...Mary Shelley covers an array of themes which have been subjects of heated debates and controversy. The provocative nature of these themes has also arrested the interest of numerous literary critics, resulting in a huge assortment of critiques that detail their understanding and interpretation of the content and sentiments expressed in the novel. Topics of interest among the reviewers have ranged from the materialist inclinations and utopian ideals expressed in the novel, to the creativity of the author and relevancy of the content, to her own upbringing. This paper seeks to critically analyze the article, “‘Frankenstein’- a cautionary tale of bad parenting” by Susan Coulter, which reviews Shelley’s novel in relation...
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...Khizer Awan AP LIT Frankenstein Literary Analysis I Must Know More Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley is a romantic era novel based on the theme of knowledge. The word “knowledge” reoccurred many times throughout Frankenstein and forced the reader to understand the definition of it. According to Webster’s Dictionary, knowledge is defined as “Knowledge: n. Understanding gained by actual experience; range of information; clear perception of truth; something learned and kept in the mind.” The word knowledge is very simple, but has different meanings to all of us. Knowledge is the tool we use in making proper judgement. Knowledge is an extremely powerful thing and it must be used wisely and properly. Carelessly using knowledge can cause terrible consequences. The novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, is a novel that has many comparisons of powers in life. It pertains to many themes in society today. Frankenstein contrasts science, technology, life and death, and most importantly knowledge and ignorance. It shows the consequences of knowledge in both negative and positive ways. In Frankenstein, three characters searched for one thing - knowledge. Unfortunately the results of their search differed from what they had anticipated. Walton, blinded by ambition, believed that search for knowledge on the route to the North Pole would bring fame to his name, but he quickly learned that he ended up only with the danger to the lives of his crew. Frankenstein, driven by passion...
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...many questions one must ask in order understand the full purpose and intention of Frankenstein; can someone devaluate life so easily? What is the meaning of life? Can science really go too far? The outcomes of technology and science, even God for that matter, both positive and negative, can drastically affect the outcome of a creation. In Frankenstein, Victor realizes that triumphing science, the forces of nature and the mocking of God can, just as quickly, back fire. Victor Frankenstein, even as a young boy, was fascinated with the way things work and why they happened. In order to fulfill his quest social standings, he becomes obsessed with an idea that no one had ever thought or attempted before; creating a “perfect being”. With this idea, possibly mad idea, he did construct a being but certainly not “perfect” in his eyes. Victor shows as the devaluation of life and the society that demands for perfection by the creation of the monster. “Victor’s characteristics of selfishness, pride, dishonesty, and lack of value for life are presented.” (Lundsford) In his creation of life, something so incredible, once thought impossible, had finally come to a reality, but it was still not perfect enough for him. Frankenstein was unable to cope with his status as a creator; the thought of his creation haunted him even before the creation started murdering Frankenstein’s friends and family. Instead of seeing the good that he had created, he immediately saw all that was wrong with the creation...
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...Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus author · Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley type of work · Novel genre · Gothic science fiction language · English time and place written · Switzerland, 1816, and London, 1816–1817 date of first publication · January 1, 1818 publisher · Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones narrator · The primary narrator is Robert Walton, who, in his letters, quotes Victor Frankenstein’s first-person narrative at length; Victor, in turn, quotes the monster’s first-person narrative; in addition, the lesser characters Elizabeth Lavenza and Alphonse Frankenstein narrate parts of the story through their letters to Victor. climax · The murder of Elizabeth Lavenza on the night of her wedding to Victor Frankenstein in Chapter 23 protagonist · Victor Frankenstein antagonist · Frankenstein’s monster setting (time) · Eighteenth century setting (place) · Geneva; the Swiss Alps; Ingolstadt; England and Scotland; the northern ice point of view · The point of view shifts with the narration, from Robert Walton to Victor Frankenstein to Frankenstein’s monster, then back to Walton, with a few digressions in the form of letters from Elizabeth Lavenza and Alphonse Frankenstein. falling action · After the murder of Elizabeth Lavenza, when Victor Frankenstein chases the monster to the northern ice, is rescued by Robert Walton, narrates his story, and dies tense · Past foreshadowing · Ubiquitous—throughout his narrative, Victor uses words such as “fate” and...
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...Since its first publication in 1818, by an “anonymous” author, Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus has inspired numerous adaptations, remakes and parodies across different literary genres. Reprinted again in 1831, this time with an introduction written by Mary Shelley acknowledging her authorship, Frankenstein through its discrediting of science and the omnipotence of nature, confirms ands challenges our own habitual understandings of the world around us. The habitual understanding I will be focusing on is western hegemonic rationalism and the dominance of science as the ruler and explainer of my universe in comparison to the earlier more romantic ideology of Shelley’s time. Frankenstein also carries a warning about ambition. In a society that believes ambition to be a good thing, Shelley attempts to revel catastrophic consequences for humans over come with the quest for glory and science’s obsessive and overly ambitious nature. Western hegemonic ideal is the cultural identity that has conditioned me, becoming habitual, normal and routine. However, Shelley was privileged as she was writing at the beginning of the scientific enlightenment era, and could therefore identify what would be lost if science and technology were to usurp the position of God, nature and fate. Art, emotions, passion, suffering, humility etc were to be restricted into liminal spaces, creating a world not unlike Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World. Romantic philosophies have been endorsed in Frankenstein...
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...Reading Between the Lines: An analysis of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or, the Modern Prometheus, using Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto as an example of male discourse about women Louise Othello Knudsen English Almen, 10th semester Master’s Thesis 31-07-2012 Tabel of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 5 Historical Context .............................................................................................................................. 10 The View on Women and Their Expected Roles in the late 18th and 19th Century ....................... 11 - Mary Shelley disowns herself .................................................................................................. 11 - Mary Shelley’s Background .................................................................................................... 12 Women’s Role in Frankenstein ..................................................................................................... 13 Men’s Role in Frankenstein ........................................................................................................... 13 - Women in Society and Women as Writers .........................................................
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...community, its his greatest desire. With Victor, on the other hand, there seems to be a gulf between him and the rest of society. * Justine’s trial testifies to the inhumanity of man. What is important to note is the way this links in to a vital theme of the novel, which is the presentation of the creature himself. He starts off innocent and wanting a relationship with his maker. It is the way that he is shunned by his maker and by humanity and treated cruelly that forces him into cruelty, but this cruelty is only paralleled by the monstrous nature of humanity as displayed in incidents such as the trial of Justine. We cannot expect the creature to be good when he has no model of goodness on which he can base his behaviour. * Frankenstein's lack of personal responsibility lead to tragedy? 1. Victor's decision to make the monster and then doing nothing to take care of him demonstrates his selfishness and unwillingness to accept that what he does has consequences not just for him but also for many others. He creates the monster to bring himself...
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...NTRODUCTION: AN INVITATION TO BOMBAY The envelope was hand-delivered to our house in Golf Links, Tan enclave in New Delhi whose name captured the clubbable lifestyle of its leisured and propertied Indian residents, soon after we had arrived in the middle of a north Indian winter to begin a long assignment. It contained a large card, with a picture embossed in red and gold of the elephant-headed deity Ganesh, improbably carried on the back of a much smaller mouse. Dhirubhai and Kokilaben Ambani invited us to the wedding of their son Anil to Tina Munim in Bombay. In January 1991, just prior to the explosion in car ownership that in later winters kept the midday warmth trapped in a throat-tearing haze overnight, it was bitterly cold most of the time in Delhi. Our furniture had still not arrived-a day of negotiations about the duty payable lay ahead at the Delhi customs office where the container was broken open and inspected-and we camped on office chairs and fold-up beds, wrapped in blankets. The Indian story was also in a state of suspension, waiting for something to happen. The Gulf War, which we watched at a big hotel on this new thing called satellite television, was under- cutting many of the assumptions on which the Congress Party’s family dynasty, the Nehrus and Gandhis, had built up the Indian state. The Americans were unleashing a new generation of weap- ons on a Third World regime to which New Delhi had been close; its Soviet friends were standing by, even agreeing with...
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...NTRODUCTION: AN INVITATION TO BOMBAY The envelope was hand-delivered to our house in Golf Links, Tan enclave in New Delhi whose name captured the clubbable lifestyle of its leisured and propertied Indian residents, soon after we had arrived in the middle of a north Indian winter to begin a long assignment. It contained a large card, with a picture embossed in red and gold of the elephant-headed deity Ganesh, improbably carried on the back of a much smaller mouse. Dhirubhai and Kokilaben Ambani invited us to the wedding of their son Anil to Tina Munim in Bombay. In January 1991, just prior to the explosion in car ownership that in later winters kept the midday warmth trapped in a throat-tearing haze overnight, it was bitterly cold most of the time in Delhi. Our furniture had still not arrived-a day of negotiations about the duty payable lay ahead at the Delhi customs office where the container was broken open and inspected-and we camped on office chairs and fold-up beds, wrapped in blankets. The Indian story was also in a state of suspension, waiting for something to happen. The Gulf War, which we watched at a big hotel on this new thing called satellite television, was under- cutting many of the assumptions on which the Congress Party’s family dynasty, the Nehrus and Gandhis, had built up the Indian state. The Americans were unleashing a new generation of weap- ons on a Third World regime to which New Delhi had been close; its Soviet friends were standing by, even agreeing with...
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