In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein and his creation, the “monster”, have had a comparable upbringing in terms of the way they became educated.
Victor went through the usual schooling everyone in society goes through.Due to his academic achievements, he was able to attend a prestigious university where he studied science. “I attended the lectures and cultivated the acquaintance of the men of science of the university, and I found even in M. Krempe a great deal of sound sense and real information, combined, it is true, with a repulsive physiognomy and manners, but not on that account the less valuable.” His motivation to learn as much as possible caused him to become unsocial and caused a rift between him and his family. He was very interested on how humans were created and how they die. After years of research and experimentation, he was able to create a creature. After realizing how ugly his creation was, he abandoned it and all his studies.
Through Victor’s socially normal education, he was able to become a very smart person. However, his knowledge caused him to create a being he could not look after. Therefore, he created a living and breathing being that has to spend the rest of his life miserably.
The monster, on the other hand, learned what he learned through observing nature. He had neither any formal school nor guidance. Through his experiences living outside by himself, he learned what he needed to about the world; such as what hot and cold feel like. He learned the basics of knowledge by eavesdropping on his neighbors’ conversations.
He then tried to interact with his neighbor and show off his knowledge. However, the neighbor did not react very well and attacked the monster. This fueled the monsters hatred towards humans and that is when he started to kill people.
The novel supports the expression that “knowledge is power”, however, having too much knowledge or too much power can be very dangerous and cause serious complications.
Category Archives: Close Reading Post
Frankenstein #2
The education of both Victor Frankenstein and the Monster can be compared to the argument of nature vs. nurture in Rosseau’s “Emile.” Victor’s self-education plays a critical role in shaping Victor Frankenstein’s monster. Frankenstein’s education was from reading many scientific textbooks, mainly scientific in nature. This can be related to Rosseau’s theory of educating oneself. The Monster has been neglected and has been shown no love. Since he has been abandoned by Frankenstein, he is forced to educate himself in both survival and life. Everything the Monster learns is through his own experiences; there is no one to teach him what to do. This relates to individualism and the idea that parents shouldn’t tell their children what to do, just encourage them to make their own decisions. The Monster uses all experiences around him to learn how to communicate and love. Loneliness and isolation both play a large part in the Monster’s actions. Victor Frankenstein has caused him so much suffering and therefore he cannot accept himself because he wasn’t given any parenting, education or love by his creator.
Education without Man
In the beginning of Emile, Rousseau writes:
“We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man’s estate, is the gift of education. This education comes to us from nature, from men, or from things. The inner growth of our organs and faculties is the education of nature, the use we learn to make of this growth is the education of men, what we gain by our experience of our surroundings is the education of things” (1).
At birth we are small and weak, incapable of doing nearly anything for ourselves. The only thing that helps us grow is education. Education is what makes it possible for us to grow not just in size but in intellect.
In Frankenstein, we see two examples of what happens when a subject receives too much of one certain type of education. Rousseau says that “education come to us from nature, from men, or from things… If their teaching conflicts, the scholar is ill-educated and will never be at peace with himself. ”
In Dr. Frankenstein, we see a man who is increasingly influenced by the education of man and his knowledge of the nature around him. “From this day natural philosophy, and particularly chemistry, in the most comprehensive sense of the term, became nearly my sole occupation (Frankenstein Vol. I, Ch III).”
Dr. Frankenstein’s obsession with the knowledge of nature through the education of man created an imbalance in hi education which resulted in his abnormal plans to create and eventually bring to life a creature against the norms of nature.
As Rousseau writes, “God makes all things good; man meddles with them and they become evil. He forces one soil to yield the products of another, one tree to bear another’s fruit (1). ” BY creating the monster, Dr. Frankenstein clearly goes against the norms of nature and against the education of nature by giving the monster limbs and organs that did not grow for his creation. As we can see here, from the beginning, the monster was destined to failure because his education through nature was manipulated right from the beginning. Although he did live most of his time out in the wild, he was unable to attain a proper education by man due to his abnormalities. Yes, its true that he was able to learn to speak and read like us, but because he lacked human interaction, he was unable to know what to do with the emotions within himself.
Frankenstein
In last week’s reading of Emile, a major premise of Rousseau’s was that there are three “masters” of education. That of man, nature and things. He expressed that these three masters work best when in conjunction with one another. “Since all three modes of education must work together, the two that we can control must follow the lead of that which is beyond our control” (p.1). The “uncontrollable” mode of education Rousseau is referring to is that of nature. It was interesting to see his ideologies supported in such a fascinating story like that of Frankenstein.
In Emile, Rousseau goes on to describe infancy. He states, ”We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man’s estate, is the gift of education”(p.1). While not technically an infant, nor physically weak, Frankenstein’s monster might be regarded as such. In chapter 11, we begin to get insight on how he (meaning the monster) learns and navigates through the world. Born with no innate knowledge the monster must experience things and derive conclusions based of his own experiences. “… until I felt tormented by hunger and thirst. This roused me from my nearly dormant state, and I ate some berries which I found hanging on the trees or lying on the ground (11).” Naturally the monster experienced hunger and was able to conclude that eating satisfies that hunger. Through experience, the monster was also able to conclude that fire is not to be touched and that going to sleep when he’s tired, were practical solutions to very natural occurrences.
Another of the three masters of education is that of men. Seeing as Frankenstein didn’t send his monster off to college, the education of man (in this instance) is solely observed knowledge from those around him. Through education of men, he learned basic communication skills. The monster goes on to say ,”While I improved in speech, I also learned the science of letters as it was taught to the stranger, and this opened before me a wide field for wonder and delight”(12). It was through his experiences with nature, things and men that he learned how to function in the world. I believe that the story of Frankenstein greatly illustrates many aspects of Emile.
The Need for Proper Guidance
A very important strength in Frankenstein’s education is his passion and thirst for knowledge. Frankenstein narrates, “The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine. Curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature…are among the earliest sensations I can remember” (Shelley 31). These “sensations” can be linked to Locke’s belief that sensations and reflections are how we acquire ideas and therefore build up our education. Frankenstein’s passion for learning also alludes to Rousseau’s advice for an ideal education: let the child learn what he wants and his education will be successful. If a student feels passionate about the subject, he will not think of giving it up, and that is exactly what happens to Frankenstein, who feels that “in a scientific pursuit there is continual food for discovery and wonder” (Shelley 48).
A downfall in Frankenstein’s education is the constant limits that others try to impose on him, including his father and Professor Krempe. Frankenstein narrates, “In my education my father had taken the greatest precautions that my mind should be impressed with no supernatural horrors” (Shelley 49). This is just an example of Frankenstein’s father attempting to steer Frankenstein’s mind in a certain direction. Another instance would be the former’s immediate distaste at seeing the authors of the novels that Frankenstein finds pleasure in, even calling their philosophies: “sad trash,” and Professor Krempe had similar things to say about these authors (Shelley 34). By these authority figures consistently putting down Frankenstein’s interests, Frankenstein feels the need to prove them wrong and show them that there is relevance to all of this, that these authors have come up with important principles though they may not necessarily be accurate. This causes him to continuously try to break down the boundaries of present knowledge and discover new ways of thinking, new kinds of everything for what he thinks will benefit mankind.
The monster, left to fend for himself by Frankenstein, is able to start off his education on a blank slate, or under more specific Locke terms, a “tabula rasa.” Through this lack of inferior treatment brought upon by others onto his education, he learns how to be well-mannered and eloquently spoken and that is a strength of his education. Although he becomes successful academically as he learns to read, write, and speak on his own, the monster lacks proper guidance. This is the biggest downfall of his education. When he attempts to become socially active by talking to the family that he has watched, he is chased out, influencing him negatively. This can be related to Rousseau’s writings that all humans are born with the potential to be good – it is the actions of a corrupted society that steer them towards evil. Due to no one being able to guide him into understanding that Paradise Lost by John Milton is mere fiction, he relates himself to the text, learning how to justify his wicked deeds as results of Frankenstein leaving him alone and confused.
Shelley makes a claim on education through the development of the different characters by combining theories from the writings of Locke and Rousseau. Shelley believes that while sensations, reflections, and experiences do influence a person’s education, a living external guidance is also needed. However, this guidance must be a high-quality and proper kind – no good will come out of a deadbeat counselor, or in the monster’s case: a deadbeat creator. She illustrates this idea through the education of the monster, who has been left without proper guidance due to Frankenstein’s abandonment of him, and therefore has a distorted, malicious kind of education.
The struggle to fit in
In the novel Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus, the monster gains knowledge through experience but is left in isolation. He discovers fire and experiences the heat it provided him (Shelley, 11). Throughout this reading, it accentuates on Rousseau’s theory of having to learn for oneself and by allowing the child the opportunity to discover and experience, then be told by someone else (Rousseau, 15). This is exemplified when he put his hand into the live embers, but he quickly took it out again with a cry of pain. Through experience the monster learned that fire keeps you warm and it can also cause pain if you touch it.
The monster was isolated and left on his own. He has no prior knowledge of anything. Because he was hungry and tired, he gained experiences and his knowledge builds. He learns that fire is hot and keeps you warm and how to collect food. Through his journey of getting food, he learns his hierarchy in society. When a man saw him, he screamed and ran away in which the monster realized that he is not human and decides he isn’t a typical human. The monster soon lives in a hut in which he learns the basic knowledge of language by listening in to his neighbors, learns how to read and obtain knowledge of the world. “Of what a strange nature is knowledge!” The monster tried to gain the approval of his neighbors but was attacked by them and let him isolated. The monster retaliates and seeks revenge on all humans. Because of this incident the monster kills innocent people.
The novel emphasizes that knowledge is dangerous. Frankenstein depicts the same isolation aspect of Emile. On education, Rousseau stressed that Emile should think not think of others but should think more on herself. “He is alone in the midst of human society, he depends on himself alone…” (Rousseau, 23). Although the monster is physically and emotionally isolated, he thinks more for himself and observes his neighbor to better understand the world and to learn more knowledge. The story accentuates on the monsters experiences, how he wants to understand and fit in.
Isolation: The Desire to Fit In
In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus, the monster stumbles across a fire and experiences the warmth it provided him whilst he was oppressed by the cold (Shelley 11). Desirous for extra comfort, he “thrust[ed] [his] hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain” (Shelley 11). This illustrates Rousseau’s theory of having your pupil learn for himself by allowing the child the opportunity to discover and experience, rather than having him know something because he was told by another (Rousseau 15). In this scenario, the monster learned that although fire provides comfortable warmth, it can just as well cause undesirable pain. The monster also learns upon nightfall that “the fire gave light as well as heat and that the discovery of this element was useful to [him]” in preparing his food. Although berries were spoiled when placed on “live embers,” the monster learned that nuts and roots improved much in taste under this procedure (Shelley 11).
Frankenstein; however, revises the isolation aspect of Emile. Rousseau in her treatise on education stressed that Emile should “[think] not of others but of himself, and prefers that others should do the same. He makes no claim upon them, and acknowledges no debt to them. He is alone in the midst of human society, he depends on himself alone…” (Rousseau 23). The monster, although physically and emotionally isolated, thinks more than himself and observes his neighbors. He realizes that the nearby inhabitants are unhappy due to their economical situation and the monster repays his debt from stealing “a part of their store for [his] own consumption” and selflessly assist[ed] to their labors (Shelley 12). He is later conscious that the “cottagers” “possessed a method of communicating their experience and feelings to one another by articulate sounds [and he]… ardently desired to become acquainted with it” (Shelley 12), emphasizing his want to understand and fit in.
Dangerous Knowledge
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the main character, Victor Frankenstein, was unlike other children who wanted to play. He had a strong desire to learn about science. “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world” (Shelley 2). Natural philosophy was his favorite studies. From then on, he educated himself in these study with books by Cornelius Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, and Paracelsus. At the age of seventeen, Victor left Geneva and attended University of Ingolstadt. He introduced himself to his professor of natural philosophy. His professor informed him that his previous studies were absolutely useless and outdated. He had also met his chemistry professor, in which he decided to his studies in science. His studies in science started the pitfall of Victor’s education. Victor Frankenstein’s thirst for knowledge and senseless curiosity blinded him from all senses. He abandons his social life and family. He stayed in his apartment studying how humans are made and death/decay. Victor Frankenstein decides to give life to inanimate body. Through years of restless work, he created a creature. Victor’s senses finally come back on the night his creature awoke. The ugliness of the creature awoke Victor. If Victor didn’t have strong thirst for knowledge, he could of prevented all the misfortunes that happened to him later on– “instead of that serenity of conscience which allowed me to look back upon the past with self-satisfaction, and from thence to gather promise of new hopes, I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures such as no language can describe” (Shelley 9).
The monster was left on his own. John Locke’s theory of “tabula rasa” is present in the monster. The monster has a blank mind, “No distinct ideas occupied my mind; all was confused” (Shelley 11). It is through his sensations and reflections he learns. He had no knowledge of anything until he was hungry and tired. Through his experiences, his knowledge builds and he educates himself. He learns how to keep a fire burning and how to collect food. On one of his journey to obtain food, he learns his position in society. When a man saw him, the man screamed and ran away. The monster realizes he is not like any human and decides to stay away from humans. The monster stays in a hut and there he learns the basic knowledge of language by eavesdropping on his neighbors. He learns how to read and obtains knowledge of the world, politics, government, status of humans, etc. The monster learns “of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind when it has once seized on it like a lichen on the rock” (Shelley 13). The downfall of the monster’s education is when the monster tries to gain the approval of his neighbor. He was attacked by his neighbor and was rejected. Because of the monster’s looks and from his experiences, he knows he would never be accepted in society. This leads him to ask for a companion. Rejection, abandonment, misery, and isolation leads to the monster’s reckless actions. The monster went from an educated and tamed man to a ruthless monster. He and his mind has gone bad. The monster vows to seek revenge on all human kinds. From here on, the monster kills innocent people.
The novel wants to say that knowledge can be dangerous. To pursue knowledge beyond human limits can put us in a dangerous position. Victor’s desire to create humans led to destruction. He went beyond nature’s limit. Walton, just like Victor, is eager to learn more. Walton wants to reach the North Pole, where no other human has done before. He is trapped between sheets of ice and contemplates on whether to proceed. However unlike Victor, Walton decides to go back south. Walton learns from Victor’s story how the thirst for knowledge can be dangerous.
Tainted by Society
In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, there are instances where Frankenstein illustrates and revises aspects of Emile by Jean Jacques Rousseau. For instance, Shelley touches upon what Rousseau mentioned in his fifth book, where he discusses about Sophy, the ideal woman and perfect match to Emile. Rousseau stated, “The man should be strong and active; the woman should be weak and passive and it follows that woman is specially made for man’s delight” (35). Rousseau is clearly stating that men are superior to women and women exist merely to please men. Shelley revises Rousseau’s perfect ideal man, Emile, by introducing her own character, Felix. Felix’s face was “melancholy beyond expression” and observes that he has an “air of melancholy” (Shelley 11). However, it is until the arrival of Saphie where Felix “seemed peculiarly happy and with smiles of delight” (Shelley 12). Shelley is showing that Rousseau’s natural man is not sufficient in just himself. He needs a woman to be with him as his equal, not just to please him. Therefore although Shelley illustrates Saphie, she revises women’s role in men’s life that differs from Rousseau’s views.
Another example where Frankenstein illustrates aspects of Emile is when Victor created the monster. Rousseau stated, “God makes all things good; man meddles with them and they become evil” (1). When Victor first created Frankenstein, he was absolutely horrified and disgusted with his creation. Frankenstein was grotesque-like and “his yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath” (Shelley 40). As a result, he was shunned by everyone, including his creator himself. Frankenstein encountered a beautiful child who he wanted to befriend because he was so lonely. However, the child called him an “ugly wretch of a monster” (Shelley 11). All this alienation and misconception accumulated to all the monster’s hatred towards Victor and the society. He responded by lashing out and murdered Victor’s little brother. Therefore Rousseau’s quote as stated earlier is supported. At first, Frankenstein did not have all these malicious intentions but after his encounter with society and man, he became evil.
Close reading post
In the text “Emile” by Jean Jacques Rousseau the relationship between isolation and individualism is described. “God makes all things good; man meddles with them and they become evil.” This quote from the text supports the argument of nature vs. nurture. Isolation (nature), supports the idea that one should not be corrupted by society and will learn right from wrong without parent interference. Individualism (nurture), supports the idea that parents should encourage their children to choose what they like not make decisions for them, as well as allowing them to find their mistakes on their own without being corrected. These ideas go hand in hand with one another. Rousseau also expresses that “education comes to us from nature, from men, or from things. With isolation, he wants us to learn directly from the environment/surroundings, whereas with individualism it comes from both the environment and the encouragement of parents with them finding their own solutions rather than being told. “We are born sensitive and from our birth onwards we are affected in various ways by our environment.” This supports the argument of nature vs. nurture. Isolation relates to individualism in the fact that both want one to learn from oneself rather than be told or shown. “True happiness consists in decreasing the difference between our desires and our powers, in establishing a perfect equilibrium between the power and the will.” What one learns from the environment is just as important as what one learns on their own through their mistakes. He states that nature does everything best, showing the importance of learning from it (isolation). Finding equilibrium between both isolation and individualism leads to happiness. With individualism imagination becomes your true self, which overpowers everything else good or bad. Imagination feeds the desire to satisfy therefore linking the two ideas. Again he shows the difficulties between what you want vs. what is deemed acceptable by society (isolation vs. individualism). “A man must know many things which seem useless to a child, but need the child learn, or can he indeed learn all that the man must know?” This shows that man can learn from child and child can learn from man. Therefore, this shows that one can learn from the environment (isolation) and from another (individualism).