Paradise Lost

The King of Trials: Historical Trials in Richard II William Shakespeare's Richard II acts as an amalgamation of three forms of trial: trial by ordeal, trial by combat, and trial by jury. Presenting the trial by ordeal in the spirit of its original Latin iudicium Dei, meaning "the truth of God", King Richard II offers himself an extension of God-ruling through divine right-therefore, creating a variant of an ordeal in his banishment of Henry Bolingbroke (Bartlett 5). Further, Richard II…

Frankenstein: The Result of Too Much Ambition The 1818 story of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley tells the story of Victor Frankenstein and his over desire to create life from death. After having a normal upbringing, Victor’s life turns upside down when his creature creates more problems than expected. It’s a story of caution, as that begins in the present and flashes back to see where Victor went wrong. The book has many themes, one of the biggest being ambition. It asks, when is too much ambition…

In the early thirteen hundreds, the poet Dante Alighieri completed his magnum opus, the Divine Comedy. This epic poem follows the Pilgrim, who is led by Virgil and Beatrice, through every aspect of the Christian afterlife according to Catholic tradition. The Pilgrim is Dante himself, who was chosen to bear witness the evils of hell and wonders of heaven and, by doing so, change the hearts of his readers. Additionally, the pilgrim was chosen because some secret sin, of which he need only to…

In 1818, Mary Shelley personified the shortcomings of society’s morality in the form of a destructive, ruthless, yet nearly human monster. During an era in which the Industrial Revolution saw the prosperity of the upper class directly lead to the death and poverty of the working class, Shelley wrote Frankenstein to challenge the presence of cultural inhumanity. Shelley’s novel chronicles the life of scientist Victor Frankenstein, whose studies and ambition lead to the creation of a living being…

drank the blood, which trickled from Ambrosio’s wounds; he had no power to drive them from him” (Lewis 376). Ambrosio is now aware of all of his pathetic choices and is regretful. At one point of time, he was a monk who was greatly admired, but now he lost everything and is now a fallen man. Unquestionably, Ambrosio shows us how far a good man can fall under the influence of his own…

Isolation in Frankenstein “Solitude was my only consolation – deep, dark, deathlike solitude.” In chapters 9 and 10 Victor Frankenstein isolates himself from his family and all the people that reminded him of the monster that he has created. We also see isolation in the creation of Frankenstein’s monster in chapters 11 and 12. Isolation is the state of being separated from other people. Victor Frankenstein and the monster isolated themselves from society, but for different reasons and it…

On its face, Frankenstein is the creation story of a man-made human, turned monster. In reality, this tale is not about the creation of human, but rather the monstrous quality of devaluing a human. In short, Victor makes a human by hand, labels it a monster. He spends the rest of the story becoming a monster himself because he refuses to acknowledge the humanity of his creation. Here, to dehumanize a person is a monstrous act. Dehumanization is a broad term for things like: marginalization,…

The Day of the Locust and Frankenstein are uniquely telling the same story, the story of Hollywood. The characters in both the novel and the film share great similarities, as Sarver explains with Homer and the monster. A very similar comparison can be drawn between Faye and Dr. Frankenstein. Their relationship is dependent upon Sarver’s parallel, because Faye is to Homer as Frankenstein is to the monster. The connection between Faye and the doctor lies in their utter disregard for those around…

Modern Ethics within the Genesis “Fall” Narrative and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Most people in the Western hemisphere know the story of the “Fall.” This is the biblical myth of Adam and Eve consuming the apple in the garden of Eden and being exiled by God. Meanwhile, the story of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is not as well known, but is still extremely popular. It is a tale of how a deranged doctor summons a dead object back to life. While both of these stories seem to be completely different,…

To quote the infamous Shaggy 2 Dope of the Insane Clown Posse, “Water, fire, air, and dirt- fucking magnets how do they work?” (“Miracles”). The answer to his profound question lies in an alternative medicine practice that has been used by healers going back thousands of years. Magnet therapy stems from the idea that particular medical disorders can be treated by using magnetic fields (“Magnetic Healing”). Magnet therapy has become increasingly popular over the years, causing the sale of magnets…