Obsession In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Words: 906
Pages: 4
Open Document
“Determination becomes obsession and then it becomes all that matters.” -Jeremy Irvine
The idea that obsession takes over one’s mind is not new. Anyone who has suffered from an obsession, whether it be with art, music, science, mathematics, life, or death, can attest to Irvine’s quote. However, as Irvine’s obsession proved beneficial, majority of people are overtaken by their obsession; ultimately, this leads to negative outcomes. The late Mary Shelley, in her novel Frankenstein, explores the idea of destructive obsession and includes it as a main theme. Published in 1818, Frankenstein or: The Modern Prometheus tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist. He creates a creature that is grotesque in appearance, but sagely in competence …show more content…
Victor’s psychological confinement begins with his obsession to obtain knowledge—to outthink the elite thinkers. His childhood had been spent reading the likes of German physician Cornelius Agrippa, a rather heavy read for a child. The reason Victor constantly read and explored the thoughts of esteemed philosophers and physicians was because he had an innate desire to infiltrate the mystery of life. “I have described myself as always having been embued with a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature.” (Shelley 46) This longing soon grew into an obsession. Victor was obsessed with the concept of creation and yearned for the day that he would be able to uncover creation’s secrets. Finally, after much forethought, an idea sprung into Victor’s mind. “…from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me—a light so brilliant and wondrous, yet so simple, that while I became dizzy with the immensity of the prospect which it illustrated.” (Shelley 55) The idea of which he is referring to is the idea to create the Creature. This idea solidified Victor’s psychological entrapment. From the moment the thought of Creature was conceived, Victor had no other thought than that of his mission to create …show more content…
From the moment of its conception, Creature was placed in an internal confinement. Its looks make it unacceptable socially—thus leading to its constant feeling of isolation. The feeling of isolation proved to be the bars of the Creature’s figurative, psychological prison. The Creature’s pain from loneliness and the inability of acceptance leads it to question its existence. “Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?” (Shelley 121) The Creature did not ask to be placed into this world. Now it is forced to live a dismal, lonely existence; for whenever it is looked upon by another, it is rejected. “I remembered that I was for ever deprived of the delights that such beautiful creatures could bestow; and that she whose resemblance I contemplated would, in regarding me, have changed that air of divine benignity to one expressive of disgust and affright.” (Shelley 127) Unfortunately, the Creature is forever trapped in this state of being. As long as it lives, the Creature will forever be denied and exiled from man; a state due to the result of Victor’s falling to obsession.
Victor Frankenstein’s succumbing to his unhealthy obsession leads to both his and the Creature’s eternal, figurative imprisonment. His obsession with revealing the secrets of nature’s creation is the chief culprit in his and
Show More

Related Documents: Obsession In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Obsession In Frankenstein Research Paper

Obsession has been a dynamic idea throughout time from obsession with religion, to wealth, and love; in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein obsession is portrayed as always leading to a negative outcome. Many characters in Frankenstein go through their own points of obsession. For example, it started with Robert Walton, a Captain who was obsessed with the idea of finding new discoveries in the Arctic. During his trip, he encountered Victor Frankenstein a man who was possessed by the idea of creating life…

Words 662 - Pages 3

Frankenstein Essay final

3. This story warns us of the dangers of obsession. How does it do this? ‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’ ‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’ is the 1994 film adaptation of the gothic novel ‘Frankenstein’ directed by Kenneth Branagh. It is about Victor Frankenstein - an eccentric scientist who believes that the way to cheat death is to create life. ‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’ undoubtedly conveys and warns us of the dangers of obsession through a number of characters, which engages the audience in the story…

Words 1095 - Pages 5

Monster In Frankenstein

classify them as a monster. In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, we are introduced to the main protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, whose obsession with creating life leads him to create a creature from the remains of corpses without taking into consideration the consequences of his actions—he sets loose a “monster” who is the very cause of not only his death but the death of his loved ones as well. But is the creature that Victor creates truly a monster? Throughout Shelley’s…

Words 843 - Pages 4

The Four Children In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

will finally be fulfilled. Victor Frankenstein, from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, achieved his dream of creating life, but, instead of the satisfaction Victor craved, a horrific monster was unleashed unto this world. The creature was despised by Victor, as Victor’s intentions were to be godlike and create his Adam, not a hideous monstrosity. The creation of this horror is a metaphor for the birth of Mary Shelley’s first two children and her own birth. Of Mary Shelley’s four children, only one survived…

Words 743 - Pages 3

impacts of obsession in frankenstien Essays

Discuss the impact of Victors obsession in Mary Shelley’s frankenstein In your response consider the effect on other characters and the extent to which it reflects the social concerns of the day. The obsession that we are exposed to within Mary Shelley’s epistolary novel is of monomaniacal ambition that provides a forewarning of the dangers in relation to scientific advancement emerging from the industrial revolution. Within this gothic horror, the main character, Victor, experiences detrimental…

Words 791 - Pages 4

Theme Of Isolation In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

force of the natural world within Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is abandonment caused by the creator Victor Frankenstein. While it is healthy to have a certain fondness for various objects, it is not in society’s best interest to let these obsessions lead to isolation like it does in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein, who are main characters in the novel, share a common obsession with ambition—knowledge. The main characters of Frankenstein obsess over purpose, knowledge…

Words 626 - Pages 3

Frankenstein: Frankenstein and Mary-kate Olsen Essay

repeatedly used to demoralize members of society. Frankenstein exemplifies how society’s high-expectations can lead to the corruption of the innate virtue of Victor and the creation; however, it also describes standards that are still present in modern-day that have tainted celebrities, such as Mary- Kate Olsen. Frankenstein displays Shelley’s perspective on the corruptive nature of society and the effect it has on people, such as Victor Frankenstein. As the reader starts to learn about Victor, his…

Words 1226 - Pages 5

Essay on School: Thought and Scientific Technological Knowledge

No doubt the destructive consequences of single minded obsessions are the heart of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Because the whole novel is about the very state of the mind of Frankenstein which is completly filled with the thoughts of only one paritcular thing of single mind which gives the destrcutive consequnces at the last because of his single minded obsessions. The protagonist of the novel is Victor Frankenstein. He is single minded guided character who is seeking about the scientific technological…

Words 361 - Pages 2

Frankenstein: Emotional Empathy Essay

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner both draw upon their rapidly changing periods to contextually explore mankind’s ability to inherit hubristic ideas for forbidden knowledge which destroy one’s morality. Frankenstein examines irrational behaviours and immoralities of Romantic Prometheanism within the realms of science, ideology and politics. Meanwhile Blade Runner extrapolates a similar cautionary tale of a dystopian future and its contemporary excess from the 1980s era of…

Words 539 - Pages 3

Reading On Frank Essay

Reading on Frankenstein Mary Shelley’s most popular novel, Frankenstein (1818) expresses her “secret unconscious desires and anxieties” (Delahoyde, n.d. para. 1) through the development of characters, setting and generic conventions. “A literary work is [in fact] a manifestation of the author’s own neuroses” (Delahoyde, n.d. para. 1). Through analysing Freud’s theories, one can psychoanalyse Frankenstein on an exceptionally comprehensive level, making connections between Shelley’s unconscious and…

Words 1370 - Pages 6