The Destructive Power of Monomania

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein emphasizes the dangers of monomania by illustrating how Victor Frankenstein's obsessive pursuit to defeat death leads to the destruction of his own friends and family, and eventually, himself. In the beginning Frankenstein is portrayed as a bright and intelligent young boy with a deep interest in science. However, his obsessive pursuit of his scientific "invention" and consequent reckless disregard of moral and social values leads to the downward spiral in his life.

After the death of his mother, Frankenstein is possessed by a hopeless vengeance against Death, the force that he believes caused his life to diverge from his "amiable" (20) childhood. He is obsessed with a desire to save people from this terrible force. Ironically however, rather than pouring a "torrent of light into [their] dark world," (32) his quest to make men invincible to the force of Death only makes them more vulnerable, and he finds......

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Title: Frankenstein
Approximate Word Count: 767
Approximate Pages: 4 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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