Abandonment In Frankenstein Research Paper

In the gothic novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley weaves an intricate web of allusions through her characters’ expedient desires for knowledge. Both the actions of Frankenstein, as well as his monster allude to John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Book eight of Milton’s story relates the tale of Satan’s temptation and Eve’s fateful hunger for knowledge. The infamous Fall of Adam and Eve introduced the knowledge of good and evil into a previously pristine world. With one swift motion sin was birthed, and the perfection of the earth was swept away, leaving pain and malevolence in its wake. The troubles of Victor Frankenstein begin with his quest for knowledge, and end where all end: death. The characters in Frankenstein are a conglomeration of those

Gabriella Knox 5th Period February 28, 2024 Allusion Essay There are numerous allusions in Frankenstein to other well-known pieces of literature, but a few in particular stand out as the perfect example of how the creature feels about himself and Frankenstein. The Bible, one of, if not, the oldest and most well-known books in history, starts with the story of Satan being banished and the creation of the world and man. Satan and his small army of rebel angels were banished from heaven due to their blasphemy and evil intentions. Shortly after, God created the Earth, all animals and plants, and the first human, Adam. Adam and the first woman, Eve, lived in close relation to God before they were deceived by Satan to disobey God and kicked out of the Garden of Eden.

It has been commonly accepted that John Milton is acquainted with Dante Alighieri who has a great influence on Milton’s epic Paradise Lost. The significance of The Divine Comedy for Milton lies especially in Dante’s Inferno and Purgatorio. Scholars1 have quoted plentiful echoes of Dante throughout Milton’s works, and have compared these two great poets for centuries. In the 19th century Mary Shelley employed a cluster of images and ideas from Milton’s Paradise Lost (especially from Book Ten) in Frankenstein -- the work that establishes the fame of Mary -- to forge her novelistic world of desire, deterioration, and desperation. Therefore, this novel has been studied many times for Miltonic echoes and influences. In

Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" narrates a story about a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, and his creation of a monster set apart from all worldly creatures. Frankenstein's creation parallels Milton's "Paradise Lost" and God's creation of man; Victor Frankenstein is symbolic of God and the monster is symbolic of Adam. The parallel emphasizes the moral limitations of mankind through Victor Frankenstein and the disjunction and correlation with "Paradise Lost". Shelly links the two stories together through Victor's creation of the monster and his "fall" from humanity which I will focus on initially. More importantly, the main divergence of the two works lies in the representation of God in "Paradise Lost" and Victor in "Frankenstein". Both the

The Creation’s allusions to Paradise Lost in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein play a key role in defining the book’s theme of Isolation. Paradise Lost, written by John Milton, details the heavily religious story of Adam and Eve, their experiences in the Garden of Eden, and their fall from grace when they eat a forbidden fruit. The Creation and character Adam are parallel as both were created alone, and had asked solely for a mate with whom to be alone with. As The Creation states, “Like Adam, I was apparently united by no other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect. (Shelley, 118)” Similar to Adam, he feels out of place in the world, but is abhorred by those around him, and in chapter 16, “I am alone

The monster is forced to develop a neolithic mindset as opposed to modern day ideals after its maturation occurs in the wilderness. His savagery can be seen when he “silenced” Frankenstein’s son after realizing he “[belonged] to the enemy” (102). The daemon also “discovers” a fire for the first time, drawing a parallel to cavemen (72). Unfortunately, due to the lack of contact with the outside human world, the monster is unable to

The combination of his own motivation and the encouragement of his professor Waldman, Frankenstein possesses a “supernatural enthusiasm” for the study of galvanism and has no check on reality except for the disapproval of his father (Shelley 56). Frankenstein thinks that he can ‘play God’ in his studies at Ingolstadt and is a “disciple” of the ‘religion’ of galvanism that Waldman preaches (Shelley 54). Frankenstein believes that his exploration in the “hiding-places” of nature was a heavenly and glorified thing, however it turns out to be “thing such as Dante could not have conceived,” and is more related to hell than the pursuits of God (Shelley 58, 61). Frankenstein uses his power to mock God, and insinuates his power of making ‘life’ equal to God’s power of creating human birth. This mockery of God causes his own ruination, and thus loses his family and friends to the one thing he throws his whole life away on, the Creation.

Abandonment indicates a parent’s choice to have no part in his or her offspring’s life. This includes failure to support the child financially and emotionally, as well as failure to develop a relationship with his or her child. Sadly, parental abandonment leaves a child with doubt and uncertainty about the future. Throughout his or her life, this particular child could suffer from lasting questions of self-worth. In the opposite direction, the child could learn to resent his or her parents and remain incapable of trusting anyone. Regardless, intentional negligence of children leaves them with an unbearable pain that they must carry around for the rest of their lives. Child-care and the consequences

"We are unfashioned creatures, but half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves-such a friend ought to be-do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures,” writes the narrator of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein. Without a companion of some sort, people will only suffer more. However, without the supervision of parents, children altogether are greatly affected for the rest of their lives. An innately good and sympathetic creature, Dr. Frankenstein’s monster struggles to survive in the human world. After creating and abandoning his creature, Dr. Frankenstein is the juxtaposition of a monster, portraying humans as shallow, judgmental, and uncaring. The monster simply wants humans to accept him as one of their own. Facing rejection in different forms, he becomes truly monstrous and evil, giving up hope of companionship as a result of his abandonment. Modern case studies of abandoned children report similar ideas. Children who are abandoned do not learn about morality, yet only people with morality are accepted by others as human. Children who are abandoned are frequently not accepted by others as human ultimately.

In the gothic novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley weaves an intricate web of allusions through her characters’ expedient desires for knowledge. Both the actions of Frankenstein, as well as his monster allude to John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Book eight of Milton’s story relates the tale of Satan’s temptation and Eve’s fateful hunger for knowledge. The infamous Fall of Adam and Eve introduced the knowledge of good and evil into a previously pristine world.

In Mary Shelley´s Gothic novel, Frankenstein, the Monster once claimed, “The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.” Frankenstein, since the 1910 film adaptation, has known a series of several adaptations that changed drastically, not only the plot but one of the main characters, the Monster, from stealing its creator´s name to being portrayed as a cold villain. Though, in the original storyline, the biggest threat to society is the creator itself, the one pretending to play as God, Victor Frankenstein. This essay will discuss the nature of the main characters of the novel and conclude who is the “real monster” in the end.

This liberation provides new identity, shaping their mind and decisions to the point of questioning society. For many, that freedom is seen as dangerous and needs suppression because it breaks the conformity that their society needs. Through the words of Shelley, Atwood, Orwell and Zusak however the benefits become clear. In Frankenstein,The unnamed “monster” antagonist’s eloquence and mastery of language allows him to understand the depth of his constant rejection from society and the horrific manner of his creation. His newfound identity brings him the inspiration to break free from his rejection and seek ultimate revenge against the unfairness of his creator. The monster profoundly relates to the biblical text “Paradise lost” reading it as factual history which then in turn transforms his persona with relation to Satan, a “fallen angel.” Shelley’s decision to include this results in the Monster’s realization of his victimization and encourages him to challenge the manner of his creation. To the monster’s downfall, he also discovers how very little he has in this world. He questions if he is better off with the knowledge of his creation “And what was I? Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant, but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of

“...Hateful day when I received life!' Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?.... Satan had his companions, fellow devils, to admire and encourage him, but I am solitary and abhorred” (Shelley 119). The monster after discovering that his own creator is horrified by his existence, continues to lose hope about his position in the world. He is left alone with no one to care for him or show him love. “I was dependent on none and related to none….My person was hideous and my stature gigantic... These questions continually recurred, but I was unable to solve them”(Shelley 117). The quote expands on the idea of how the monster has expanded his knowledge from listening and reading literature on his existence and his place int the world. “Sometimes I allowed my thoughts, unchecked by reason, to ramble in the fields of Paradise, and dared to fancy amiable and lovely creatures sympathizing with my feelings and cheering my gloom;...”(Shelley 118). This quote continues on the theme of how the monster is expanding knowledge and becoming much more intelligent and aware of his place on earth. It shows how his thoughts are directly focused and stemmed on a few pieces of literature. It shows that he may be narrow-minded and needs to broaden his horizons to other possibilities and pieces of

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, illustrates an interesting story focusing in on many different themes, but what most readers may miss, is the similarities between Victor Frankenstein and the creature he created. As the story develops, one may pick up on these similarities more and more. This is portrayed through their feelings of isolation, thirst for revenge, their bold attempt to play god, and also their hunger to obtain knowledge. These are all displayed through a series of both the actions and the words of Frankenstein and his creature.

Paradise Lost shares many parallels with Frankenstein. Two different characters from Milton’s poem can be compared to Victor Frankenstein’s monster. The first of the characters is Lucifer; the fallen angel can closely relate to the creature from Shelley’s story. Both were forsaken by their creators,