Selfish Ambition In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

When Victor creates his monster, he is full of pride with his creation. He is eager to

In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, the unnamed creature brings terror to civilians and commits horrific acts against his creator, Victor Frankenstein. However, his redeemable acts of kindness makes his character morally ambiguous. He struggles between doing well and causing trouble because of isolation, the excerpts of society, and his pursuit for love.

He is in constant refusal of responsibility, and ends up essentially plaguing not only his life, but also the lives around him. After constructing and animating the creature, he’s in a flux never ending negative emotions. The creation gets turned into a monster both physically and mentally. Frankenstein describes the horrors that come along with scientific experimentation, and the pursuit of science unavoidably leading to tragedy. The novel presents insights that are just as valid today as when the novel was written in the 19th century. Dr. Frankenstein makes a scientific breakthrough in his creation of the monster, but at what cost? This novel shows us the dangers of attempting to find something we are simply unprepared to manage. Victor’s urges to truly learn the secret of making life completely blinds him to the consequences of achieving such a feat. This book also shows that our ethical (or unethical) actions have the potential to hurt not only ourselves, but also others around us.

Mary Shelley, the renowned author of Frankenstein, explores the consequences of man and monster chasing ambition blindly. Victor Frankenstein discovered the secret that allowed him to create life. His understanding of how bodies operated and the science of human anatomy enabled him to make this discovery and apply it to the creation of his monster. Walton wished to sail to the arctic because no sailor has ever reached it. The monster was created against his will, his ambition was to avenge his creation as a hideous outcast. These three characters were all driven by the same blind ambition.

Ambition is the foundation of success, it drives people to strive for something better, gives them the dedication to improve themselves and their circumstances. Mary Shelley’s character Victor Frankenstein in “Frankenstein” started off as a very ambitious kid yearning for knowledge. However, the line between ambition, obsession, and pride is oftentimes blurred as Victor’s was. Once ambition turns into obsession and pride, it can be a downwards spiral that leads to misfortune and isolation.

Frankenstein, a novel by Mary Shelley, tells the story of Victor Frankenstein’s pursuit of creation and the monster he unintentionally brought to life. Horrified with his own creation, Victor escaped his responsibilities, leaving him to fend for himself. The story follows the monster’s futile attempts to assimilate into humanity, his hatred finally leading him to killing his creator’s family one by one until Frankenstein committed himself to vengeance. The theme of humanity was prevalent throughout the novel as the monster’s existence blurred the line between what was “human” and “inhuman.” The question of whether nurture, or nature, mattered more to one’s identity was explored throughout the story. In Frankenstein, nurture rather than

It is all too easy to avoid critical flaws in character rather than face them head on. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein demonstrates this sentiment with Victor Frankenstein, a budding scientist who harnesses the secret to creating life. Although his spectacular breakthrough can be of great value to the world, he instead chooses to synthesize a being, a creature that serves as his crowning achievement. Because of Victor’s poor character, though, he fails to undertake the responsibility of caring for that which he creates; the master’s most crucial flaws have a negative effect on the creature. The creature begins to follow his master’s bad example until finally he is like Victor’s twin. By acting as a bad role model, Victor

The question “What makes us who we are?” has perplexed many scholars, scientists, and theorists over the years. This is a question that we still may have not found an answer to. There are theories that people are born “good”, “evil”, and as “blank slates”, but it is hard to prove any of these theories consistently. There have been countless cases of people who have grown up in “good” homes with loving parents, yet their destiny was to inflict destruction on others. On the other hand, there have been just as many cases of people who grew up on the streets without the guidance of a parental figure, but they chose to make a bad situation into a good one by growing up to do something

Supernatural Enthusiasm: The Danger of Promethean Ambition During the 18th century Romantic Movement, Individualism was emphasized, particularly the “hero”, a person who is prepared to stand apart from society and defend the cause he/she believes in. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Henry James’ Turn of the Screw are two works that illustrate this aspect. Both protagonists, Victor and The Governess, see themselves as a hero and harbor extreme heroic feelings that fuel their Promethean ambition. However, the consequences of this heroism are not positive and their actions don’t always go along with their ideas.

Victor’s creation was another character in this story that experienced alienation and isolation. The monster was subjected to alienation his entire life. Unlike his creator, the monster did not choose this life of segregation, he was born into it. It seemed as if from the very first moment that Victor had laid eyes upon his creation he was viewed as being an abomination, and condemned to a life of rejection. The first experience that the monster had in life was upon opening his eyes and seeing the look of terror in his creator’s eyes. After Victor had abandoned his creation the creature is left with only questions and no one to answer them.

This statement shows the lack of thought Frankenstein had for what would happen after the creature came alive. Victor Frankenstein does not take responsibility for instilling moral values. Therefore, with an absence of moral values, the creature’s underdeveloped conscience does not know these acts are immoral. While Victor Frankenstein achieves creating an existing being, he fails at

"So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein — more, far more, will I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation” (Shelley 42). Although the degree may differ, ambition exists within everyone. This ambition can lead to great successes or devastation depending on the choices the individual makes. Likewise, ambition can be either hindered or advanced by several factors. Victor Frankenstein possessed unsurmountable ambition which was influenced by several elements. From a young age, he was blessed with many privileges; he was given several opportunities and resources to advance his knowledge. Instead of using his knowledge for good, however, he let his ambition blind him, thus leading to his destruction. Victor Frankenstein’s childhood, aspiring ego, and university experience all lead to the corrosion of his prospective education.

Common rules create common fools. A society where everyone acted the same, abiding identically by some universal principles seems immediately enticing. It would be a world of no crime, where every individual acted in exactly the way that maximized pleasure for every other individual. In short, it would be a perfect utilitarian state. Yet, such a society would be rigid and boring, lacking all the qualities of unbounded life. Beauty comes from tragedy. Meaning is derived from misfortune. Some argue that happiness itself cannot truly exist without its counterpart, misery. Without uniquely acting individuals, life is meaningless. Mary Shelley would certainly have agreed with this statement. Indeed, in her novel Frankenstein, Shelley recognizes

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley tells the tale of the protagonist Victor Frankenstein and his creation. Both Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s creation’s questionable actions lead them both to be considered morally ambiguous figures. Victor is ambitious with good intentions, but his ambition leads to bad results. The Creature is an innately kind and compassionate person who commits abominable actions due to how others treat him. Their moral ambiguity is significant, as it reveals that an obsession with ambition distorts one’s morals.

Victor’s driving, obsessive ambition ruined his life and led to his own death and the murder of his loved ones. Illustrate how ambition affects not only Victor and Robert Walton, but also the creature in Frankenstein.