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Pursuit of Knowledge in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Mentor:
Miroslav Babi

Uenik:
Aljoa Timarac, IV2

Prijedor, maj 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
1. Introduction.............................................................................................................................3
2. Never-Ending Hunger For Knowledge...................................................................................4
2.1. The Perks of Electricity...................................................................................................5
2.2. Life for Death...................................................................................................................5
3. Monster and Monstrosity........................................................................................................6
3.1. Monstrosity of the Creator...............................................................................................6
4. Moral responsibility................................................................................................................8
4.1. Good Intentions................................................................................................................8
4.2. Playing God and Consequences.......................................................................................9
5. Conclusion............................................................................................................................10

1. INTRODUCTION
Sir Francis Bacon once said, Knowledge is power; but how far is actually willing
to go in order to pursue it? Over the past few centuries, the intellectuals of society have
made countless advances in science and the development of technology, which, to different
degrees, have all benefitted mankind. These scientific discoveries are a result of mans
thirst for and dedication to acquiring knowledge, information, and power. The curiosity and
desire for understanding in an individual can grow so extensive that his or her moral and
ethical boundaries end up ravaged, which results in disastrous consequences for all who are
involved. A warning and a plea about the dangers of misusing academic genius and the
consequences that result from the reckless pursuit of scientific progress lies on the pages of
Mary Shelleys masterpiece: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
Frankenstein a mixture of science fiction, gothic, and romantic elements, is a
novel in which the author tells a story of monstrosity, secrecy, and dangerous knowledge.
Indeed, in his quest to discover the secrets of creation, Victor Frankenstein, a Swiss doctor
who is to become a stereotype of a mad scientist, designs and builds his monster, in that
way confronting the boundaries of mortality, science and ethics. Therefore, Frankenstein
is indeed portrayed as a warning against the pursuit of knowledge and as an embodiment of
its dangers. However, this pursuit is not only interpreted through the eyes of Victor
Frankenstein but Robert Walton as well. Walton is an arctic explorer who tells the
scientists story in that way adding a completely new, deeper layer to the narrative itself.
The pursuit of knowledge is at the heart of Frankenstein, as Victor attempts to surge
beyond accepted human limits and accesses the secret of life. Likewise, Robert Walton
attempts to surpass previous human explorations by endeavoring to reach the North Pole.
This ruthless pursuit of knowledge proves dangerous, as Victors act of creation eventually
results in the destruction of everyone dear to him, and Walton finds himself perilously
trapped between sheets of ice. Whereas Victors obsessive hatred of the monster drives him
to his death, Walton ultimately pulls back from his treacherous mission, having learned
from Victors example how destructive the thirst for knowledge can be.
In the coming pages you are to read an analysis on the pursuit of knowledge and all
the dangers that emerge from it: monstrosity, hunger for glory, and ethical and moral
misconducts, as depicted in the novel Frankenstein.

Pursuit of Knowledge in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Aljoa Timarac, IV

2. NEVER-ENDING HUNGER FOR KNOWLEDGE

Yet as every story has a beginning, Mary Shelley's novel begins through the eyes of
Robert Walton who is on a pursuit for his own voracious thirst for knowledge. Walton
begins the story through a series of sentimental letters to his loved sister, Margaret Saville.
These letters describe in detail Walton's adventure through the cold and ice to discover the
North Pole, accompanied by loss and loneliness. Waltons letters introduce an important
characterWalton himself: a genius in his own right, a man who since youth wished to
explore the world and the unknown, to dive in the mysteries of natural sciences and find
the country of eternal light, the unpossessed knowledge. These Waltons characteristics
are shared with Victor Frankensteins own pursuit and are the beginning of many between
the two men.
Victor Frankenstein is introduced to the story when Walton finds him on the
Northern ice on the brink of death and nurses him back to health. Victor, who is initially
known as "the stranger" finds Waltons affection even before Frankenstein's story is told.
As Walton assists Victor in regaining his health, the story and connection between the two
men emerge. "You seek knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the
gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been". This is
the warning given by Victor Frankenstein to Walton before he tells his new friend the story
of where his thirst for knowledge has taken him. As we introduce Walton and Frankenstein
we find more and more familiarities between the too, either emotional and family
regarding, or those related to thirst for knowledge and love for natural philosophy.
However, why is Walton the one Mary Shelly chose to tell Dr. Frankensteins story?
Hence, introducing Walton as a storyteller gives a completely new, deeper layer to the
narrative itself. Although Waltons and Frankensteins characters are connected with many
similarities, Walton also plays a role that parallels Victors in many ways. M. Shelley uses
Walton as a foil, someone whose traits or actions contrast with, and thereby highlights
Victors.
While Victor tells his story we are stricken by the horrific details involved in the
creation of Victor's monster, as we are tens to discover when this creature comes to life.
From this point on in the story, the creator is now being pursued by his creation for an
explanation of his being. The anxiety fills the space between the narrator and his muse, as
it fills our hearts as well. Shelley's novel is brilliant in this respect.

Pursuit of Knowledge in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Aljoa Timarac, IV

2.1. The Perks of Electricity

Since the early age, Victor Frankenstein nurtures science and knowledge. As a
young Swiss boy, growing up in Geneva, he reads the works of Ancient alchemists and
philosophers Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus with great amusement and
enthusiasm. As a teenager, Victor becomes increasingly fascinated by the mysteries of the
natural world. He witnesses the destructive power of nature when lightning destroys a tree
near his house later to discover the workings of electricity making the ideas of the
alchemists seem outdated and worthless. Moreover, at the time Mary Shelley was writing
Frankenstein electricity had captured the imaginations of many of Europe's top scientists,
despite the fact that very little was understood about its nature. Supporting to why she gave
this major role to newly-discovered phenomena of electricity as we know it today is the
fact that Humphry Davy and William Nicholson, the era's leading electrical researchers,
were friends of her father. In Frankenstein, electricity serves as the very tool which
creates life -- creates the monster. It gives life to the lifeless. Its perks will have a vast
influence on Victors work while at the University where he learns about modern science
and, within a few years, masters all that his professors have to teach him. He becomes
fascinated with the secret of life, discovers it, and brings a hideous monster to life.

2.2. Life for Death

The nature of Frankenstein's scientific genius, closely the direction in which his
pursuit for knowledge has gone, deserves close attention in terms of the way that it
determines his actions. During his education, he learns not only the knowledge of the
ancients but the techniques of the moderns as well. Inspired by Professor Waldman, who
encourages him to study "every branch of natural philosophy", he exceeds his colleagues in
a matter of a few years. Alan Rauch states how Frankensteins knowledge is limited by its
sterility It is indeed remarkable that someone so obsessed by the force of life shows no
insight into how to restore, lengthen, or preserve it. This paradox is the most important
irony in the novel. After having created the monster, that is after having created life itself
Frankenstein is plagued by death. Frankenstein indeed scavenges from the dead to create
life, and the creature, in retribution, attacks the living to "create" death. Exactly what
Frankenstein might be able to do with his knowledge is particularly interesting given that
so many other characters manage to apply their knowledge in rather useful and productive
ways.

Pursuit of Knowledge in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Aljoa Timarac, IV

3. MONSTER AND MONSTROSITY

Most dictionaries define a 'monster' as an animal or a human grotesquely deviating
from the normal shape, behavior, or character. The term can also relate to a person who
excites horror by wickedness or cruelty. These terms are both applied within the novel
Frankenstein.
In the novel, the way monsters and monstrosity are depicted are through the
descriptions of the characters. Doctor Frankenstein is described using unusual and inhuman
adjectives. For example, My cheek had grown pale' and 'my person had become
emaciated. Pale is a word that we would refer to ill, or unwell. This suggests slightly
inhuman features of Victor, with the word 'emaciated' suggesting shrunken and weak,
emphasizing the imagery of death. Monster as the embodiment of Dr. Frankensteins
pursuit for knowledge lies at the center of the action. Eight feet tall, yellow-skinned, with
watery eyes and dark black hair, simply put hideously ugly, the monster is rejected by
society. However, his monstrosity results not only from his grotesque appearance but also
from the way he was created, which involved the secretive animation of a mix of stolen
body parts and strange chemicals using electricity All kinds of carcases have I cut up:
officially, these carcases were of murderers, whose crimes in life meant that they deserved
punishment and indignity after death. Thus, the monster is a product not only of scientific
effort but of dark, supernatural workings as well. The creature that Victor Frankenstein
develops is considered a monster by all of the other people as well. No one is there to
notice that there is a soft interior underneath the yellow and ugly shell My heart was
fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy, and when wrenched by misery to vice
and hatred, it did not endure the violence of the change without torture such as you cannot
even imagine. We can conclude that it is the hatred of others that lit the spark of hatred in
the monster. Nevertheless, in favor of the creatures humanity is the fact that while
Frankenstein would not save a life when it would have cost him almost nothing, the
creature saved a life when he could have perished as well.

3.1. Monstrosity of the Creator

The roots of Dr. Frankensteins monstrosity lie in his pursuit for knowledge. Thus,
it is the dangerous knowledge, secrecy, selfishness and twisted ambition what leads him to
bad health, depression and alienation from human society; the knowledge Victor used to
create the creature is a monster in its sole nature.
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Pursuit of Knowledge in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Aljoa Timarac, IV

Therefore, the monster is only the most literal of a number of monstrous entities in
the novel while Victor, although ordinary on the outside, may be the true monster inside,
as he is eventually consumed by an obsessive hatred of his creation. Victor cannot
recognize his kinship to his monster because to do so would be to lose his identity in the
chaos imaged in the monster's appearance. In other words, he would no longer be able to
use his view of the monster as a means of displacing his own monstrosity.
Furthermore, his parents point out to him that it will cause them great
disappointment if he doesnt stay in touch with them. Despite their pleading and past
kindness to him, Frankenstein selfishly still chooses to remain isolated and trapped in his
work and ambition. It is his choice to remain isolated that contributes to his monster-like
attributes. Hence, falling into depression and at the verge of turning mad, he recognizes
himself as a monstrous existence: "I considered the being whom I had cast among mankind
. . . nearly in the light of my own vampire, my own spirit let loose from the grave, and
forced to destroy all that was dear to mecan you wonder, that sometimes a kind of
insanity possessed me, or that I saw continually about me a multitude of filthy animals
inflicting on me incessant torture, that often extorted screams and bitter groans. Here he
refers to humans as a multitude of filthy animals. He also mentions screams and bitter
groans, which could relate to humans perception of him as a monster. Frankensteins
extreme ignorance towards fixing the problem he has created also contributes to his
monster side. As shown by his actions and his thoughts, Frankenstein is often a hypocrite.
Through this statement, Frankenstein seems to be asserting that humans are in fact equal to
beasts, for there is a sense of equality that exists between the two. Yet despite this
statement, in his interactions with the creature, he seems to show little respect for the
creatures very logical request.
Victor notes that destructive power of knowledge far before it devours him "If the
study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections, and to destroy
your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix, then that study is
certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind.. However, he fails to
defeat it. Victor Frankensteins chosen isolation and his ignorance for those who care for
him as well as his own creation make him the true monster. In contrast, the creatures wish
to attain to achieve friends and social interactions almost make him more of a human than
Victor Frankenstein. Finally, many critics have described the novel itself as monstrous, a
stitched-together combination of different voices, texts, and tenses.

Pursuit of Knowledge in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Aljoa Timarac, IV

4. MORAL RESPONSIBILITY
Martha Nussbaum, an American philosopher, stated in her book Upheavals in
Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions that everyone has the capacity for evil and that it
is more closely connected with circumstance than with any innate human quality. The role
of circumstance in evil and criminal misconduct raises interesting and complex questions
regarding moral responsibility. For example, if factors such as circumstance can lead
previously good people to behave in evil ways? Mary Shelleys Frankenstein is a
narrative that offers a rich source for thinking about how good people can become bad and
what this may mean for moral responsibility. Hence, driven by his pursuit Victor turned
from a prospective, desirable young doctor, to an isolated, alienated monster.
One can even argue that at one point in the novel the monster becomes the moral
agent while the society is characterized with inhuman attributes and is to blame for what
monster has done. Hence it is rational of him to expect acceptance, love and worship while
he is emotional, caring and possesses the same qualities that make Victor Frankenstein
human, all up to the point when revenge is born out of the loneliness and despair.

4.1. Good Intentions

There is not much dispute over whether intention attributes to the moral blame.
After all, someone who intends to cause suffering is clearly different from someone who
does not. Even when an act motivated by good intentions results in unfortunate
consequences it is not seen in the same way as a deliberately wrong act. In fact, intention is
particularly important in determining moral responsibility because knowing what a person
intends to do may be more revealing than how they feel about a mean or careless act, after
the fact. In the case of Victor Frankenstein, there is some evidence to suggest that he has
good intentions as he is interested in improving the human condition: I had begun life
with benevolent intentions and thirsted for the moment when I should put them in practice
and make myself useful to my fellow human beings. Even his interest in animating life
seems well-intentioned. He hopes to eliminate death, a seemingly noble goal given the
suffering it causes. In relating his tale to Robert Walton he says, I thought that if I could
bestow animation upon lifeless matter, I might in process of time (although I now found it
impossible) renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption

Pursuit of Knowledge in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Aljoa Timarac, IV

At the same time however, Victor is intent on acquiring a unique and far-reaching type of
power; one that is tainted by the means which it is to be attained and also by his
illegitimate claim on it. Since it is difficult to know whether attaining power or aiding the
human condition was primary goal of Victors pursuit for knowledge, it is unclear what
impact his motivations have on his blameworthiness.

4.2. Playing God and Consequences

Regardless of Victors intentions, the consequences of his actions are quite serious
and suggest a degree of moral responsibility. Although he does not directly commit
murder, he sets in motion events that result in several deaths and terrible suffering,
including his own. While outcomes are generally outside of a persons control, it seems
reasonable to say that by acting thoughtlessly, Victor has some responsibility for them. In
pursuing dangerous knowledge by attempting to discover the secret of life he does not
carefully consider the various possible consequences of his actions. For example, he seems
unaware of the obligations attached to his scientific pursuits; it was not until long after the
monsters creation that Victor finally recognized his duty to him. As well, although at some
level Victor is aware of the dark side of his endeavour he is secretive, recognizes his
physical deterioration, and willingly isolates himself from his family he never wonders
about the results of his work. He unquestioningly carries on with his tainted task.
Nevertheless, the main moral question to arise from the novel is whether or not
Victor Frankenstein should have played God; should the power to decide who lives and
who dies be left in the hands of another human? Victors likeness to god is illustrated when
he names himself as one who can bring a "new species" to the earth Life and death
appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light
into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy
and excellent natures would owe their being to me. It has even noted that by creating the
monster Victor has created a new Adam Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to
any other being in existence.
The novel teaches us that using science to play God can lead to undesirable
consequences. The novel Frankenstein is both a warning and a plea about the dangers of
misusing academic knowledge and the consequences that result because of the reckless
pursuit of scientific progress.

Pursuit of Knowledge in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Aljoa Timarac, IV

5. CONCLUSION
Pursuit of knowledge has always been, still is, and till the eternity will remain the
main human goal. That desire to make history, to discover what remains undiscovered, or
to know what remains unknown is hidden in every human. Although many have feared to
realize this dream, a very few have been wildly successful in their pursuit. The immortality
afforded to these select few has of course, only served to encourage those who come after.
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein is a literary meditation upon this intensely
human desire, here exemplified by the title Frankensteins quest for knowledge by means
of scientific discovery. Mary Shelley warns that with the advent of science, natural
philosophical questioning is not only futile, but dangerous. In attempting to discover the
mysteries of life, Frankenstein assumes that he can act as God. He disrupts the natural
order, and chaos ensues. Thus, this masterpiece stands as a warning against the misuse of
knowledge and power it brings, as well as the consequences which ought to be fatal.
Hence, Frankenstein is not just a book about a man who creates a monster; it is a book
about human nature. Shelley intended her readers to learn from her tale. She advocates
against the pursuit which was undertaken by Dr. Victor Frankenstein, the pursuit which
steps over the lines of sanity and morality, and puts other peoples lives at risk.
With this in mind, we can conclude that knowledge and science itself arent
dangerous, but become so through their misuse and abuse by society. Thus, Shelleymoral
warning isnt about the pursuit of knowledge, but rather about the necessity for scientists
and society to be responsible with their creations and discoveries.

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Pursuit of Knowledge in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Aljoa Timarac, IV

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.

Desai, Sidarth G.: Humanity and Monstrosity in Frankenstein, Print, 2010

2.

Rauch, Alan: The Monstrous Body of Knowledge in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein,

Study in Romanticism, Print (Article), 1995

3.

Baldick, Chris: In Frankensteins Shadow. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

1987. Print.

4.

Shelly, Mary and Percy: The Original Frankenstein. Bodleian Library:

University of Oxford. 2008. Print.

5.

Tourney, Christopher: The Moral Character of Mad Scientists: A Cultural

Critique of Science Science, Technology, and Human Values 1992. Web.

6.

Allard, Angie: Moral Responsibility in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, Simon

Fraser University, 2010. Web

7.

Nussbaum, Martha: Upheavals in Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions.

Cambridge University Press, 2001. Print.

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Pursuit of Knowledge in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Aljoa Timarac, IV

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