Research Paper on "Family and Education in Frankenstein Mary Shelley"

Research Paper 8 pages (2250 words) Sources: 8

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Family and Education in Frankenstein

Mary Shelley's 1818 novel "Frankenstein" has generated much controversy for the fact that it dealt with some of the most intriguing topics that humanity produced until the time. Whereas most readers might have been initially inclined to believe that Shelley intended to put across an episode involving a monster and the terror that it provokes, the writer actually wanted to present her readers with a complex philosophical and psychological account. It is difficult to determine who the true monster in the novel is, as even though the creature apparently has all the attributes of a typical monster, it is gradually revealed that society and its creator are in reality responsible for the wrongdoings that it commits. The moments that the monster spends near the De Lacey family's cottage are essential for it, considering that it is there that he becomes educated and better prepared to deal with life's difficulties.

Victor Frankenstein, the monster's creator, is primarily recognized for the fact that he continuously attempts to motivate his behavior through relating to the unfortunate events in his life. The individual appears to be determined to consider others responsible for his faults and it is not until his encounter with Captain Robert Walton that he declares that it was his ambition that influenced his behavior and that caused the tragedies in his life.

Although Frankenstein seems to be the novel's protagonist, the monster's story and the fact that the action appears to revolve around it make it difficult to focus on the scientist as being the central character. This actually contributes to supporting the uncertainty r

Continue scrolling to

download full paper ⤓

egarding who the real monster is and who is the individual responsible for the misfortunes happening throughout the novel. At times, readers can actually identify with the monster, considering that virtually everyone has come across moments when they felt that they were misunderstood or when society seemed to believe that their convictions were abnormal. Similarly, people can also identify with Frankenstein himself, as it is natural to make mistakes and for the respective mistakes to evolve into something greater when individuals are unwilling to accept their fault.

The book generally concentrates on knowledge, as both Frankenstein and the monster gain important knowledge as they evolve. However, whereas the monster learns some of the most important values from the family that he watches, Frankenstein learns from his mistakes and realizes that it was essentially himself who was accountable for most of the wrongdoings in the novel.

Knowledge and education in general were key motifs that writers used during the Romantic period. "Frankenstein" in particular can be recognized for the educational elements that it puts across, with Frankenstein being devoted to study anatomy and physiology without receiving outside assistance. Also, the monster's dedication to learn as much as he possibly could from the human community teaches him that humans can be monstrous in character and that knowledge can sometimes equal suffering.

In spite of the fact that she emphasized the importance of education in making individuals understand the surrounding environment, Shelley intention in presenting the concept is surely debatable. The writer actually has her readers learn that it was because of their devotement to gain knowledge that Frankenstein and the monster eventually came to experience distress. It is very probable that Shelley wanted to show education as a pharmakon, as she considered that it produces both pleasure and torment to those who undergo the process (Chao, 224).

From the very first moments of its life, the monster appears to be willing to learn more in regard to itself and to society. His mind is initially blank and he can only rely on observation to assist him in discovering more. By becoming accustomed with human tradition, the monster came to perceive itself as actually being a monstrous creature. Although it knows that it is perfectly able to replicate the behavior it sees in the De Lacey family, it is also aware that it will never be capable of replicating their perfect forms.

In comparison to Frankenstein, the monster cannot be held responsible for its behavior, given that it was treated horribly from the very first moments of its life, when the scientist expressed his disgust as a consequence of realizing that his creation was nothing as he expected it to be. Even with that, it puts across hope by wanting to befriend the De Lacey family.

The pharmakon concept is once again revealed as "the better he masters human language, the more knowledge he is able to gain, and the sharper his awareness of his deformity and of his friendless life" (Chao, 224). The monster's hope vanished as a result of the fact that he learnt more in regard to language and about what society considered normal. He learnt that he was an outcast and that it was very improbable for him to ever be able to integrate the human community. Taking into account that the monster eventually loses hope regarding its connection with humans and proceeds to get revenge through using ingenious methods, one can actually consider that it actually managed to take on one of the most recognized human attributes -- the determination to get revenge.

The monster considers the De Lacey family very different from Frankenstein and from the hostile humans that it had come across until the time. However, their real nature is revealed at the moment when it presents itself before them and realizes that it is practically impossible for them to abandon their prejudice. It is difficult for some to gain a complete understanding regarding the monster's true nature.

Readers are typically known for dividing themselves into two groups when discussing its personality. A group believes that it is not actually evil and that humans are responsible for his situation while the other considers that it is wicked and that the experiences that it undergoes simply facilitate his evolution into an actual monster (Bissonete, 108). The second group is likely to also focus on their initial encounter with the monster, as they are concentrated on behaving similar to the De Lacey family upon seeing a monster. They are virtually unable to associate the traditional image of a monster with a benevolent creature and are thus inclined to act primarily on account of their teachings. Prejudice is (in this case and in the ones following it) more important than impartiality and the reason for which the monster comes to be treated with cruelty by everyone that it interacts with.

A creature cannot be called a monster only because of its appearance, as one first has to become familiar with it and with its nature in order to categorize it. It is probably not wrong to relate to the creature in Frankenstein by using the term monster, as its behavior and its crimes explain its personality. Even with that, it is society that should actually be held accountable for its behavior, considering that it was the one who denied him the right to integrate it and to join others in performing social tasks that make people human. Most readers are uncertain whether they should relate to the creature as being a monster or not, as the actions that it performs across the novel induce a series of states into readers. According to Bissonete, however, "the ideal isn't to find the proper moral stance or to move from sympathy to condemnation, but to engage both" (Bissonete, 109).

The monster is essentially an abandoned child who is devoted to be reunited with its father. Because it constantly encounters difficulty in doing this, it tries to assume the role of a child by attempting to connect with the De Lacey family. Although Shelly's devotement to romanticism is recognized, this book contains a great deal of realist elements, most notably those concerning the monster's failure to integrate society.

It eventually seems futile for the creature to continue expressing his desire in regard to joining the human community, as everyone in it is apparently unwilling to sympathize with it, regardless of their social status or age. Walton is the only one who becomes acquainted with the monster's true nature and intentions, but not even he is capable to ignore his repugnance at the moment when he sees the creature. Walton's situation demonstrates that people are generally inclined to yield to prejudice, especially when coming across something that they are not familiar with. Even when the Captain learns more about the creature, he cannot abandon his convictions and continues to think and act in accordance with his beliefs. In order to be able to fully comprehend the monster and its situation, one must abandon prejudice and embrace the paradox that the creature stands for.

In trying to understand the creature, individuals have to comprehend that one of the novel's most important characteristics is its diversity and that the complex nature of the monster makes it impossible for it to be categorized by using conventional methods. Instead of choosing a category for the monster, readers should actually focus… READ MORE

Download Full Paper

Write a New Paper for Me

Quoted Instructions for "Family and Education in Frankenstein Mary Shelley" Assignment:

“

PLEASE DO NOT CITE FROM ONLINE RESOURCES ONLY FROM ACTUALL ISBN TEXT BOOKS YOU CAN CHOOSE ONE OF THESE OPTIONS EMAIL ME AT THE CONTROL CENTER IF YOU ARE CONFUSED

ï¿½-ï¿½ Use whatever citation method that you have been taught in your Composition classes MLA/APA or elsewhere or which you typically use in your own discipline/major. If you do not include a proper Bibliography page, your essay will not be read.

ï¿½-ï¿½ Read the last two sentences again.

ï¿½-ï¿½ Do not consult more secondary sources than provided in the options below or in the prefatory/supplemental scholarly materials in the editions ordered for the course (an introduction in a different edition is o.k.). If I find that additional secondary materials, other than below or in a book*****'s editorial introduction, have been used, the essay will likely receive an immediately *****"F*****". If you are found guilty of plagiarism, you will receive an *****"F*****" in the course. Please take note: I have a pretty clear sense of your writing style from your first essay and discussion forum entries, so it is very easy to detect plagiarism. And, also, the *****"Turnitin*****" site filters for plagiarism.

ï¿½-ï¿½ Read the last paragraph again. It*****'s a sad state of educational affairs when I have to write the previous warning ... I do not want to distrust students, but every semester ... well, let*****'s put it this way: I have a separate drawer in my office desk dedicated to student misconduct cases or potential-to-be-discovered-misconduct cases.

ï¿½-ï¿½ For secondary, research materials: each option below comes with links to online professional/scholarly journals or articles or to the ProjectMuse journal database accessed through the FIU library system. Students sometimes have difficulty figuring out how to get to the links. Follow the directions closely, and you*****'ll figure it out.

ï¿½-ï¿½ Incorporate the supplied (linked) secondary materials by paraphrasing their arguments or part of their arguments, or by quoting a section of their arguments/key points. Do this in the main body of your essay (not the introduction or conclusion). Your goal is not to show that you*****'ve read the secondary materials per se, but that, having read the materials, your own argument/points have become more sophisticated and developed, because you have consulted authoritative wisdom about the topic you are working on. It is, of course, possible to dispute such *****authoritative wisdom.*****

ï¿½-ï¿½ Definitely note that I have not quantified how many times you should quote or paraphrase or refer to a secondary source*****'s argument. I*****'m asking you to develop your own analytical ideas and then judiciously incorporate outside ideas/sources. That said, no more than 20% of your paper should be quoted material, whether from the main texts or secondary sources.

ï¿½-ï¿½ You have to know what your argument is and you have to know the arguments/main points of the secondary material. Only then can you integrate secondary research. Half-hearted tossing in of information from a secondary source--as if it*****'s some strange vegetable you don*****'t have a taste for--is not appropriate. Research typically requires reading a lot of material that ends up not being useful: that*****'s part of the discipline of doing research, ferreting out the useful from the non-useful. Do it (from the provided links)!

ï¿½-ï¿½ If you do not incorporate the secondary materials supplied (in a qualitative, not quantitative sense), your essay will automatically be dropped at least a letter grade.

ï¿½-ï¿½ You have to take responsibility and learn how to get access to the FIU library resources from home or from on campus on your own. Or ask assistance from the library staff.

OPTION ONE: FRANKENSTEIN

Focus on the theme or issue of the family or intimate relations in the novel, and make the scene(s) when the monster hangs out in the woodshed spying on the impoverished family central to or important for an interpretation of the novel. It may be that you start right off in your introduction establishing why the monster*****'s interaction with the cottage family is crucial to our understanding of the novel*****'s overall meaning; it may be that you look almost exclusively at just the cottage scenes in terms of how the monster*****'s sensibility expands or grows; or it may be that you establish a sequence/trajectory of broader or more encompassing ideas in which you use the cottage episode or refer to it specifically only Â½ or 2/3rd of the way through your paper. It is possible, as you develop your ideas, that the family theme becomes subordinate to another theme (e.g., Victor*****s ambition). That*****s fine.

For a more elaborate example of the last point: say you think the novel is mainly about Victor*****'s inability to maintain connection with his family (because of his ambition or ego). Certainly the scenes in which the monster wants to be part of the cottage family would be key or linked to that main idea--but you might not review the pertinent scenes as evidence until midway in your paper; you would, presumably, start by showing how Victor is alienated, by his ambition, from his own family. Your paper might be about alienation from family structure or dynamics, with a key piece of evidence/interpretation being the cottage scene.

Literary analysis requires a shaping idea or theme or thesis, spelled out or implied in your opening paragraph or opening paragraphs (an introduction can be longer than one paragraph!). But unlike some other forms of analysis, the KEY scene that the analysis hooks around, if there is one key scene, might not be trotted out in your analysis until midway through. Interpretation of literature--that is, somebody reading YOUR interpretation--can become fun because it is a process of discovery, an inductive argument that builds complexity upon complexity, rather than a deductive argument by which you state the main point, and then follow up with subpoints and evidence. (See a review of inductive and deductive analysis in the instructions for the first essay: the first *****builds up***** an argument, the second *****breaks it down*****.)

Here is a sample organizational roadmap for a hypothetical essay on Frankenstein, using the topic above:

--intro.

--1st 5th: author*****'s anxieties about family/mothering/nurturing

--2nd 5th: translates into a narrative about education and family structures needed for education/development of a sensibility

--3rd 5th: Victor*****'s alienation from his family; seeking of knowledge at the cost of sacrificing relationships

--4th 5th: what other critics have said on these issues + monster*****'s take on education (cottage scene)

--5th 5th: the consequences of a bad or interrupted education for the monster

Please do not overly rely (i.e. you can rely somewhat) on above to structure your paper if you elect this option. I*****'m offering it so that you see the pattern of how analysis can proceed in stages.

Secondary material links:

Go to the main online page for FIU Libraries, click on the link to connect from home (if you are working from home), click on *****"Find Articles and Do Research*****" link, find the *****"A-Z*****" list of electronic journals/resources, find the electronic journal database *****"Project Muse,*****" do a search using the terms (without quote marks) *****"Frankenstein family*****" or *****"Frankenstein parents,*****" and choose what seem to be the most pertinent two articles, for your purposes, from the among the first 10 or so listed.

OPTION TWO: DARWIN

Darwin--a moderately devout man himself, although increasingly doubtful as he grew older--well knew that Origin of Species would be attacked upon various grounds, especially for its supposed impiety. In what ways do you see Darwin anticipating a less than receptive audience, an audience that will feel its traditional beliefs are being challenged? You might consider not only the sequence of chapters (why does he begin with domestic or artificial selection?), but also specific passages (e.g., the famous *****"Tree of Life*****" passage on page 74 or the concluding passage on pages 120-121). How do you account for Darwin*****'s fairly frequent recourse to adjectives such as *****"wonderful*****" or *****"beautiful*****" when speaking of adaptations? Do not simply answer these questions one after another; I*****m offering them as brainstorming tools to help you get ideas, not as paint-by-numbers questions that you *****fill in***** in your actual paper. You need to devise your own thesis about Darwin*****s book (not just Darwin himself or evolutionary theory), and select suitable quotes. Ideally, your paper should show that you understand 1) the relationship of Darwin*****'s theory to the intellectual currents of the historical period in which he was writing (read the lecture notes!), 2) Darwin*****'s basic argument in his book, and 3) the strategic or rhetorical ways in which he conveys his argument in his book. Again, do not just mechanically *****answer***** the previous 1,2,3: the basic goal is to show you understand how Darwin*****s specific bookï¿½ï¿½*****"the content of the treatise and the way he presents that content--relates to and responds to its intellectual/cultural context.

Again, ponder stages of analysis, including historical context. Your paper might not even begin talking about Darwin or his book per se (except for your intro., until page three or so).

Secondary material links:

Link #1. Go to the main online page for FIU Libraries, click on the link to connect from home (if you are working from home), click on *****"Find Articles and Do Research*****" link, find the *****"A-Z*****" list of electronic journals/resources, find the electronic journal *****"Project Muse,*****" and do a search to find this essay: Cosans, Chris

Was Darwin a Creationist?

Link #2. Also use *****"Project Muse*****" to find this essay: Campbell, John Angus

Why Was Darwin Believed? Darwin*****'s Origin and the Problem of Intellectual Revolution

OPTION THREE: LOCKE, ADAM SMITH, AND MARX

Locke, Adam Smith (in the Wealth of Nations excerpt/e-text link), and Marx are concerned about the value of our laboring activity. Write an essay on labor*****s value, which substantially uses and analyzes Locke*****s, Smith*****s, and Marx*****s notions. This is NOT a comparative paper per se, but rather an essay focusing on an ethical, political, and/or philosophical issue that requires you to consult, as it were, three great thinkers on the subject. If you wrote on Locke previously, you may still do this topicï¿½ï¿½*****"but do not repeat major portions of your previous essay. This essay gives you more latitude to inject your own ideas (as it were) but be sure to convey your knowledge of Locke, Smith, and Marx as you do so; please note that you aren*****t required to devote 1/3rd of your paper to Locke, 1/3rd to Smith, and 1/3rd to Marxï¿½ï¿½*****"the percent will vary depending on your topic. Please note, also, that you don*****t have to be pro-Marx; if you want to argue against Marx, or more specifically against the *****surplus value*****=*****accumulated labor*****=*****exploitation***** concept, you are welcome to do soï¿½ï¿½*****"you do not need to follow the prof*****s avowed take on this issue (the prof. does expect a well-argued paper, though).

Secondary material links:

#1. Go to this link and use some aspect of its analysis or data:

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

#2. Use the Bibliography (in the essay it*****'s called *****"Further Information*****") at the end of the above link/article to find another relevant link/article.

Alternatively, or if links#1 and#2 above have died, use the link immediately below:

http://www.rogerwendell.com/wealth.html

*****

Customer is requesting tha *****

*****

How to Reference "Family and Education in Frankenstein Mary Shelley" Research Paper in a Bibliography

“Family and Education in Frankenstein Mary Shelley.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2011, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/family-education-frankenstein/274599. Accessed 17 Jun 2024.

Family and Education in Frankenstein Mary Shelley (2011). Retrieved from https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/family-education-frankenstein/274599

A1-TermPaper.com. (2011). Family and Education in Frankenstein Mary Shelley. [online] Available at: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/family-education-frankenstein/274599 [Accessed 17 Jun, 2024].

”Family and Education in Frankenstein Mary Shelley” 2011. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/family-education-frankenstein/274599.

”Family and Education in Frankenstein Mary Shelley” A1-TermPaper.com, Last modified 2024. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/family-education-frankenstein/274599.

[1] ”Family and Education in Frankenstein Mary Shelley”, A1-TermPaper.com, 2011. [Online]. Available: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/family-education-frankenstein/274599. [Accessed: 17-Jun-2024].

1. Family and Education in Frankenstein Mary Shelley [Internet]. A1-TermPaper.com. 2011 [cited 17 June 2024]. Available from: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/family-education-frankenstein/274599

1. Family and Education in Frankenstein Mary Shelley. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/family-education-frankenstein/274599. Published 2011. Accessed June 17, 2024.

Related Research Papers: