Integrity In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

882 Words4 Pages
“Literature is the questions minus the answer.”-Roland Barthes, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is just another work that emphasises Barthes’ point. In which the progression of her work in its entirety serves to answer one central question, which deals with the integrity of Dr. Victor Frankenstein’s moral principles. Dr. Frankenstein is a bright man, with ambitions in his field that go above and beyond of his time. Playing God at the very simplest, he is convinced of being able to bring life to what was once dead. At this point, it is evident that ethics would tie in neatly, leaning towards even defying his plans. Victor’s mad obsession towards the sciences, biology and the study of life in general, clearly is what propels him and his actions.…show more content…
His family was fit with two loving and caring parents, that strove to only teach him how to love and treat other with that love. What could have only been blamed is the lack of a stern parenting, which they were strongly against. They did not want their children to be bound to them on a tight leash, and hence were more lenient on them. It could be said, this sort of upbringing was carried on into Victor’s adult life, which allowed him to justify to himself for many of his actions. A young girl was introduced to his life as a child, through the means of a foster care service. A girl by the name of Elizabeth. With time, he began to fall in love with Elizabeth, having developed such a strong attachment to her, went on to propose to her. He did love her, but by the nature of his character, left the one he loved so much just to tend to his interests. It was a selfish and cold move, but none of that to Victor made him think otherwise. He saw a greater importance in his endeavors, than in the women who loved him. Something as low as that, reflects on the type of man he is, showing us his true colours, as his character…show more content…
The sciences was a passion of his, he was intrigued by what he saw it could offer, and by what he thought he could contribute to it. Creating life was a notion he was very fond of, especially. Essentially playing God and possessing the key to life. He was mocked and denied repeatedly for bringing up such an idea to the science community. It sounded obscure and ethically wrong, but he debated the point by saying it was for the betterment of humankind. While it was actually more likely he did out of arrogance and self interest. He went in confident of his work, and came out proving himself right. It was not till the eyes of his subject opened, he realised what he had created. A hideous and large mound of flesh, that could barely be classified a human was the result of his obsession. As much as if was proud of what he had accomplished, the appearance of what is his seed, was beyond unpleasant to Victors’ taste. He immediately began to resent the monstrosity, and sought out to kill it just shy of a few minutes of birth. The monster, being disowned and rejected by what is his only father figure, left, to return back with justifiable revenge and anger. It was not the subjects choice to be shocked life back into it, but rather Victor Frankenstein's selfish desires. And with its birth, it successfully served its only purpose, which was to prove to
Show More
Related

  • Family In Frankenstein

    699 Words  | 3 Pages

    types can range from nuclear families to other family types such as grandparent families, stepfamilies, single-parent families and many more. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein she portrays multiple family types for Victor’s family. Mary Shelley portrays a nuclear family, an adoptive family, and a single- parent family. In the first chapter of Frankenstein we read to find out that Victor and his parents assemble a traditional family, or a nuclear family. A nuclear family is a couple and their

    Read More

  • The Role Of Masculine Identity In Frankenstein And Benjamin Franklin

    1021 Words  | 5 Pages

    A large amount of literature is narrated from the perspective of men with grand ambitions. Two such men are Victor Frankenstein, from Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein and Benjamin Franklin from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. The construction and representation of masculine identity in these two works are vastly different. In this essay I will be arguing that Benjamin Franklin’s construction and representation of masculine identity is that of trust and sincerity while Frankenstein’s is rational

    Read More

More about Integrity In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Open Document