Monday, November 3, 2014

What are some examples of irony in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley?

One of the
big examples ofin is thatset out to artificially create life, and in doing
so successfully,which he brought to life reigned death upon his family, systematically killing
each of Victor's loved ones one at a time. In learning how to "create" life, Victor
causes a domino effect of death.

Also, the "monster" is not born a
monster. Rather (after being abandoned by Victor), it's interested in, first, taking care of its
basic needs (food, warmth, shelter), and then it's interested in human connection. This last
need drives the monster to reach out to several groups of people from which it's constantly
rejected, attacked, and driven away. Even after the monster saves a little girl from drowning,
the crowd attacks the monster and forces it away. The "monster" only grows bitter,
angry, evil, and "monstrous" when society treats it with cruelty. So, Victor did not
create a monster outright, but his initial abandonment and a string of cruelty created the
monster.

Finally, if you consider Frankenstein to be a Gothic novel, Gothic
literature sort of showed the "dark side" of Romanticism. So, Romantic literature had
sweeping landscapes and epic adventures and quests fulfilling the broad and sweeping desires of
human progress. The Gothic movement included the sweeping landscapes and grand adventures in
Romanticism, but it also showed the consequences of unchecked ambition. Despite making great
strides and progress in science, Victor fails to predict the terrible consequences not
considering whether his quest was moral in the first place. So, Victor achieves a great
scientific achievement which also causes the deaths of all of his loved ones and the downfall of
his career and life. To put it simply, Victor's story shows that just because we CAN do
something doesn't mean we SHOULD do something.  

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