Paradox Of Identity In Frankenstein

Individuality is expressed through personal identity. What separates man from beast is free will. In the 19th century, liberalism became an identity in its own right based on freedom and controlled equality. A major tenet of liberal philosophy is the individual as an autonomous unit. The ability to act freely, with respect to society at large, is the goal of the individual. However, liberal philosophy proved to be a blatant contradiction to the actual practice. Only rich men were declared individuals, everyone else remained categorized in sub par units. Liberalism, on the heels of the Enlightenment, proved a break from tradition by embracing rationality and thought as important elements of man. “Libe

In order to create a unified group of vanguard professionals, Lenin appeals to the common struggles faced by the workers. Lenin universalizes the workers problems in order to create a unified and strong body of radicals to help him introduce socialism. In Our Programme he writes, “There can be no strong socialist party without a revolutionary theory which unites all socialists, from which the socialists draw their whole conviction, which they apply in their methods of fighting and working (p. 618).” Encouraging a uniform work ethic is an unprecedented assertion for a political movement (IS THIS TRUE). The theory becomes extremely dangerous when coupled with a standardized approach to fighting. Crowds take on an identity of their own. Again, socialism aimed to be a communitarian movement, in which individuality was not only unimportant, but posed a threat to the ultimate goal.

“The powerful empire of nature is no longer surrounded by prejudice, fanaticism, superstition and lies…having become free he has become unjust towards his companions (p.398).

At this point the monster could almost be accepted into society, it is merely his approach of introducing himself to humans, which makes him so repugnant. Society does not accept hideousness. He is rational, capable, and intelligent, all of the virtues expected by an enlightened, liberal society. The monster himself asserts that these characteristics are not intrinsic but extrinsic virtues. He only became who he was by being exposed to the cottage family.

There can be many different personal identities, a combination of a person subscribing to such identities and cbeing culturally forced to accept them.

The story is a fictional social testament to the ills of society, the rigid class system, and the elitist mentality characterizing the first half of the 19th century. The individual plays an enormously active role in adding depth to the story. Shelley carefully constructs each character to represent the stereotypical figure of the day. Elizabeth is the most obvious example. She represents the women hidden in the private sphere, whose main mission in life is to serve the men in her charge, appease them, and remain subordinated to their needs. In depth study of 19th century social history is not required in order to understand Shelley’s allusions to contemporary life. The fact that people can be so easily characterized, and their characters and can be so obviously interpreted, proves the limitations on personal identity.

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