Education and Overconfidence in Frankenstein
Prometheus stole fire from the Greek Gods and gave it to the humans. To punish him, Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock where an eagle picked at his innards. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is subtitled The Modern Prometheus. It takes place in the 19th Century, when modern technology was limited. Frankenstein is about well-educated men who try to push the limits but fail. Like Prometheus these educated men are tortured after their overconfidence causes them to fail. Mary Shelley demonstrates that education causes one to be overconfident through Frankenstein, the Creature, and Robert Walton. Victor Frankenstein's education causes him to be over ambitious. Frankenstein was never forced to learn. He loved learning; "We loved application, and our amusements would have been the labors of other children" (923). Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Alberta Magnus introduce the science of alchemy and magic to Frankenstein. His self-esteem grows as he noticed his improvement in chemistry and natural philosophy. "I made some discoveries in the improvement of some chemical instruments, whi
ch procured me great esteem and admiration at the university" (931). Through Frankenstein's improvement in science, he has grown more confident. Frankenstein's father made sure that Victor would not be scared of supernatural horrors; "Darkness had no effect upon my fancy; and a church-yard was to me merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of life" (931). Frankenstein doubts his abilities in science to create the Creature; "But my imagination was too much exalted by my first success to permit me to doubt of my ability to give life" (932). Frankenstein's success in his education and his experiments makes him so overconfident that he had the guts to create a living creature. The Creature's self-taught education gives him the confidence to approach humans. The Creature starts his life as an unloved, hideous, and disgusting being. He is alone. The Creature wanders the country looking for shelter. He finds a hovel next to a cottage. The Creature learns about life and emotions through the cottagers. One of the cottager's love interests, Safie, is taught how to speak the nativ
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Approximate Word count = 734
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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