Motivation And Purpose In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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In class, we have been discussing Mary Shelley’s motivation and purpose in writing, Frankenstein, and how the novel isn’t really about the consequences of playing God but is written to warn against trying to circumvent nature. As we have discussed this, however, I have failed to see a complete distinction between these two points of view. To me, it seems like these two themes are interchangeable. Many people, especially progressives of that era, would have denied the existence of a “God” according to traditional western religion—an eternal, omnipotent, and omniscient man in a robe sitting in heaven commanding the world below—but would have instead praised nature as a divine creator and source of life. In place of “God”, they would have almost