Chapter+4

= Chapter 4  =

The Discovery
"All great ideas are dangerous." -Oscar Wilde **Contributors:** Laura Beth Jackson - 7th period Sunny Patel- 7th period Frankenstein continues to passionately study philosophy, chemistry, human anatomy, and physiology under the direction of his professors. After years of study, Frankenstein decides to try to create life and begins working diligently in his apartment, while excluding his family and friends.
 * Summary:**

In //The Thousand and One NIghts,// the Arabian Sinbad is buried alive with the body of his dead wife, but narrowly escapes death by following a distant light to freedom. Frankenstein equates his discovery of creating life to Sinbad's epic escape from death. However, while the light allows Sinbad to evade death and destruction, Frankenstein's "light" (discovering the secret to life) ultimately leads to his destruction.
 * Allusions:**
 * "I was like the Arabian who had been buried with the dead, and //found a passage// to life, aided only by one glimmering, and seemingly ineffectual, light (Shelley 47)."

Because Shelley wrote //Frankenstein// in a frame story format, Frankenstein sometimes pauses to directly address Walton. In this passage, Frankenstein stops his story of the monster to allude to historical examples of dangers of unchecked human ambition. Ironically, the older Frankenstein lectures young Walton, just as he was confronted by his father through letters; however, his father's advise was ineffective, because the young Frankenstein still did not consider his father's warnings and concerns.
 * "A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind, and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquility. I do not think that the pursuit of knowledge is an exception to this rule. If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections, and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possible mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind. If this rule were always observed; if no man allowed any pursuit whatsoever to interfere with the tranquility of his domestic affections, Greece had not been enslaved; Caesar would have spared his country; America would have been discovered more gradually; and the empires of Mexico and Peru had not been destroyed (Shelley 49-50)."

**Symbol of Light and Darkness** Universally, light represents goodness, purity, and clarity, while darkness represents evil and corruption. Shelley utilizes the power of light and dark to parallel Frankenstein's actions throughout her novel //Frankenstein.// For example, when Frankenstein is digging up graves to use the bodies for his experiment, which most would consider to be a villainous act, he works in the dark to hide his crime. However, when Frankenstein discovers the secret to life, which itself is beautiful and miraculous, he describes the idea as a bright and amazing light. Ironically, although the idea of life itself is good and therefore represented by light, because Frankenstein went against natural order and created a life himself, the ideas of creation and life carry negative connotations throughout the remainder of the novel.
 * Motifs/ Symbols:**
 * "**Darkness** had no effect upon my fancy; and a churchyard was to me merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of life, which, from being the seat of beauty and strength, had become food for the worm. Now I was led to examine the cause of and progress of this decay, and forced to spend says and nights in vaults and charnel- houses ... I paused, examining and analyzing all the minutiae of causation, as exemplified in the change from life to death, and death to life, until from the midst of this **darkness** a sudden **light** broke in upon me- a light so brilliant and wondrous, yet so simple, that while I became dizzy with the immensity of the prospect which it illustrated, I was surprised, that among so many men of genius who had directed their inquires toward the same science, that I alone should be reserved to discover so astonishing a secret (Shelley 46).

**Motif of Death/Abortion** Throughout //Frankenstein,// both Frankenstein and the monster express disgust over the monster's appearance. As a result, Frankenstein often states that he wants the monster to die, and even the monster himself asserts that he should die because of his looks. Because Frankenstein says that even his laboratory where the monster is created is filthy, this passage represents the motif of death even before the creation of the monster (SparkNotes).
 * "...I kept my workshop of filthy creation: my eye-balls were starting from their sockets in attending to the details of my employment (Shelley 49)."

**Motif of Illness** Frankenstein repeatedly falls ill throughout the novel. These spells of illness occur only when he has had an interaction with the monster, representing Frankenstein's evil deeds and thoughts when creating the monster. In chapter four, when he is creating the monster, Frankenstein feels ill only at night. Frankenstein's illness slowly increases and intensifies as his interaction with his monster increases.
 * "Every night i was oppressed by a slow fever, and I became nervous to a most painful degree; the fall of a leaf startled me, and I shunned my fellow- creatures as if I had been guilty of a crime (Shelley 50)."


 * Themes:**

Exploration plagues humanity, instead of uplifting it.
Victor becomes fascinated by the creation of life. He begins to delve deeper into the topics of the human anatomy and the experiences of death and decay through the help of his professors, M. Krempe and M. Waldman. However, Victor’s exploration into the depths of human life results in his creation, which in turn plagues him as well as others throughout the novel. Instead of Victor’s discovery helping others, it murders people and torments Victor till his death (Shmoop).

Scientific advancement is not good for humanity.
Shelley demonstrates through Victor that advancing science will only result in misfortune. Victor advances science by creating a monster. The monster represents an advancement because it is a creation that came into existence from prior scientific knowledge. As he was creating the monster, Victor states, “every night, I was oppressed by a slow fever (Shelley 50).” Victor’s suffering expresses the theme that advancement only brings forth anguish (Shmoop).


 * Character Development:**

From the beginning of this chapter, Victor Frankenstein becomes completely engrossed in in chemistry. He directly states, "particularly chemistry...became nearly my sole occupation (Shelley 45)." Because Victor is focused, he excels ahead of all others. Furthermore, he also becomes interested in other scientific interests like the human anatomy. These new interests are novelties for Victor, since before he was only interested in ancient scientific knowledge. Now, however, Victor's new scientific outlook has caused him to create a creation, an individual that defies the laws of life.


 * Significant Quotes and explanations:**

"A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind, and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquility (Shelley 49-50)." ~Victor Frankenstein

It is ironic that Victor himself states this quote because he himself does not follow his own advice. Throughout the novel, Victor lets his passion for revenge against the monster control his emotions, which in turn results in his utter downfall. He can never live in peace because he keeps thinking about the monster.

"Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man if who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow (Shelley 47)." ~Victor Frankenstein

Here, Frankenstein speaks directly to Walton and offers advise about ambition, reminding the reader of the frame story form of //Frankenstein.// Frankenstein tells Walton to simply be satisfied with his current life, rather than try and gain glory, because ambition can lead to disaster. This advise is significant, because Walton, like Frankenstein, is seeking fame and recognition by exploring the arctic. Frankenstein tries to save Walton from suffering the same fate the monster brought upon him.

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 * Art Gallery:**


 * Works Cited:**


 * Wilde, Oscar. Thinkexist.com. n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.


 * Shelley, Mary. (2003). Frankenstein. New York, New York: Barnes & Noble Classics.


 * Shmoop Editorial Team. "Frankenstein Theme of Exploration." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 29 Nov 2010.


 * SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Frankenstein.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 15 Nov. 2010.


 * "Danger of Science." At Darwin's Table. Web. 1 Dec 2010. .


 * Storment, Suzanna. "Frankenstein: The Man and the Monster." Monsters. Washington State University, 2002. Web. 5 Dec 2010. .