The aim with this paper is to study the different portrayals of evil as seen in Mary Shelley ́s Frankenstein. The analysis of the material is supported by two theories of evil, to further establish an objective aspect to the main subjective interpretation of the content. The analysis is conducted with the support of Claudia Card ́s theory of evil from the book The Atrocity Paradigm, as well as Arne Johan Vetlesen ́s theory of evil from the book Studies of evil. Card ́s theory of evil takes the rains in determining whether or not a deed should be deemed as evil or just unethical. Meanwhile, Vetlesen ́s theory focuses more on determining the causes of evil and what motivates evildoers to commit acts of violence towards other people. These two theories work well together to better understand the abstract and concrete shapes of evil in the novel. The conclusion drawn in the paper is that both Frankenstein and his creature are capable of evil deeds. The creature does do more evil deeds than Frankenstein, but nevertheless, they both commit acts of evil according to Card ́s criterium for atrocities. Furthermore, while the creature seems to lack Vetlesen ́s articulated cultural symbols, Frankenstein seems to lack in a sense of responsibility and growth. Since neither Card nor Vetlesen claim to be able to determine whether or not a person is predominantly evil or good, this paper will not try to answer that question, but rather discuss the characters as a whole based on the results from the analysis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-412571 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Möllerström, Helena |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Tros- och livsåskådningsvetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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