Walker Percy

Atheism. This pamphlet proclaimed his disbelief in the account of proof for the existence of God. On his own, due to losing his father’s respect following his self-proclaimed atheism, he falls prey to his own lust leading him down a path of “free love” (Percy). Shelley was fond of many women and did not allow monogamous ideas to hold him back. He endured numerous tragedies and many family deaths in his short however productive life. He persevered through much criticism for his way of life and…

During the mid to late 1700s, the Age of Reason was in full swing, which brought with it a torrent of new ideas, philosophies, and attitudes towards culture as a whole. The Age of Reason was one of the driving forces and influences in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein due to the fact that it was a very controversial book about the creation of life which was not readily accepted at the time. Frankenstein was a benchmark of eye opening possibilities and fear of the unknown which was reinforced by…

Victor Frankenstein was a selfish man who did not understand the responsibility associated with the creation of human life. He allowed Justine to die innocently and did not protect Elizabeth. The product of his selfishness opened a new world of horror and hate to the society in which he and his family lived. Mary Shelley opens the book with a bittersweet setting; which slowly; by the end of the book turns into a horrific tragedy. Victor Frankenstein lives a happy life with an adopted cousin…

Throughout Frankenstein, "Miss Brill", and "To Jane: The Recollection", the reader is exposed to the various ways nature can isolate the individual from the toils of societal life. The tranquility and placidity of nature is influential in the individual 's willingness to isolate themselves from the society that they are apart of. This is most evident in "Miss Brill" and her ability to isolate herself in her surroundings and create a fantasy world. Mansfield 's descriptions of the public garden…

Mother Nurture: The Importance of Feminity in Frankenstein Frankenstein examines the importance of feminie nurture by exhibiting the repercussions of dominating male ambition and lacking feminie nurture. In the gothic fiction novel, Frankenstien, by Mary Shelly, females possess vital feminine nurture and empathy. However, because Frankenstein has dominating masculinity, he lacks feminine qualities, preventing the monster’s nurturing upbringing. This lack of nurture leads the monster down a path…

Chinese philosopher, Confucius, once said “Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance”. The philosopher’s quote exemplifies the unwritten law to not make assumptions about somebody until you take the chance to get to know the person. Society quickly jumps to labels: good or bad, rich or poor, normal or atypical. People construct fallacies about others, creating a single story. In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, society’s sins are evident throughout the story. Some may argue…

The poem “Tears, Idle Tears” by Alfred Tennyson was written in 1847, during the beginning of the Victorian era. Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom in 1809 and died in Lurgashall, United Kingdom in 1892. He had seven brothers and four sisters, none of which were as recognized for their work as Alfred Tennyson was. His father, a church rector, became melancholy when he realized his family had started to lose money due to disinheritance. This is what started his heavy…

Tragic love stories have fascinated humans since ancient times. They conquered the hearts of many and opened the ways for more love stories. Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – to October 1400) is one of the most famous English authors of the middle ages. Chaucer is considered the father of English literature and thrilled the mass with his literary works. His most famous works include the Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde. Yet, again a tragic love story that is still widely popular in the 21st…

In his writing, “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)”, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen argues that we no longer live in an age that uses Unified Theory, an age when we realized that history is composed of a multitude of fragments. In this writing, he has bound some fragments together to form a “monstrous body” and pushes his readers to reevaluate their cultural assumptions relating to those specific fragments. In his first thesis, “The Monster’s Body is a Cultural Body” Cohen explains that each monster has a…

In his writings, Freud argues that early life experiences play a key role in forming one's personality. In the late 18th century, Mary Shelley lost her mother only a few months after her birth. The influence of this experience appears in her writing. In a psychoanalytic reading of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the effects of the author’s loss of her mother at a young age manifest themselves in the creature’s lack of connection with his creator to show the traumatic alienating effects of her…