Insanity In Frankenstein Research Paper

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Liam Herndon English 10 February 2015 Mad, but Not a Madman Insanity — a very specific quality is generally associated with this word. Insanity is viewed as an illness that affects certain people. This illness is permanent and in some way prevents a person from behaving or thinking reasonably or of his or her own accord. Although the most popular, this definition of insanity is not the only one. There are people who other views of what insanity is. Mary Shelley was one such person. In Frankenstein, she demonstrates this opinion through two characters: Victor Frankenstein and his monster. Through these characters, insanity is argued not to be a chronic illness with which people born, but, rather, a temporary phenomenon that, as a result of…show more content…
Although he experiences occasional periods of delirium, they always ends he returns to a state in which “[h]e is. . . much recovered from his illness” (11). When he is recovered, Frankenstein is a moral person with the ability to reason and control over himself. His behavior is very rarely violent and he knows right from wrong recognizing and condemning acts of injustice and cruelty as ones that should not be committed. When he hears his monster’s account of having carried out such acts, it “kindle[s]. . . anger in” him and causes him to oppose the monster as an immoral being (104). Were Frankenstein lacking this ability to understand morals, it would suggest him to be insane, but that is not the case. Immorality is one characteristic associated with insanity that is not possessed by Frankenstein. Illogic is another. Frankenstein is generally an incredibly intelligent man who is capable of logically solving difficult questions, such as the cause of life, a secret which had been discovered him, but no one else (31). Clearly, the inability to think clearly and logically is not absent in Frankenstein. While the inability to reason intelligently is associated with insanity, Frankenstein can answer questions only one with great logical skills can
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