Nature Vs Nurture Frankenstein Analysis

Shelly’s acclaimed novel “Frankenstein” tells the story of a man who tries to create a new species, or master species without any female involvement. Through the creation of this character, Victor realizes that he has created a monster, and works throughout the novel to try to extinguish this being, but is ultimately unsuccessful in his goal. Throughout the story, the character of the monster parallels the character of his creator as they are related to each other in terms of their thirst for knowledge and their inability to love and learn at the same time. They are both hurt by the force of nature, as Victor is hurt by nature and bad luck throughout the novel, as it is realized that nature plays an extremely important part in the creation …show more content…
The way that Victor alludes to nature is interesting, though, in that he takes its beauty and serenity for granted: he expects nature always to be there for him when he needs it, and this ultimately leads to nature turning its back on him. Because nature is referred to often as “she”, this demonstrates that Victor takes women for granted. His ultimate disrespect for women when he “played God” and attempted to create a living being without any female involvement shows that he doesn’t find a need for women to demonstrate the only power that they were recognized for at the time (the ability to bear children). Mellor describes how Victor violates nature (and women) through the way that Victor destroyed the female creature: “For Nature is not the passive, inert, or “dead” matter that Frankenstein imagines. Victor assumes that he can violate nature and pursue her to her hiding places with impunity” (368). This illuminates the fact that the way that Victor destroyed the female creature was his assault on nature and on women’s’ freedom. Nature backfires on Victor as a result in two major ways: the monster’s rough upbringing with nature and without nurture causes him to become evil, and in the end when Victor is pursuing the monster to kill him, snow and ice engulfs Victor and causes him to die. The snow and ice, as well as the lightning that brought the monster to life prove that there is an important female in Frankenstein. Nature, which is taken for granted by Victor and assuming the role of a woman, helped create life with storm (the lightning striking the monster), but at the same time helped create death by storm (Victor’s death due to the snow and ice), thus demonstrating that a female is required for a life cycle to be