The Tragic Quest for Knowledge: Frankensteins Monster and Keats Perspective on Humanitys Conflicts

Abstract

Lens Analysis Frankenstein and John Keats Letter Dated May 8th, 1819 Frankenstein is categorically a horror novel that was written by Mary Shelly back in 1816. Shelly was a British Novelist who inspired and shocked many with her Frankenstein novel. The book tells a story about Victor Frankenstein, who is believed to have created a strange creature in one of his scientific experiments (Shelley et al., 3-17). Victor's love for knowledge is expressed after his mother's funeral when he plans to study at Ingolstadt. Victor succeeds in studying science, and his curiosity about science leads him to his scientific discoveries. Victor created life out of the inanimate, which is represented by the horrible monster. Shocked by the monster's characteristics, Victor flees to separate himself from his shocking discovery. Due to the shock and exhaustion, Victor falls sick for months, which brings the monster's conflicts to its creator and the creator’s family. On the other hand, Keats was an English Romantic lyric poet in the 18th century whose text expressed a great sensuous appeal. In his letter dated May 8th, 1819, Keats analyses the circumstances that make up a man making his life unbearable in search of intelligence to perfect nature. To this effect, this essay will analyze the central conflicts explored in the novel as attributed to Frankenstein's intelligence/desires through Keats's lens on how man was formed by circumstance through which his happiness always ends in death. According to Sherry (2-5), from a young age, Frankenstein expressed great interest in science, and after his mother’s death, his urge to unravel the mystery of life became well defined. One can argue that Frankenstein aimed at understanding death by analyzing the origin of life. Nevertheless, his desires and intelligence proved a severe cost of his happiness throughout his life. It is imperative to note that the scientific knowledge that Frankenstein acquired at the University of Ingolstadt led him to a secret mission of resuscitating the dead. Victor employs his intelligence and works obsessively on his project, bringing a man coined together from body parts from corpses to life. The living being horrified its creator and lacked a better definition of it than "Its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly informed that it was the wretch, the filthy demon to whom I had given life" (Sherry, 25). What Frankenstein discovered lacked is a soul that would have given it a personal identity. On the contrary, the discovery proved intelligent whose definition, according to Keats, was to see, know, and was pure, meaning that it was a God. As Keats puts it, "Soul as distinguished from intelligence, there may be bits of intelligence or sanity in millions but they are not souls until they acquire identities." The monster's actions were coined to improve its intelligence which excellently ruined its creator's life. Arguing from such a point of view, one can conclude that Frankenstein's urge to unravel the mystery of life proved a potential origin of his unhappiness and conflicts with his inner being and his discovery in an excellent manner. In defining the world, Keats argues that "I will call the world a school instituted to teach little children to read" (Keats, 250). What does such a definition mean regarding Frankenstein's life experiences? According to Sherry’s narration, it is clear that Frankenstein endured hell because he believed in his intelligence in the search for happiness and satisfaction rather than being considerate for other people’s feelings, "his monster not being an exemption” to acquire such desires (Sherry 5-10). To this effect, the world became a loyal teacher to Victor, whose experiences defined the severity of being alive as expressed through his second conflict. Victor’s inability to understand that his actions have consequences proved another potential conflict that ruined his life and ended the lives of many. According to Sherry (1-10), Frankenstein focuses solely on his own goals/mission and ignores the effects of his actions on other people. The conflict starts when he abandons his family and fiancée to study. As...