PosterĄG >Eric Kao at 0:15:37 10/28/97 from ts1-ppp-09.fju.edu.tw
MentionedĄG
| Thoroughout the chapter one to five, how Victor Frankenstein gets influenced by childhood and juvenile experiences is shed
light upon through outlooks of his family and of his friend-making. Victor is born in a distinguished family and the attitude of his father towards his studies plays a remarkable role related to his shocking invention afterward--an experiment-made human being. The following will be my shallow analysis of how he gets influenced. Vicior's aptness of scientific invention as well as of exploring mysteries of human structure can be tracked back to Clerval's, Elixabeth's, as well as some other firgures' direct or indirect influence, Clerval is described as a person who "likes enterprise, hardship, and even dangerm and fancy." He is a person who "composed heroic songs, and began to write many a tale of enchantment and knightly adventure." (P.37) In my opinion, his influence on Victor is that he unconciously becomes a helper who enables Victor to romanticize his quest of scientific invention. In Victor's process of making the monster, in order to achieve his goal, he seems to be fully occupied by vehement desire of make the monster true. He is never aware of any responsibility or morality. "I most eagerly sought and if my incantations were always unsuccessful. I attributed the failure rather to my own inexperience and mistake, than to a want of skill or fidelity in my instructors." (P.40) He is like romantic poets who are hardly wary of failures but just keep trying until fulfilling wants. Elizabeth in this novel is portrayed as an incarnation of adorable goddess. "Elizabeth shone like a shrine-dedicated lamp in our peaceful home. Her sympathy was ours; her smile, her soft voice, the sweet glance of her celestial eyes, were ever there to bless and animate us." (P.38) Though I haven't read to chapters after Chapter Five, the charm and influence of Elizabeth, based upon my impression, will dominate Victor's ideas of his second invention--a female monster. Regarding whether Victor is a romantic hero or an irresponsible father. If we view his scientific quest in a way of romanticism, indeed his quest is full if romantic elements which also appear in romantic poets' poetry. One character is that he objectifies human as items, though romantics poets perfer to beautify women but Victor disgrace humans. "I saw how the fine form of man was degarded and wasted; I behols the corruption of death succeed to the blooming cheek of life; I saw hpw the worm inherited the wonders of the eyes and brain I paused,......" (P.52) In Victor's view, only through his personal understandings and observations can things be perfectly unified. Thus, he works so hard to make the invention of monster successful. At this time, he is endowed with both qualities of romantic heros and irresponsible fathers, since he has been concentrated on his QUEST without having any religious or moral awareness. Of course the above analysis is shallow and just based upon my personal understanding of Chapter one to Chapter five. Why Victor, or to say, Mary Shelley, wants to create such a monster should be associated with more evidence in the chapters afterward. In a word, no matter who is the inventor of the monster, the given influence can be tracked back to not only the inventor's family or life experiences but the whole society having certain ideologies |