Morality and Responsibility - Moral Development in Mary Shelleys Frank

Moral Development in Shelley's Frankenstein   Ã‚   Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a commentary on the natural disposition of man. By personifying her vision of a natural everyman character in the form of Victor Frankenstein's creation, The Creature, Shelley explores the natural state as well as the moral development of man, and develops conclusions regarding both. But before Shelley could create her commentary on man's natural dispositions, she was in need of a character to represent her "natural everyman." The character she needed had to possess the same qualities as that of a man in his most natural state. The most common character to represent man in his most natural state is that of a newborn. A newborn is, of course, a new human being in every respect, and a newborn has no past experiences that would taint his role as a natural everyman. However, a newborn is subject to the elements of the outside world without the ability to freely interact with those elements. A newborn cannot defend itself from alien environments that bring in new ideas, new friends, new enemies, and new challenges. Shelley's character must be able to always act upon his own free will (or be "freely" influenced by deterministic processes, depending on one's school or thought). However, a newborn is not able to accomplish this; there is too much ambiguity in what determines and develops a newborn's state of mind. Shelley needed something "better" than a newborn. Victor Frankenstein's creation is the answer to his dilemma. The Creature does not possess any of the shortcomings discussed above. He is brought into this world as a fully mobile human, able to act, as he chooses, not dependant upon other human beings to survive. In The Creature, Shelley ... .... Chapter 15. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shelley. Chapter 16. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shelley. Letter 2. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shelley. Chapter 21. Works Cited and Consulted Bloom, Harold. Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. New York: Chelsea, 1987. Garber, Frederick. The Autonomy of the Self from Richardson to Huysmans. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982. Marder, Daniel. Exiles at Home: A Story of Literature in Nineteenth Century America. Lanham: University Press of America, Inc., 1984. Patterson, Arthur Paul. A Frankenstein Study. http://www.watershed.winnipeg.mb.ca/Frankenstein.html Smith, Christopher. Frankenstein as Prometheus. http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/class/sf/books/frank/papers/FrankCS.html Spark, Muriel. Mary Shelly. New York: Dutton, 1987. Williams, Bill. On Shelley's Use of Nature Imagery. http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/class/sf/books/frank/papers/FrankWJW.html Morality and Responsibility - Moral Development in Mary Shelley's Frank Moral Development in Shelley's Frankenstein   Ã‚   Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a commentary on the natural disposition of man. By personifying her vision of a natural everyman character in the form of Victor Frankenstein's creation, The Creature, Shelley explores the natural state as well as the moral development of man, and develops conclusions regarding both. But before Shelley could create her commentary on man's natural dispositions, she was in need of a character to represent her "natural everyman." The character she needed had to possess the same qualities as that of a man in his most natural state. The most common character to represent man in his most natural state is that of a newborn. A newborn is, of course, a new human being in every respect, and a newborn has no past experiences that would taint his role as a natural everyman. However, a newborn is subject to the elements of the outside world without the ability to freely interact with those elements. A newborn cannot defend itself from alien environments that bring in new ideas, new friends, new enemies, and new challenges. Shelley's character must be able to always act upon his own free will (or be "freely" influenced by deterministic processes, depending on one's school or thought). However, a newborn is not able to accomplish this; there is too much ambiguity in what determines and develops a newborn's state of mind. Shelley needed something "better" than a newborn. Victor Frankenstein's creation is the answer to his dilemma. The Creature does not possess any of the shortcomings discussed above. He is brought into this world as a fully mobile human, able to act, as he chooses, not dependant upon other human beings to survive. In The Creature, Shelley ... .... Chapter 15. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shelley. Chapter 16. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shelley. Letter 2. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shelley. Chapter 21. Works Cited and Consulted Bloom, Harold. Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. New York: Chelsea, 1987. Garber, Frederick. The Autonomy of the Self from Richardson to Huysmans. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982. Marder, Daniel. Exiles at Home: A Story of Literature in Nineteenth Century America. Lanham: University Press of America, Inc., 1984. Patterson, Arthur Paul. A Frankenstein Study. http://www.watershed.winnipeg.mb.ca/Frankenstein.html Smith, Christopher. Frankenstein as Prometheus. http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/class/sf/books/frank/papers/FrankCS.html Spark, Muriel. Mary Shelly. New York: Dutton, 1987. Williams, Bill. On Shelley's Use of Nature Imagery. http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/class/sf/books/frank/papers/FrankWJW.html