Victor Frankenstein and The Pursuit of Knowledge ‘Man,’ I cried, ‘how ignorant art thou in thy...
-
Upload
dulcie-russell -
Category
Documents
-
view
225 -
download
2
Transcript of Victor Frankenstein and The Pursuit of Knowledge ‘Man,’ I cried, ‘how ignorant art thou in thy...
Victor Frankenstein and
The Pursuit of Knowledge
‘Man,’ I cried, ‘how ignorant art thou in thy pride of wisdom! Cease; you know not what it is you say.’ (III.vi)
The Age of Enlightenment
Also known as the Age of Reason18th Century (1700s)Time period of Frankenstein
Marked by increased pursuit of scienceBirth of modern science Explosion of knowledge, discovery,
exploration
Reaction against Religion
Takeoff of science led to attack on religionReligion criticised as conservative and
backwardExtreme cases saw denial of religion
(atheism) Age of Reason led to new confidence in
manMan’s fate in his own hands, not in God’s
Frankenstein: A Critique of Science
A questioning of science’s commitmentObjective truth and discovery regardless of
consequences Right or wrong?
Humphrey Davy: nature as female http://www.mdx.ac.uk/WWW/STUDY/SHE6.HTM
‘Humphrey Davy’s Scientific Philosophy’
Mother Nature and Science
Davy: defined nature as femaleNurturing, growing, ‘Mother Nature’
Two ways to deal with nature through science ‘Descriptive science’, understanding how
Nature worked ‘Interventionist’ science, changing or
controlling the way Nature worked
Science and Gender Dichotomy
Nature as female, the scientist as maleThe attempt to control nature being sexism
Nature as female entitles ‘male’ scientist to exploit her?Money, power, status
Victor Frankenstein
‘Man,’ I cried, ‘how ignorant art thou in thy pride of wisdom! Cease; you know not what it is you say.’ (III.vi)
‘The Modern Prometheus’
Frankenstein’s sub-titleReference to Victor
Why so?
Who was Prometheus?
Dared to steal Fire from the gods…
Created Man and gave him the Fire of life to defy the gods…
…and was bound in agony by the gods with his liver pecked out daily by a vulture for his presumption.
Victor Frankenstein: the Modern Prometheus
Dared to steal the secret of life from Mother Nature…
Created ‘Man’ with that secret of life to supersede Mother Nature…
…and was hounded from society, pursued, and destroyed by Nature and creation alike for his presumption.
Victor and the Rape of Nature
Professor Waldman The modern masters promise very little; they know that
metals cannot be transmuted and that the elixir of life is a chimera. But these philosophers, whose hands seem only made to dabble in dirt, and their eyes to pore over the microscope or crucible, have indeed performed miracles. They penetrate into the recesses of nature and show how she works in her hiding-places. (I.iii)
Yet Frankenstein undertakes this penetration Seeking the ‘secret of life’, using it to his own ends The rape of nature to gratify personal lust for power
Victor’s Scientific Megalomania
"A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs." (I.iv)Unlocks the secret of life for own benefitSelf-serving, dangerous
Victor and Sexism
Significance of the creation of the Monster The theft of the secret of Nature’s creation of life
Theft of the female reproductive ability The ability to create males without females
Victor, a threat to social/biological survival of the race and ideal of the Female Hence the destruction of Monster’s mate Preservation of his monopoly on creation
Victor and Mary Shelley
Victor as Shelley’s criticism of modern scienceNature as female to be penetrated and
possessed by male scientistDead matter to be reassembled at will
Unnatural; life created from dead things As opposed to God’s creation
Life from the living (Adam’s rib?)
‘Interventionist’ Science as Violation William Frankenstein’s death as a loss of
innocenceKilled by the creation of VictorDied in the arms of NatureKilled in Nature by an Unnatural creation
Nature grotesquely violated by the unnatural
Shelley’s Nurturing Alternative
Ernest Frankenstein as one with appropriate relationship to nature Became a farmer, working with Nature Not taking control of it
Henry Clerval as one who appreciates Nature He was a being formed in the "very poetry of nature."…The
scenery of external nature, which others regard only with admiration, he loved with ardour. (III.i)
Nature as a person to be treated with respect and reverence
‘I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man. These are my enticements, and they are sufficient to conquer all fear of danger or death, and to induce me to commence this laborious voyage with the joy a child feels when he embarks in a little boat, with his holiday mates, on an expedition of discovery up his native river.’ (Letter 1)
Robert Walton
Attitude to Discovery
Overwhelming desire to explore North Pole
Believes in discovery for its own sakeAlso for sake of mankind as a whole
Burning passion based on books
Walton and the Brink of Knowledge
Constantly advised by Elizabeth not to go on voyage of discovery Inferred from letters to Elizabeth But insists on going on it, citing noble aspirations and
purpose Is exhorted by Victor to go on, even as Victor
relates what happened to him Eventually forced to turn back by storms Representing the ability to not go too far
The Storms of Nature
Frankenstein and Walton both accompanied on discoveries by storms Nature’s reaction to Man’s penetration of her secrets
‘Female’ Nature resisting ‘male’ science Whereas Victor pushes on, Walton turns back Victor suffers consequences thereafter
Forced into Nature’s wildernesses Exposed to the elements and storms
Knowledge as Pandora’s Box
Knowledge in Frankenstein is a gift with greater cost than benefit The unleashing of greater forces and evils than expected
For Victor, knowledge of the secret of life brings only death and suffering
For the Creature, knowledge brings only loss of innocence Greater desire to participate in society Greater awareness of society’s rejection of him Greater hatred, frustration, leading to self-destruction and
destruction of others
The End