenstein loved, Frankenstein vows to seek revenge. The creature claims revenge against Frankenstein for abandoning him and denying him a champion. Revenge become the only impetus for both their lives since they have no one else.
Frankenstein and the creature also share a desire to acquire knowledge. This similarity constitutes to the larger theme of the novel regarding the dangers of knowledge. Frankenstein initially fails to understand the consequences of what he had done by creating the monster. Despite years of obsession about creating the creator, Frankenstein did not predict that the creature would understand morals and he certainly did not foresee his creation murdering everyone. The creature was able to understand that Frankenstein abandoned his responsibilities as the creature’s creator this fuels the creature to commit the his crimes. Frankenstein intentions were making scientific discoveries but as he became obsessive he was not able to see exactly what he was doing. The creature also learns the danger of knowledge. When he sees the villagers in the cottage, he discovers what family and love is. He also realizes that he does have that even from his creator. He becomes aware of how lonely he truly is and this leads to his request for a companion. When he leaves the cottage family, he returns to Frankenstein’s laboratory where the creature was created and found Frankenstein’s scientific journals. As the creature read the entries, he discovered how unnatural and evil his creation was. The creature, too, became disgusted with himself. This similarity I feel is the most interesting similar since it is theme held in the frame too when Frankenstein warns Walton about his adventures.
2. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein offers a unique perception of the roles of nature vs. nurture in the forming of human beings. Shelley suggests that nature does have much to do with character, that there is both good and evil in all humans. While listening to the cottagers, Frankenstein’s creation so eloquently conveys Shelley’s viewpoint: “Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent, yet so vicious and base? He appeared at one time a mere scion of the evil principle and at another as all that can be conceived of noble and godlike” (Shelley 100). Since this dichotomy is generalized to all mankind, it is clear that Shelley means that this twoness is natural. However, she expands this point by providing that each being is a mix of these two aspects through the nurture side of humanity. The creation perfectly displays the effects of being neglected and hated. Born without knowledge, Frankenstein must learn nearly everything from the cottagers. Beyond reading and writing, Frankenstein learns of love and compassion through watching and listening to the cottagers’ interactions over several months. While he also learns of hate and cruelty from the stories that the cottagers read, he never truly experiences the inherent evil in humanity until he confronts the cottagers, who are dismayed by his presence. After considering their reaction, compounded with those of various other humans who are terrified by his appearance and the neglect of his creator, the monster turns to hatred. Without proper nurturing, without a family and friends, the creation is pushed into deserving the name of “monster,” as he seeks revenge upon the human race through the cold slaughter of Frankenstein’s loved ones. The monster even acknowledges his turn towards evil quite blatantly as he tries to convince him to craft a new monster: “I am malicious because I am miserable” (125). The creature’s clear cut reasoning for his murderous side demonstrates that Shelley agrees with the concept that a human’s upbringing has much to do with how they turn out; however, she still suggests love and evil coexist in everyone, as seen in the creature’s initial endearment towards the cottagers. The creature is capable of both love and hate, yet is pushed to hate by the neglect and terror of humans.
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ReplyDelete3. Victor Frankenstein and the Creation are both determined beings who turn against their human nature to survive off of misery, hate, and despair. Throughout the novel, almost every action of the Monster towards Frankenstein is an act of revenge. After the Creation is first rejected by the cottagers he observes and admires, he is driven to the murder of William Frankenstein, a relative of the Creator, or his deserter. After strangling William to death, the Monster exclaims, “ ‘I too can create desolation; my enemy is not invulnerable; this death will carry despair to him, and a thousand other miseries will torment and destroy him’ ” (Shelley 122). He wishes to inflict the same pain upon Frankenstein that he feels after being viciously turned away by the family he learns to love. After Frankenstein breaks his promise and the Monster kills every person that he loves, Frankenstein resorts to the same theme of revenge. Without love, they turn to violent hate. The reciprocated love that the Creation never has becomes the love that Frankenstein loses. With nothing left but isolation and misery, Frankenstein chases the Monster to the North on a dog sled. Although the only escape from despair for both characters is death, they refuse to accept it until one of them has fallen. As parallel beings, hatred for the other provides the only remaining purpose in their lives. Frankenstein acknowledges that the only peace he experiences is in sleep. He cannot fully be at peace until each tendril of sleep has been absorbed by death itself. As soon as Frankenstein dies aboard Walton’s ship, the Monster implies with a voice heavy with grief that he will take his own life by allowing the flames to return his unnatural body to the earth. Both Creator and Creation experience the same tragic fate. However, the state of their death was perverted for both of them, for as beings containing/designed with human nature, they yearn to love rather than seek revenge. They cannot accept a life of isolation and are therefore forced to turn against the one other character who fully understands who they are.
ReplyDelete3. Frankenstein and his creation parallel each other in many ways throughout the novel. They both identify as "the other" in their respective lives; the monster obviously feels unaccepted by human society, and even by his own creator. This reaches a peak when he is rejected by the De Lacey family. When the sighted members of the family discovered him, the monster described, "Who can describe their horror and consternation on beholding me?" (Shelley 115). The monster did not only feel as if he was not accepted, he felt as if there was no chance of him ever being accepted. Therefore, he becomes desperate in search of one thing: a companion. Victor Frankenstein, similarly, never quite fit into society either. His father and family did not understand his desire to learn more and immerse himself in philosophy and science. Once he was at school working on his creation, he isolated himself: it was just him and his work. Although he has family and friends, he completely separated himself from them in pursuit of more knowledge. After his own creation begins to destroy the people and things in his life, he cannot tell anyone, further isolating himself. He wants to peacefully be with his own companion, Elizabeth, but just as Victor destroyed that possibility for the monster, the monster destroyed it for Victor. After the monster kills Elizabeth and Victor is left as "the other" again, he thinks, "Life is obstinate and clings closest where it is most hated" (Shelley 173). Frankenstein and his creature both create situations of loneliness for one another: Frankenstein creates the monster without thought of how it would function in society, and refuses to make amends. Therefore, the monster realizes that the only way to make Frankenstein understand true loneliness, is to cause it himself.
ReplyDelete1. Harold Bloom’s assertion that “all Romantic horrors are diseases of excessive consciousness, of the self unable to bear the self” is clearly evident in Victor Frankenstein’s experiences in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley because Victor Frankenstein is unable to bear the sight or idea of his creation, and therefore rejects him. This stems from Victor Frankenstein’s inner dislike of human interaction. When he starts his studies, he is fascinated by the physical nature of humans and their anatomy, but in his life he had not been keen of the mental or emotional states of people and connections between them. Because of this, he chooses to spend his studying days in solitude. Frankenstein is choosing to study one end of the spectrum of being human (physical/anatomical aspects), but chooses to avoid the other end of the spectrum (mental/emotional aspects). His harsh treatment of the creature originates from his initial surprise at how the creature came alive, and how he is horrified at what became of his creation. As a result of his time spent alone, focusing all of his energy into one project, Frankenstein is shocked in the presence of another life form, especially since he had brought it into existence. By putting all of his efforts and energy into the creature, Victor Frankenstein puts parts of himself into the making of the creature as well, so when the creature comes to life it is almost like he is looking into a mirror. The creature’s grotesque outward appearance is an unwelcome addition to Frankenstein’s inner turmoil. The fact that Victor Frankenstein never gives his creation a name reveals that he is afraid of any personal or emotional connection with the creature, and is willing to avoid it at all costs. He forces himself to see the creation as solely a scientific experiment on a physical level, but when the creature comes to life it takes on characteristics of human nature such as thought, speech, and emotions, which challenge Frankenstein’s original notions. This in turn forces Victor Frankenstein to see his creation in a humanized light, which he despises the idea of. Frankenstein refuses to admit that the creature is on the brink of being a fully-functioning human being. If he were to have given the creature a name, it would essentially validate the creature’s existence, which would have been against Frankenstein’s beliefs and motives.
ReplyDelete2. The concept of Nature vs. Nurture in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is very apparent. She delves into ideas of human nature with the capacity for emotions, desire to learn, and need for human connections, as demonstrated through the characters of Victor Frankenstein and his creation. In terms of nurture, she follows the creation’s existence from the perspective that he is highly impacted by his surroundings. The creation is depicted as being a very simple, innocent being when he is first created by Victor Frankenstein. Based on superficial judgements, Frankenstein is horrified with what he has brought into the world. Shelley supports the idea that humans are not innately evil, but are instead influenced to be this way by their surroundings, through the experience of Frankenstein’s creation. The creation is rejected by his creator, causing him to behave in ways he previously may not have. When the creation kills William, for example, it is not an act fueled by inner evil, but instead an arguably spiteful reaction to the cruel circumstances he has faced. Victor’s impact on the creation serves as a parallel for the impact of parents and/or society as a whole on human beings. In this way, Shelley presents the idea that certain negative circumstances or experiences in society (“nuture”) can change a person for the worse, or cause them to do dangerous things that may be against their “nature”.
2. In this novel, the Creation is a perfect example of a being deeply impacted by the actions of his caregiver(s). By the end of Shelley’s framed tale, the Creation bears a violent hatred for all of humankind. He hates their inability to look past the scarring nature of his appearance and the difference in his voice; he hates the isolation he is forced to endure due to the lack of love he is offered; he hates the world in which he was made an outcast; and most of all, he hates Frankenstein for failing to give him the devotion and love he deserves. However, the Monster wasn’t always filled with hatred. When he is first exploring the world, he spends a long period of time studying a group of cottagers and comes to learn their story. From this family he learns how to read and write, and he develops an emotional attachment for the first time. As he is recounting his story to Frankenstein, the Monster reveals his feelings of “‘additional love and reverence for my protectors (for so I loved, in an innocent, half-painful self-deceit, to call them)’” (102). The Creation wants to consider the cottagers his caregivers, but the love he has for them is never reciprocated, despite his kind efforts to collect firewood for them and finally interact with the family. His acceptance of evil is driven by the lack of “nurturing,” for Felix attacks the Monster upon his arrival and the family soon abandons the cottage to escape potential danger. If they had looked past his abnormalities in appearance and behavior to see his decent quality of character, the Monster would not have been driven to murder. Additionally, the Creation once again experiences rejection when Frankenstein abandons him and refuses to take on the caregiver role. Even after promising to grant the Monster his one wish for a female companion, Frankenstein breaks his promise and destroys all of the Monster’s hope for love and friendship. Therefore, it was not the Creation’s nature to be driven by hatred and malice. Even at the conclusion of the novel when Frankenstein has died, the Monster cries, “ ‘My heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy, and when wrenched by misery to vice and hatred, it did not endure the violence of the change without torture such as you cannot even imagine’” (195). It is evident that the Monster suffered when murdering all of Frankenstein’s innocent loved ones. He was driven to evil because of the lack of nurturing he received throughout his existence.
ReplyDelete1. Victor Frankenstein embodies the statement of "All Romantic horrors are diseases of excessive consciousness, of the self unable to bear the self." From the moment that the creature awakes Victor Frankenstein is rattled with what is in front of him. As soon as Victor takes a look at the creature he says, "I had worked hard of nearly two years, for the sol purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body...but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart" (Shelley 42). Frankenstein, in that very instant, became afraid of himself and the power he has. He was able to put pieces of metal together and create life. If there is a religious undertone, Frankenstein could be afraid that he is like God, creating life, when there really is only supposed to be one high and almighty Creator of Life. Frankenstein could not even begin to wrap his head around the fact that he accomplished what he set out to do. He also did not even think about what the consequences would be once he did accomplish this. He probably did not foresee himself running away from the creature. It is ironic that Victor drives himself insane trying to make this creation and then drives himself crazy trying to rid himself of the thought of the creation. Going deeper into the plot, Victor's creation ends up killing his brother, William, and ends up framing his "sister", Justine. Victor must live with this unsettling feeling that his creation caused harm to his family. As his family believes Justine is innocent Victor thinks, "During the whole of this wretched mockery of justice I suffered living torture" (64). As a result of Victor calling his creation an "ugly wretch" and running away he caused the creature to feel neglected from the moment of his "birth." This caused the monster to commit some heinous crimes against mankind and now Victor must learn to cope with the guilt. To add, Victor never gives his creation a name. He never even thinks about it because he is always so consumed by the thought of what the monster has the capability of doing. By giving the creature a name Victor would show that he is accepting the creature as part of mankind, which is not what is wants. A name would give the creation an identity and that is the last think Victor wants to do. Ultimately, Victor is afraid that he has created something more powerful than humans.
ReplyDelete1. Harold Bloom’s assertion of the quality of all Romantic horrors is concurrent with the example set by Victor Frankenstein and his demeanor towards his creation. Throughout the novel, the reader becomes acutely aware of Victor’s distaste towards the creature. After having spent the first four chapters praising the monumental nature of his own personal quest, Victor begins the fifth chapter by telling the reader that he accomplished his goal. However, he immediately refers to the accomplishment as a “catastrophe” (Shelley 42). Incredulously, he exclaims, “His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God!” (42). Victor is so overcome with horror that he abandons the creation in his laboratory, does not even wait to see what it might do, and hides away in his room. It is strange to think that the work of two years of sleepless nights and constant toiling culminated in such a rushed and horrified flight. Victor is clearly a man who is fascinated with science and acquiring knowledge: “There only remained a resolution to return to my ancient studies and to devote myself to a science for which I believed myself to possess a natural talent” (33), so it is out of character for him to so abruptly stop his work the minute it comes to life. Thus, he must not have departed for any logical or clear cut reason, but for a deeper and more emotional one. If the monster were to represent for Victor an inner self which he cannot cope with normally, thereby causing its unconscious manifestation, then the sight of the monster would set off Victor’s immediate rejection. As Bloom points out, Romantic horror is illustrative of the self being unable to bear the self. Victor is unable to bear the sight of his creation. Even when the monster tells him his own first hand account of his life and all of the hatred he had to endure, an event that is meant to build sympathy for the monster, Victor is apathetic: “when I looked upon him, when I saw the filthy mass that moved and talked, my heart sickened and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred” (126). Victor’s rejection of the monster relies heavily on sight; he cannot look past the monster’s features, features which Victor himself created, perhaps out of fear and disgust for an ugliness which he worries himself to have. This ugliness can stem from the very act of seeking to defy natural death, since it is produced from his fervent intellectual drive. In this case, Victor is reflecting the ideas of his father toward his captivation with the pseudosciences. Victor is told from a young age not to study this field, impressing a negative idea onto his mind. When he continues the study anyway, that negativity is still with him, though he chooses to ignore it because of his captivation with it. So, when his curiousity produces the monster, he is completely horrified with it because it was made from a “bad” science, but a science which he had at one time loved. Thus, the insecurity is revealed: through loving this science, has Victor also tainted his own being? Unable to directly confront this, he first creates the monster, then shuns it. The very fact that Victor never even gives his creation a name indicates his inability to face what truly bothers him. So, though the inhibition of sight is a theme remarked upon greatly by Shelley through the rest of the world’s rejection of the monster, Victor’s own rejection of the monster has less to do with the monster’s appearance, which Victor, as creator, should be able to accept, and more to do with Victor’s own qualms with himself.
ReplyDelete3. In the beginning of the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley we are introduced to Victor Frankenstein as a man on a mission to learn. He decides to study science and philosophy, and he ardently argues to pursue his interests by attending college. Thus, Like his creator the creature also has a passion to learn. He creates a school for himself in a sense and builds a hut outside a cottage where he can listen in on conversations within the cottage and learn inadvertently through the cottage dwellers. By attending their assigned schools the creator and the creature both learn of studies they individually enjoy. They also seem to parallel each other in their thirst for knowledge. Originally Victor Frankenstein learns of the sciences through outdated text found in his home, and the creature learns through the novels left for him out in the woods which also described tales from long ago. They both allowed these novels to penetrate them deeper than anything else they had yet to learn. Victor took his knowledge of these philosophers to college and the creature used his new knowledge to construct an understanding of the world around him. I personally find it ironic how Victor abhors the creature even though they are really quite similar. Also I found it quite unusually coincidental that the creature just so happened to take a like to Victor’s younger brother. Had the creature, in the short time he was with him, drawn something from Victor? Maybe a personality, or pieces of Victor's personal life? I know he found Victor’s journal but other than that I'm wondering if the creature unknowingly gathered more information by a supernatural force.
ReplyDelete2. The theme of nature versus nurture is prevalent throughout all of Frankenstein, not simply with the monster, but also with Victor. On this theme, Shelley indicates that she is more prone to believing that nurture takes dominance over nurture, though there is an interplay between the two that exists in every being. In Victor, the audience sees that he is naturally curious as a child, since he ventures on his own into the works of Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus. This suggests that he has a proclivity towards the unknown. However, he is nurtured in a sheltered lifestyle. Apart from the time leading up to and the actual creation of his monster, the majority of Victor’s life is led in the same sheltered manner that he was brought up in. Had the creation not affected him so drastically, he may have ended up overcoming the way he was brought up. Because of the event, he again became reclusive, though this time even more than previously, for he barely opens up to even his family. Originally, the nature of Victor was one of daring and curiosity; however, life rears him to become closed off and timid. Similarly, the creation is nurtured into a violent and vindictive being, though this kind of behavior is not exhibited by the creation as a “newborn.” Through his retelling of the story, the audience finds that the creation is naturally inquisitive and gentle. Upon awaking, he describes how he first encountered the moon: “I started up and beheld a radiant form rise from among the trees. I gazed with a kind of wonder” (Shelley 85). Clearly, the creation is observant and wondering, similar to Victor, but, while Victor is more hungry for knowledge, the creation simply looks to understand. This is also evident in his acquisition of language, for he learns it entirely on his own and through his experience watching the De Lacey family. His time with the De Lacey family also displays his gentleness since he lives with them for so long, completely unnoticed, and is even helpful with daily chores to lessen their burden. He admires and loves them, though they never show him any love in return. When the sighted family discovers him and rejects him, he is overcome with grief, though he isn’t yet completely beaten. He saves a girl who is drowning in a river, and, being thought of as the culprit, he is shot for it. Still, the world hasn’t gotten him completely down. When the creation comes across a small child, he hopes that the child’s innocence will allow him to befriend the child. However, once the child reveals his nasty disposition against the monster, as well as his family name, the monster is not able to withstand the pressure of all of the hatred, and he cracks, killing the boy then framing an innocent girl for his murder. This is when the creation indicates that he has been turned into the monster that the world thinks he is. He loses his natural innocence and inquisitiveness because of the way he is nurtured by his environment. Thus, as with Victor, Shelley illustrates that no matter how powerful the nature of a being may be, as the creation held onto his inner self through so much, the nurturing of a person will eventually take dominance over him.
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ReplyDelete2. Shelley uses the character of the creation in "Frankenstein" to examine the role of nature v. nurture in society. By using a nonhuman, independent thinker, Shelley is able to preform a literary experiment in which she shows how an "innocent" being would develop without the specific outside influences of upbringing and predisposed information. The creature begins the story as one of good nature; he only strives to learn about the society he has become immersed in and be accepted by the people in it. Even after his first encounter with human brutality from the villagers, he is able to remain pure and docile. The creature describes, " some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons, I escaped to the open country" (Shelley 93). The monster does not consider attacking back, even though he is physically stronger to the men. It is not until later, when he is emotionally rejected after he felt he had formed bonds with the De Lacey family that he became vengeful. He hates his loneliness, and he begins to hate Frankenstein for putting him in that position. He exclaims, "Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live?" (Shelley 116). Only after his whole world, that is his "relationship" with the De Lacey's came crashing down did he turn to violence and cruelty. He did not have any parental figure to guide him, and he began to act on his emotions. Every act of violence that the monster committed was in relation to taking revenge on his creator, or to convince his creator to make him a companion. After Frankenstein refused to make him a companion, the monster is only filled with rage and takes away the only thing he can from Frankenstein: his companion. However, after he acts out in revenge, he is regretful. His good nature kicks back in and he is remorseful. He ends his own life because he cannot handle the guilt; this proves that he is good at heart, because he was able to understand the wrongness of the acts he committed.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you took the approach of coming to the conclusion that the creation is good at heart. I think with a little guidance he could have been a real joy of a guy. But since he was literally rejected by everyone he had no other choice but to act out against the man who turned his back on him in the very beginning and forced him in to the unforgiving world.
Delete2. In Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, the protagonist Victor Frankenstein gives an inhuman creature life. His creation brings to light the concept of nature vs nurture. Frankenstein's creature was "born" as an essentially blank slate -- he had to learn to speak by observing other villagers. It is not impossible to assume that Frankenstein's monster may also have learned emotional and social behaviors from other humans such as Frankenstein and the cottagers. For example, the earliest interaction the creature had with humans was that of fear and violence. His creator abandoned him, and later, when he tries to find food and shelter, "the whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me [...] until I escaped to the open country and fearfully took refuge in a low hovel" (87). Although Frankenstein's monster was not originally violent by nature, it is possible that he had learned this behavior from humans early in his life and emulated it later once he lost all hope in humanity. The creature was definitely not unaffected by his surroundings. He even admits that his emotions could have been different if he had been introduced to other humans first, saying, "if my first introduction to humanity had been made by a young soldier, burning for glory and slaughter, I should have been imbued with different sensations" (110). However, it is also possible that Frankenstein's monster could have had some intrinsic values that existed due to his nature and not his environment. The creature was unnaturally created; he appears disgusting and monstrous, so it is not impossible that his mind would be similarly deformed from that of humans. That perhaps is something Victor Frankenstein would believe. However, I believe that Shelley was trying to illustrate that evilness is not innate. She shows this through Frankenstein's early behavior, in which he wishes to connect and befriend humans. He only ever turns violent when he is consistently shunned and attacked. The way humans treat him turns him murderous; I do not believe he was initially inclined to become violent whatsoever. The "parental" role is critical to the character of the child. Victor's disgust and neglect of his creation directly result in the monster's later violent actions.
ReplyDelete4. Nature plays a critical role within Frankenstein. Nature imagery provides important emotional undertones for the novel. As a gothic novel, Frankenstein also has a lot of gothic and romantic elements in which nature is emphasized. In the book, nature reflects the emotions of the characters and can foreshadow events. For example, at the start of chapter 10, the weather and environment on the mountain reflect Victor's melancholy. He says, "All of soul-inspiring fled with sleep, and dark melancholy clouded every thought. The rain was pouring in torrents, and thick mists hid the summits of the mountains, so that even I saw not the faces of my mighty friends" (78). Soon after, when Victor and his monster meet and the monster convinces Victor to hear his story, it rains once more, foreshadowing the tragedy that Frankenstein's monster will reveal within his story (that he killed William). Beyond nature reflecting emotions, nature is also a healing force within the novel. As the Romantics believed, solitude in nature had healing powers. In the novel, as Frankenstein is recovering from illness in Geneva, he often stays in solitude, spent long days alone on the lake in a boat. Despite his misery, he was greatly cheered by this and felt stronger because of it. Nature is greatly important to the health and sanity of Frankenstein -- it is a source he draws strength from when everything else in his life was failing. Even in his darkest moments, such as after Elizabeth is killed, he finds solace in nature. He said, "What became of me [after Elizabeth's death]? I know not; I lost sensation, and chains and darkness were the only objects that pressed upon me. Sometimes, indeed, I dreamt that I wandered in flowery meadows and pleasant vales with the friends of my youth". Even as he lost what was most important to him, he clung to the nostalgia of nature to give him the strength to continue surviving. Although revenge is a huge facet of Frankenstein's character, it is obvious that nature plays a large, positive role in his life as well.
ReplyDelete4. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley offers a delightful metaphor for human nature in her description of the natural landscapes within the novel. She specifically offers an analyzation of Victor Frankenstein’s inner emotions within these descriptions. When Victor is found roaming through the woods trying to get the thought of his murderous creature out of his head his emotions are often directly mirrored by the natural occurrences around him. When he is mad the wind starts to whip through the tree branches, when he needs a distraction he hears an avalanche in the distance, and when he's calm the scenes are described as beautifully picturesque. Thus Shelley offers the point that it is human nature to be unpredictable. Victors emotions are as unpredictable as the weather and as torrid as the avalanche he hears. His rage is as rapid as the wind that blows in the mountains and his peace is as peaceful as the sweet silence of the outdoors. Upon thinking about this interesting comparison I began to question, what is human nature? And was the creation of the creature natural because it was within Victors human nature to want to strive to accomplish his goals? And just because something seems immoral is it against human nature?
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ReplyDelete3. Victor and the Monster are actually very similar underneath their physical features. Both Victor and the Monster have extremely obsessive behaviors. In the beginning of the novel, Victor was obsessed with natural philosophy. Victor says, "From this day natural philosophy, and particularly chemistry, in the most comprehensive sense of the term, became nearly my sole occupation" (Shelley 35). He was always yearning to learn and did whatever he had to do to get the information he was looking for. Also, Victor nearly killed himself trying to create this being. He would not stop until he accomplished his goal. This obsessive behavior is also seen in the Monster. The monster has an obsession with seeking vengeance on Victor Frankenstein because he abandoned him and made him an outcast in society. The monster literally follows Victor everywhere he goes so he is always close enough to act if the opportunity arrises. In the same breath, the monster is also obsessed with being accepted by society. As the monster watches the De Lacey's he describes, "The more I saw them, the greater became my desire to claim their protection and kindness; my heart yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creatures..." (112). The monster hides out in his "home" on the De Lacey's property until he sees the moment to act.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, Victor and the monster are both isolated from society. Victor, however, chooses to be isolated. Because he wants to create this being and loves to learn, he disregards his family, and only focuses on his studies. Victor in a way can be classified as "the other." Unlike many people in his society, Victor chooses to stay cooped up and all alone when he has a family that loves him. Victor has what the monster cannot have. Victor becomes isolated by the end of the novel because all of his loved ones are killed by his own creation. On the other hand, the monster is not isolated by choice. He is definitely considered "the other." The monster looks and sounds different than humans. His physique makes people afraid of him. He is not accepted by society and this really does hurt him. The monster must live by himself, but does try and make Victor create somebody like him.
Lastly, Victor and the Monster both have mutable feelings. At first, Victor hated natural philosophy, but then came to love it. Victor loved the idea of creating the monster, but then hates it. Victor decides it will be good to give the monster a girlfriend, but ends up destroying it. For the monster, he first hates humans because of Victor. He then finds the De Lacey's and begins to love them because of their compassion and love for life. However, once he comes face to face with his perfect model of mankind it shatters right before his own eyes. Also, the monster is happy that he made Victor feel alone by killing his family. Then at the end, the monster sees his dead creator and exclaims, "I, who irretrievably destroyed thee by destroying all thou lovedst..." Here he begins to feel remorse for his actions. Each character has feelings that change as the story progresses. Therefore, the creator and creation, although play two different roles, have underlying similarities.
Victor and the Monster, or the creator and the creation are perfect parallels as well as perfect opposites of each other. In the name itself, creator and creation, we can deduct that Victor is the inventor of life and the Monster is the manifestation of unnatural life. Therefore, the Monster will be always connected to its maker, in this case: Victor; the two show extreme passions and emotions that come with every situation; for instance, when the Monster shares his story with emphasis and heart. Also, this power of emotion can be derived from the social standing of both the Victor and the Monster. The two seem to be different from the rest of the world. The Monster, who is definitely not human, stands out from the rest and is isolated in society. Victor, on the other hand, is very much physically in the society as well as mentally isolated. Only one man decided to make life, Victor was alone in that pursuit. Furthermore, throughout the novel, the Monster wants to seek revenge for the pain and sorrow that Victor caused by abandoning the Monster. Similarly, Victor constantly feels guilty for creating such a being; “Thus spoke my prophetic soul, as, torn by remorse, horror, and despair, I beheld those I loved spread vain sorrow upon the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts.” (Shelley 79) And so, they push and pull each others emotions in accordance to the creation and treatment of the Monster; for example, when the Monster wants to seek revenge on Victor he kills William and in return Victor feels guilty. At the end, the two end up being miserable, distraught, and obsessed. At the end of the novel Victor is obsessed with the idea of finding the Monster and , and the Monster is obsessed with the idea of creating another person. They both show extreme devotion to their interests and passions, as well as, are connected and emotionally driven.
ReplyDelete2 Shelley definitely challenges the concept of Nature vs. Nurture in her novel. She begins the Victor’s story by him describing his joyful childhood and how nurturing his family was. In fact, his family adopted children who needed a good home like Elizabeth; Victor has the quintessential nurturing family, and he clearly forgets how essential nurturing is to the growth of any living creature. Victor grew up in a well-off family and had a contained domestic life, all was stable and healthy. Victor is smart and shows a passion for science and continues with his interest. It is until this point (when he is about to go to Ingolstadt) that Victor shows the benefits of the nurturing that his parents gave him. They fed him, educated him, and showed him the “standard” of what a family should be: loving and caring. After Victor goes to school he looses himself in his studies and fails to be a part of the society that he has grown into liking and loving; Victor started to mold himself out of what his parents designed for him. However, Victor has never been left alone or abandoned, he was nurtured when he needed it and asked for it, like when his father went to visit Victor after Henry’s death; which is extremely unlike the creation, who was looked down upon since it’s birth. The creation is an example of a person who grew without nurture, but only the harsh reality of nature. Victor was, “unable to endure the aspect of the being [he] created, [and he] rushed out of the room.” (Shelley 51) Of course, the creation saw this lack of love and caring from his creator, his mother (Freudian Slip), and had to find elsewhere to fulfill his longing. And so, I do not see the creation as evil, but only as a misguided soul. If only Victor nurtured the creation as he was nurtured by his parents then maybe the creation would not have caused so much distress.
ReplyDeleteVictor and the Monster are quite alike. One of the parallels they share is learning. Victor is obsessed with learning at point, which is how he came to create the monster. He loves learning about philosophy and is very intelligent. The monster is also very good at learning. Although it did not know how to speak when first created, it learns how to read and write very quickly by watching the De Lacey’s. Both the creator and the creation are very intelligent. Another common characteristic is that Frankenstein and the monster both are obsessed with the idea of seeking revenge. It turns into a repeating circle of vengeance. Frankenstein’s brother is killed by the monster, Frankenstein rejects the request for a female monster, the monster gets back by killing Cervical, then Victor creates the female monster and kills right in front of the monster, the monster kills Elizabeth and indirectly Victor’s father, and Frankenstein is chasing the monster to seek revenge by until his death. Lastly, both character’s “play God”, but in opposite ways. Victor creates life, while the monster takes life away. The action of Victor creating life is cancelled out by all the lives the monster takes away.
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Delete2. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the concept of Nature vs. Nurture is discussed. The monster is not created as an evil creature. It was very kind and cared very much of the De Lacy’s since he left firewood for them The monster only does evil things when Frankenstein fully rejects and abandons him. I do not even think that the monster turns evil, but rather just does evil things, since in the last scene where the monster is leaning over Frankenstein he is actually sad that he is dead since all the monster really wanted from Frankenstein was love. Frankenstein was really the only person who could give the monster love, since everyone else ran away from him, and also Frankenstein was the only one who could’ve made him another monster to love, but he denied the monster love in both instances, pushing the monster to seek vengeance on him and turn evil. In that instance, Shelley shows that the role of parents and society mold a human being.
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side though, Frankenstein had a very loving and nurturing family. They cared for him and he was raised in a welcoming home which adopted a few children. Yet Frankenstein stops contacting his family and practically abandons them after his mother’s death. In this case, it is not his parents role which changed him into evil, it was just innate. Overall though, I think Shelley asserts that on one is born evil, but becomes evil based on their surroundings of society and people.
2. One of the main topics that Shelley discussed in her book is the concept of nature vs. nurture. In the book, Shelley puts some of the blame on Victor, the parent figure, for the way the creation acted. Because Victor created the creation and abandoned it, the creation felt alone in the world and went on a rampage when he found out that Victor was disgusted by his presence. During this time he killed all of the people Victor loved as an act of revenge. Shelley tries to make it seem that the creation did this because of Victor. However I believe that although the creation's motives for his murders might have been because of Victor, the actions that the creation completed were his own doings. The creation acted based on how he was feeling and therefore should receive most of the blame for what he had done.
ReplyDelete1. “All Romantic horrors are diseases of excessive consciousness, of the self unable to bear the self”, is applicable to both literature and life. Art imitates life, and vice versa. Victor's treatment of the creature is a projection of the self being unable to bear the self. Victor's life after the creation regresses to the inner self. His anxiety is akin to a poison that infects his whole existence, and he literally becomes diseased as a result of his acute awareness of himself at all times. His life is spent in inaction as a result, but indelibly manic in his mind. His behavior and feelings towards the creature extend beyond the indifference of rejection and venture into disgust. The creation in his own image is the reflection Victor fears. The creation is the brainchild of his unhinged obsessiveness and morbid fetish made flesh. It is no wonder Victor has such an aversion to the manifestation of his shadow aspect (Jungian - an unconscious aspect of the personality which the conscious ego does not identify in itself). The only apropriate name for the creature would be Victor.
ReplyDelete3. A parallel I identified between Victor and the creation is their "parents". Victor's father was visiting an old friend whom poverty had befallen. After the poor man's death, Frankenstein Sr. unwittingly falls in love with his daughter. With a sizable difference in age between them, they have Victor. The creation is abandoned by Victor, but the cottagers become his surrogate parents. Felix occupies the male parental role. He was visiting a Turk in prison when he inadvertently falls in love with the Turk's daughter, Safie, who comes to occupy the female parental role. The parallels between the creation and creator can even be traced to their genesis.
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