How does chapter five relate to the main themes and issues of the novel Frankenstein as a whole?

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Asadullah Haider        English Frankenstein Coursework:

How does chapter five relate to the main themes and issues of the novel Frankenstein as a whole?

Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein when she was eighteen years old. At the time, scientists were experimenting with electricity and one of the things they were trying to achieve was to give life to dead beings. Twenty years before Shelley wrote Frankenstein Luigi Galvani, a scientist, found that electricity could be used to cause muscles in the dead to spasm, opening the door to the possibility that reanimation was possible. It was in this frame of mind that Shelley began writing her novel; Galvani is mentioned in the novel.

A key theme in the novel is mans everlasting pursuit to one day be God; and desire to obtain a god-like role and create life. But when man tries, he fails and this failure is represented by the monster that Dr. Frankenstein has created. In the novel, Mary Shelley writes, “Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created”, after the monster first opens its eyes. Dr. Frankenstein refers to himself as a God like figure; he has given life to his creation. This was clearly an issue that was on Shelley’s mind at the time, she asks the reader whether man has the right to play god. Dr. Frankenstein’s immediately regrets his actions and abandons all hope, he refers to the monster as his enemy and is joyful at the news the monster had fled the town. If man has the right to play god, he must take responsibility for his actions. Victor Frankenstein fails to do this; he hopes all his mistakes would go away.

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Another question asked by Mary Shelly is if any good can come from playing God. The answer is no, no good came when Dr. Frankenstein created the monster. It hated him for giving it life, it was alone and isolated from the rest of the society, different.

Dr. Frankenstein’s reasons for creating the monster may have been noble. He may have wanted to help mankind, conquer death and diseases. Having done this and achieving his goal, looking at his creation and its ugliness, he turns away and flees from the monster he has created. Mary Shelly puts out the point ...

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