Comparing Science and Religion in Frankenstein and Angels and Demons

Topics:	Angels and Demons
Words:	532
Page:	1 This essay sample was donated by a student to help the academic community. Papers provided by EduBirdie writers usually outdo students' samples.
Updated:	15.09.2022

Cite this essay

Download

Science and religion have been at odds since back in Galileo’s day and maybe even before. The battle rages on even today with debates on cloning and stem cell research. These issues can be seen not only today’s literary works but also in the works from the years past. Two great examples of the past and present are: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons. Both deal with the issue of the roles that science and religion play. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a horror story written in 1831. It tells a tale of Victor Frankenstein’s obsession with playing God and creating a man and the consequences that come with it. Not only does the book reflect on Victor’s life and but also on the monster’s life and how it deals with the situations at hand. Angels and Demons is a suspense thriller written in 2000. Robert Langdon has been asked to help solve a murder mystery because it is believed that a secret society that he has studied called the illuminati are behind it. The story takes a ton of twist and turns that involve a container of antimatter, the Catholic Church and a dead priest’s secret. Even though both of these books were written in different times and with totally different plots they still both bring to light the battle between science and religion that may never diminish.

Victor Frankenstein is obsessed with his to attempt to create a human. He works on it constantly alienating friends and loved ones. His obsession is finally rewarded with success; he manages to create a monster. This is where Mary Shelley starts to bring in the lesson of playing God. When Victor looks at his creation, he sees what a horror he has created and how hideous a creature it is. “No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch”. Shelley shows that man cannot create things without messing it up. This is would not be the last time that scientist went to far to attempt to create perfection. In 1991 Michael Stewart wrote a story called Prodigy in which a man messes with his daughter’s DNA to make her smarter. However, she becomes a child that has evil genes. (Nelkin 35). This is another way authors show that man is not capable of imitating God.

Save your time!
We can take care of your essay

Proper editing and formatting
Free revision, title page, and bibliography
Flexible prices and money-back guarantee

Place an order

These two books show very well what can happen when religion and science try to battle with each other. There are two types of extremes. Those that want to use advanced technology to expand into the realms of God and those that want to use their religious stance to stop technology from advancing. Frankenstein is blinded by his obsession to create life and the Carmerlengo Carlo Ventresca went to the extreme to punish those that he thought had disobeyed his religion even if it was his own father. Neither extreme is completely right and yet both sides tend to think that they have all the answers. It is a battle that has been going on for centuries and one that is not soon to be done.

Did you like this example?

Yes

Features Of Dystopia In Angels And Demons And Fahrenheit 451

Angels and Demons’: Main Peculiarities in a Book

Cite this paper

APA
MLA
Harvard
Vancouver

Comparing Science and Religion in Frankenstein and Angels and Demons. (2022, September 15). Edubirdie. Retrieved March 4, 2025, from https://hub.edubirdie.com/examples/comparing-science-and-religion-in-frankenstein-and-angels-and-demons/

“Comparing Science and Religion in Frankenstein and Angels and Demons.” Edubirdie, 15 Sept. 2022, hub.edubirdie.com/examples/comparing-science-and-religion-in-frankenstein-and-angels-and-demons/

Comparing Science and Religion in Frankenstein and Angels and Demons. [online]. Available at: <https://hub.edubirdie.com/examples/comparing-science-and-religion-in-frankenstein-and-angels-and-demons/> [Accessed 4 Mar. 2025].

Comparing Science and Religion in Frankenstein and Angels and Demons [Internet]. Edubirdie. 2022 Sept 15 [cited 2025 Mar 4]. Available from: https://hub.edubirdie.com/examples/comparing-science-and-religion-in-frankenstein-and-angels-and-demons/

copy