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Deeply ambitious, and yet also deeply flawed
- Through Victor and Walton, Frankenstein portrays human beings as deeply ambitious, and yet also deeply flawed. Both Victor and Walton dream of transforming society and bringing glory to themselves through their scientific achievements. Yet their ambitions also make them fallible.
www.litcharts.com/lit/frankenstein/themes/ambition-and-fallibility
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Jun 13, 2018 · The prefix ‘Franken-’ thrives in the modern lexicon as a byword for any anxiety about science, scientists and the human body, and has been used to shape worries about the atomic bomb, GM crops,...
Dec 17, 2023 · In conclusion, Shelley used her book, Frankenstein, to show what it means to be human through the creature’s actions. She broadens the definition of humanity by creating a progressive vision that enables those deemed less human to be regarded as completely human.
Through Victor and Walton, Frankenstein portrays human beings as deeply ambitious, and yet also deeply flawed. Both Victor and Walton dream of transforming society and bringing glory to themselves through their scientific achievements.
One of the most conspicuous features of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel ‘Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus‘ is a strikingly accurate portrait of a pathological narcissist as expressed by the novel’s protagonist, the science student Victor Frankenstein.
- Pursuit of Knowledge
- Importance of Family
- Nature and The Sublime
- Symbolism of Light
- Symbolism of Texts
- The Epistolary Form
Shelley wroteFrankensteinin the midst of the Industrial Revolution, when major breakthroughs in technology were transforming society. One of the central themes in the novel—man’s pursuit of knowledge and scientific discovery—explores the subsequent anxieties of this period. Frankenstein is obsessed with uncovering the secrets of life and death with...
In opposition to the pursuit of knowledge is the pursuit of love,community, and family. This theme is most clearly expressed through the creature, whose singular motivation is to seek human compassion and companionship. Frankenstein isolates himself, puts aside his family, and ultimately loses those dearest to him, all for his scientific ambition. ...
The tension between the pursuit of knowledge and the pursuit of belonging play out against the background ofsublimenature.The sublimeis an aesthetic, literary and philosophical concept of the Romantic period that encapsulates the experience of awe in the face of the natural world’s extreme beauty and greatness. The novel opens with Walton’s expedit...
One of the most important symbols in the novel is light. Light is tied to the theme of knowledge as enlightenment, as both Captain Walton and Frankenstein search for illumination in their scientific pursuits. The creature, by contrast, is doomed to spend much of his life in darkness, able to walk around only at night so that he may hide from humans...
The novel is filled with texts, as sources of communication, truth, and education, and as a testament to human nature. Letters were a ubiquitous source of communication during the 19th century, and in the novel, they are used to express innermost feelings. For example, Elizabeth and Frankenstein confess their love for one another through letters. L...
Letters are also important to the novel's structure. Frankensteinis constructed as a nest of stories told in epistolary form. (An epistolary novel is one told through fictional documents, such as letters, diary entries, or newspaper clippings.) The novel opens with Walton’s letters to his sister and later includes the first-person accounts of Frank...
The novel’s subtitle, “Or, the Modern Prometheus,” evokes the first great scientist of Greek mythology who in various versions teaches medicine and science, steals fire from Zeus and gives it to humanity, or creates a human being from clay.
Through Victor and Walton, Frankenstein portrays human beings as deeply ambitious, and yet also deeply flawed. Both Victor and Walton dream of transforming society and bringing glory to themselves through their scientific achievements.
