Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Rousseau and Shelley's state of nature

I think that Rousseau's state of nature is only partially confirmed by Frankenstein. Rousseau believes that men are born good and gentle, and that it is in their nature to be kind. He then blames society for causing the evil that corrupts men into no longer doing good deeds, but being violent and cruel to eachother. Frankenstein's monster is very similar to this, only after he is shunned by his creator and society does he become violent and aspire to hurt. On the other hand, William was only a young child when he ran into the creature, and he insulted it and was hostile; hinting that humans can also be born with evil as well as good.

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