Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a tale that is set at the time of the industrial revolution in Europe in the 1800’s. From the novel, education came to bear the load of concerns regarding the control of the individuals who had not gone through the tradition of formal education. Such people were susceptible to social instability. Even conservatives such as Hannah More who were antagonists of radical reform acknowledged the influential power of education especially reading as a powerful element of social control. The novel focuses on the human nature as well as the likelihood controlling experience to shape character and cultural values. Additionally, it stresses on the challenging influences from experience on the vulnerable and unstable individuals who face cultural issues concerning reading and education.

Mary Shelley describes Caroline as an example of true femininity who was liberated from class degradation. As a result, Caroline searched for other girls who were in the same situation to rescue them from lower class powers. Caroline achieved her objectives through educating the young girls on the qualities of a precisely conventional domesticity. She meet Elizabeth who had an innate and upper-class feminine quality that made her the outstanding one in the family of “dark-eyed, barely little vagabonds.” (Shelley 28). Under the appropriate middle-class influence, Elizabeth proved to be a perfect domestic woman, a sister, a friend, a daughter, and a wife-to-be.

Additionally, Justine was rescued and cultured by Victor’s mother. Besides, Justine imitated the “manners and the phraseology” of victors mother (Shelley 69). As a low-class member and a servant, Justine’s social position revealed cultural anxieties regarding the vulnerability of women and the stabilizing duty of middle-class domestic education. Justine is a representation of a female advancement, something that became evident when Elizabeth described Caroline’s approval of Justine by praising the flexible class boundaries in Geneva. As she put it “there is a small difference between the various classes of its dwellers, and the lower class being neither so despised nor so poor, they have more refined manners and morals” (Shelley 69). Such claims concerning flexibility became evident from the fact that Justine who was regarded as a lower class woman and whose learning failed to take, was accused of dying for William’s killer. Therefore, it shows that educated women are fulfilled and fulfill their social duties and thus pose a minimum danger of tampering with culture as well as its values. One of the ways this literary work has affected my way of thinking and the cultural persepectives is that all people including men and women should be given equal opportunities to display their abilities.

            To proceed, as the education of Victor parallels that of Walton, so is the monster’s echo of his maker. Here, there exist clear cultural anxieties concerning criminal potential, social disorder, and the link between education and experience. Victor’s education is a reflection of particular cultural concerns regarding bourgeois parenting. The monster from the novel represents the abstract idea of natural “man” as well as his social corresponding in the late 18th century culturally displaced England. The freshly rising worker lacks class traditions to guard and guide him. The monster describes his story as “an explanation of the development of my intellect.” (Shelley 151). It refers to the development theories regarding class identity, social hierarchy, as well as the historically specific cultural issues about powerful prospective of the growing lower class. As with the monster, deviations in the description of the novel reveal significant changes in cultural perceptions of personality. Whatever that led Victor to the “mad dream” makes no sense. The impression of human influence over life and oneself, an idea depicted by technology is shattered by the actuality of a horror outside the human power to control or change.

            In summary, there is a possibility of controlling experience to shape character and cultural values from the novel Frankenstein. Besides, unstable people such as women and low-class people have faced various problems regarding reading, education, and culture. Some of the women who were liberated from class degradation include Caroline. Personally, I have encountered various individuals who look down upon the poor and the low-class people. It is a culture that has been there for years, but it is not as intense as when it began. Society has put a clear distinction between men and women, poor and rich, and literate and illiterate. However, if the society embraces the culture of equality regardless of class, gender and race, there will be positive cultural perceptions. 

Works Cited

Shelley, M. W. (2010). Frankenstein: 1818. Intervisual Books.