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The Theme Of Nature Vs. Nurture In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the book depicts the momentum the scientific world was having in her time. This book has mixed emotions that illustrate Shelley’s uneasiness towards these advancements and the consequences they can have. Shelley expresses her fear of future scientific advancements through the making of the creature. The creation of the creature also brings forth the idea that one should not try to play god. She also embodies the morals of that time by arguing whether the creature’s evil nature resulted from lack of love or if he was simply born evil.
The creation of the creature in Frankenstein has an underlying theme of do not play God. This is shown when Victor brings a creature made from a multitude of human body parts to life. Victor gives life, but then claims no responsibility to his creation. Since Victor had the power of giving life is that all he owes to the creature? Victor’s creation, intended to be the start to a new and improved human race, ends up causing more turmoil than triumph. Victor realizes too that he was at fault and fights to fix his foolish creation, but the damage has already been done. …show more content…
Shelley explores nature versus nurture. A question throughout the whole book is whether or not the creature is born to be evil or if he becomes that way because of the lack of care he has received. At first, the creature is unaware of his looks and seems friendly, but is misunderstood by villagers and even Victor because of his horrific appearance. The creature soon realizes he will never be able to receive the love he wants, not even from his own creator. This causes him to take an evil turn and wreak havoc on Victor’s family. This sudden and quite drastic change in the creature brings a question of if he was always this monstrous. His actions reflect the hatred villagers descended upon him as he diffuses his anger by murdering many people related to

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