The Futility of Aspiration Exposed in Frankenstein

Within the dreary gloom and depression of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley tells a fantastical tale of what happens when science and greed are combined. Through the eyes and journal of an eager seafarer named Walton, Shelley relates to us the tragic life of one Doctor Victor Frankenstein, a man reduced to crumbles by his own misguided lust for knowledge. It seems this Frankenstein had started on a path to scientific discovery when he came in contact with the writings of men like Agrippas and Paracelsus. These were men who by today's standards disgraced science with their mysticism and their g…