What Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Suggests About Parenting

A detailed Summary of What Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Suggests About Parenting

It is often said that all a person needs to get by in life is to be loved by someone. If this is true then nearly everybody in this world has everything they need because most people are lucky enough to be loved unconditionally by their parents. However, sometimes love and attention is all children get from their parents. Children also need discipline and moral lessons from their parents in order to be successful adults. Applying this idea to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, Mary Shelley appears to be showing us through the creature and Victor Frankenstein's behavior that discipline and, most importantly, guidance are necessities when raising a child.

The story begins with Victor Frankenstein telling Walton, who Victor had taken refuge with in the Arctic, about the most important years in his life. As readers, we learn that Victor was part of a wealthy family from Geneva. His mother was younger than his father was and she was caring and devoted. Victor said she "possessed a mind of an uncommon mould; and her courage rose to support her in adversity" (32). Victor's parents loved him and each other very much: " Much as they were attached to each other, they seemed to draw inexhaustible stores of affection fro

Agrippa! My dear Victor, do not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash'" (39). Victor recognizes that if his father had taken more time to at least explain why he thought Agrippa's book was "sad trash" it would have made a world of difference. Victor illustrates this idea when he says, "It is even possible that the train of my ideas would never have received the fatal impulse that led to my ruin" (39).

The beginning of the book followed Victor's childhood for a number of years, whereas the creature's childhood was condensed into a few months. With no one to love him or guide him he spent his first few days in the woods. He was like a newborn child, completely naive about all worldly things. The creature only had a basic understanding of his senses and was very frightened. When recalling his brief child hood to Victor the creature says, "I knew, and could distinguish nothing; but feeling pain invade me on all sides, I sat down and wept" ( 103). The creature was like an abandoned child who didn't understand how to fend for himself or the ways of the world in which he was forced into.

necessities. The behavior of Victor and the creature illustrates this idea. Without guidance and direction from their parents, both Victor and the creature made severe, harmful decisions that harmed themselves and everyone around them.

Through this book, Mary Shelley seems to be implying that good parenting does not consist of merel

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 967
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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