The novel “Frankenstein” written by author Mary Shelly is familiar to people across the world because of its engaging and romantic plot. The character of the monster is one of the most famous in the world, but this masterpiece is not only known by its mysterious entourage, but also by ...Read More
The novel “Frankenstein” written by author Mary Shelly is familiar to people across the world because of its engaging and romantic plot. The character of the monster is one of the most famous in the world, but this masterpiece is not only known by its mysterious entourage, but also by the great and of interesting plot and characters. So, in the essays on Frankenstein, it is better to include an introduction and conclusion with the biography of Mary Shelly and the papers of Frankenstein essay topics will be perfect. To find out how to do this properly, you can take advantage of the online samples of Frankenstein essay topics available. Also, you can check out our samples of Frankenstein research paper topics for examples of solid content, structure, and outline.
Hook Examples for "Frankenstein" Essays
Monster or Victim Hook
Is Frankenstein's creature truly a monstrous villain, or is he a victim of society's rejection and cruelty? Dive into the moral ambiguity of this iconic character and explore the depths of his humanity.
Mary Shelley's Inspiration Hook
Discover the intriguing story behind the creation of "Frankenstein." Explore Mary Shelley's life, her influences, and how this timeless novel emerged from the challenges and tragedies she faced.
Scientific Ambition Hook
Victor Frankenstein's relentless pursuit of scientific discovery leads to catastrophic consequences. Analyze the theme of scientific ambition and its ethical implications in the novel.
The Promethean Myth Hook
Frankenstein is often compared to the myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods. Delve into how the novel explores themes of creation, rebellion, and the consequences of playing god.
The Pursuit of Knowledge Hook
Examine the characters' quests for knowledge in "Frankenstein" and how their thirst for understanding the unknown shapes their destinies. Consider the fine line between discovery and obsession.
Ethical Dilemmas Hook
"Frankenstein" raises profound ethical questions about the responsibilities of creators, the treatment of the other, and the consequences of one's actions. Explore these dilemmas and their relevance today.
Monstrosity of Society Hook
Discuss how "Frankenstein" critiques societal norms and prejudices. Analyze how the creature's rejection by society shapes his behavior and leads to his transformation into a true monster.
Gothic Elements Hook
Explore the Gothic elements in Mary Shelley's novel, from eerie settings to themes of isolation and horror. Consider how these elements contribute to the overall atmosphere and meaning of the story.
Modern Scientific Ethics Hook
Draw parallels between the novel's ethical dilemmas and contemporary debates on scientific advancements, cloning, and genetic engineering. Reflect on how "Frankenstein" remains relevant in today's world.
Revolution was a key idea to the philosophy of the Romantic writers, whether it be social, cultural or aesthetic. It is in the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley, however, that the most overt revolutionary political statements are made while Frankenstein, the masterpiece novel by his...
A key feature of the Gothic genre in The Bloody Chamber,’ Frankenstein and Dr Faustus is Transgression. Transgression, put simply is the violation of a particular societal, moral or natural law. It is breaking boundaries, or breaking rules of society, which is reflected in all...
Introduction In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein’s behavior becomes more and more grotesque in the buildup to the creation of the monster. When he leaves for the university in Ingolstadt, he is healthy, of sound mind, and optimistic. However, as his research continues, his...
In Mary Shelley’s chilling novel Frankenstein, certain characters represent major thematic ideas that Shelley endeavors to criticize or praise. The main character, the scientist Frankenstein, is used to exemplify the consequences of uninhibited, systematic manipulation of the natural world. Similarly, the explorer Walton, whose Arctic...
As a relatively new form of accepted literary criticism, gender studies can’t help but to incorporate aspects of multiple other forms of criticism. Gender criticism depends on the distinction, or the lack thereof, between constructed dichotomies in society; It focuses on both perceived and inherent...
‘Art is unimaginable without a matrix of culture… it is inconceivable without a history’ . Made-to-order essay as fast as you need it Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences + experts online Get my essay Stephen Cox’s comment articulates the poststructuralist...
In the wide spectrum of humanistic characteristics, that of desire is one of the most prominent. It is an emotion that is challenging to resist, as it tends to control many aspects of life because of the strength it possesses. In the realm of non-human...
Mary Shelley in her novel Frankenstein raises many social problems and topics one of which is our responsibility towards others as global citizens. Using the example of the protagonist of the novel, Victor Frankenstein, the author shows what awful consequences rash decisions can cause and...
Mary Shelley develops the character Victor Frankenstein, a young chemist who discovers the secrets of creating life, with an unending thirst for knowledge. His studies and desires lead him to build a Creature which wreaks havoc on Victor and all he loves. However, this tale...
Frankenstein revolves around the conflict between two characters, Victor Frankenstein and the creature. At first glance, the discordant enemies appear to be nothing alike since they are adversaries from the first time they see each other. Many readers would attribute the dissimilarity in character personalities...
You can never have too much knowledge. People often like to argue this against the cliché claim that “too much of any good thing is bad for you”. However, with knowledge, comes the importance of a relatively equal amount of wisdom. Mary Shelley demonstrates this...
“I shunned the face of man; all sound of joy or complacency was torture to me; solitude was my only consolation- deep, dark, deathlike solitude” (74). Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein was written during a period known as the Romantic Era. The recognized forms of literature that...
The idea of voluntary creation, of giving birth to something utterly original from some established foundation, instantly attracts unanswerable inquiries of morality and the nature of novelty and life. However, when invention is attempted on a massive scale, and entire social structures and ideologies are...
Author Mary Shelley uses the creature in her book Frankenstein to depict the dangers of humans creating artificial intelligence. Shelley presents these ideas through using Victor Frankenstein as a creator of a new species of life, and the creature as a naive, fiendish artificial intelligence....
Beneath the most obvious plot line in Frankenstein lies a more subtle relationship between Walton, Victor and the monster. The three characters are very closely linked; their existence depends on one another. Walton represents the youthful desire for knowledge inherent in man, while Victor and...
The Outcast Traced Throughout Frankenstein Several archetypes engrained in and throughout the novel Frankenstein add additional underlying meaning to the novel, thus allowing it to be more easily receptable to the reader. One of such is the Outcast, in which a character is ostracized from...
As the subtitle of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein implies, the tragic tale of Victor Frankenstein and his creation takes elements of classical myth and reinterprets them through the advances of “modern” science. Against the backdrop of the Scientific Revolution, Shelley’s novel confronts perennial dilemmas that have...
Most would say that Victor’s issue was that he had daddy issues. But why? Victor’s father Alphonse is a respectable and loving man, but has always felt as if he didn’t belong in his family and especially felt rejected by his father Alphonse. Made-to-order essay...
The responsibility people have when they are developing new technology is to not overstep boundaries. In both Frankenstein and The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks tie down with ethics. One can see how science seems to trample human rights. Both Victor in Frankenstein and Scientists...
Introduction One wouldn’t think nature can affect one’s mental health significantly, but it can. In Mary Shelley’s well-known novel, Frankenstein, the reader explores the life and troubles Victor Frankenstein has to endure after creating and abandoning his unnamed creature. In Frankenstein’s early life, he was...
Frankenstein is a novel characterized by an unusually layered narrative structure. Narrators exist within narrators, narratives are passed from one character to another, and a distinct gap exists between the telling of the story and the historical unfolding of events. This patchwork narrative structure enables...
Frankenstein, as a classic novel, deals with many topics that are related to human nature and behavior and that can be applied regardless the time when the story is read. One of these messages found in Frankenstein for modern society is the need to look...
“In society and every story, there is an existing protagonist who will go to great lengths to pursue their goal. In particular, I myself and one character, Victor Frankenstein from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, clearly exhibit our willingness to go to the extremes to eradicate...
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses two themes: nature and civilization. She uses her text to describe the differences between nature and civilization and uses text to explain how civilization comes from nature. Nature and civilization are a huge part of everybody’s day to day lives....
A binary opposition refers to a pair of related non-physical elements that are opposite in meaning; it is an important concept of Structuralism which defines the contrast between two mutually exclusive terms. Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein is rich in these contrasts and none are...
The struggle of communication is common within society and can provoke unintentional behaviour and inadvertent situations. Such complications occur in both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones as many characters demonstrate their inability to connect with others. In Shelley’s Gothic novel, the...
Romanticism was a school of thought that Mary Shelley was evidently familiar with. It is probable that the way in which her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley expressed his devotion to the philosophies attached to its many notions, inadvertently influenced her perception of existence and the...
The character Robert Walton has many functions in the novel of Frankenstein. His role in the story, though relatively brief, is extremely important. He fulfills four roles. First, his own writings anticipate much of Frankenstein’s behaviour. Second, he sets the novel’s tone by introducing the...
Using Intellect Why does education exist? Education is a tool, essential to bettering mankind. It can be applicable in endless ways. However education alone does not guarantee yield. Grant, the protagonist from the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J Gaines is displeased with...
Victor Frankenstein, like many Romantics, relies upon his unusual capacity for sensitivity and creativity to aid him in his ambitions. In contrast to Robert Walton, who ventures to the North Pole to find “beauty and delight” (Shelley 15) amidst desolation, Victor desires to create a...
Victor Frankenstein, the monster, Robert Walton, Alphonse Frankenstein, Elizabeth Lavenza, Henry Clerval, William Frankenstein, Justine Moritz, Caroline Beaufort, Beaufort, Peasants, M. Waldman, M. Krempe, Mr. Kirwin
Based on
Shelley has been influenced by her parents, especially her father's "Enquiry Concerning Political Justice" and "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman". It also included ideas of galvanism, which have been extremely popular during the time the novel has been written.
Symbols/motives
Light and darkness, good and evil, fire, isolation, anger, unorthodox approach.
Influence
It has been the main theme of reanimating the dead, which became the pioneering theme in literary works, yet the most important and symbolic importance of this novel is the interaction between the scientist Victor Frankenstein and the nameless creature that he has brought to life. It can be summed up with the words of the monster: "I was benevolent and good, misery made me a fiend" (Shelley 90). It speaks of Victor's creating the being, yet it was the society that has created the monster.
Plot
The novel tells a story of a gifted scientist called Victor Frankenstein who manages to bring life to his own creation. The challenge is that his creation is not exactly what he has imagined. As a monster creature, he is rejected by his creator and mankind in general. The main idea is to see and explore regarding who the true monster is.
Interesting facts
Mary Shelley was only 18 years old when she started Frankenstein. She was 20 years old when the book was published.
The Frankenstein has been written in the shadow of a tragedy as Shelley has lost her newborn daughter.
The most common misconception is that Frankenstein is the name of the monster, which has already become symbolic all over the world. In truth, the monster has no name at all.
Frankenstein word comes from the name of the German castle not far from the Rhine River, literally meaning "Stone of the Franks''. It was the place where an odd alchemist called Konrad Dippel has tried to create an elixir of immortality.
It was thought that it was Mary's father Percy Shelley who wrote the book since he also wrote the preface.
The book has not been accepted by the critics and was called "absurd" and "disgusting"
The full name of the book is Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus.
Quotes
“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”
“Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.”
“I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.”
“Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth. Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery, and be overwhelmed by disappointments; yet, when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures.”
“How mutable are our feelings, and how strange is that clinging love we have of life even in the excess of misery!”
Why is this topic important
Although the story has been written a long time ago, it is still clear for contemporary readers because it can be related to scientific advancements, human relations, and AI. In a certain sense, it is the beginning of scientific fiction and the subject of "playing God". Mary Shelley's book is a warning to humanity and the scientists about responsibility with the main message being that science and technology can go way too far beyond the limitations. It proves that human beings must believe in the sanctity of our own being.
Why should this topic be used
This book represents an essay topic for numerous academic fields from Data Science to Nursing and Education. Since it deals with ethics, responsibility, and being conscious about one's creations, it acts as the symbolic reflection of being the monster that we fear. The life of Victor Frankenstein is an example of scientists through decades, different countries and fields. It is a great warning for us all that we should not go too far.
References
1. Shelley, M., & Bolton, G. (2018). frankenstein. In Medicine and Literature (pp. 35-52). CRC Press. (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9781315375670-4/frankenstein-mary-shelley-gillie-bolton)
2. Gigante, D. (2000). Facing the Ugly: The Case of" Frankenstein". Elh, 67(2), 565-587. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/30031925)
3. Sherwin, P. (1981). Frankenstein: Creation as catastrophe. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/pmla/article/abs/frankenstein-creation-as-catastrophe/40AFBF23476041ECF8A55827303A3D43 PMLA, 96(5), 883-903.
4. Heffernan, J. A. (1997). Looking at the monster:" Frankenstein" and film. Critical Inquiry, 24(1), 133-158. (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/448869?journalCode=ci)
5. Guzman, A. (2013). International organizations and the Frankenstein problem. European Journal of International Law, 24(4), 999-1025. (https://academic.oup.com/ejil/article/24/4/999/606374)
6. Kunich, J. C. (2000). Mother Frankenstein, Doctor Nature, and the Environmental Law of Genetic Engineering. S. cal. L. rev., 74, 807. (https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/scal74&div=42&id=&page=)
7. Ginn, S. R. (2013). Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: Exploring neuroscience, nature, and nurture in the novel and the films. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780444632876000099 Progress in Brain Research, 204, 169-190.
8. Holmes, R. (2016). Science fiction: The science that fed Frankenstein. https://www.nature.com/articles/535490a
9. Barns, I. (1990). Monstrous nature or technology?: Cinematic resolutions of the ‘Frankenstein Problem’. Science as Culture, 1(9), 7-48. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09505439009526278?journalCode=csac20)
10. Brooks, P. (1978). Godlike Science/Unhallowed Arts: Language and Monstrosity in Frankenstein. New Literary History, 9(3), 591-605. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/468457)
