Ethics & Morality in Frankenstein Thesis

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Victor inwardly becomes a monster himself." (Kain, par. 5)

On the other hand, Richard III was written by William Shakespeare. It is the story of Richard who secretly desired the throne of his brother. Although Richard is unattractive and considers himself as such, he is very charismatic. He has a strong personality and he is brilliant with his words and his arguments. In his desire for the thrown of his brother, King Edward IV, Richard was willing to kill anyone just to obtain it. Being intelligent and skillful, he was able to deceive the people around him in order to manipulate them. In order to get married, he manipulated Lady Anne. And then he used his political power by manipulating and deceiving the people around him to have his other brother, Clarence, executed. He used manipulated his older brother, Edward to feel guilty about Clarence's death. This contributed to the cause of King Edward's death. In order to ensure that his position, Richard killed the court noblemen who reserved their loyalty to King Edward's sons. He imprisoned King Edward's sons and sent hired murderers to kill them. He also killed his wife, Anne so that he can marry Elizabeth, the daughter of the dead King Edward. In the end, Richard was killed by the earl of Richmond.

According to Richard Hall, Carlyn Brown Dennis, and Tere Chipman, (5) "Shakespeare's Richard III is a dramatic study of a man bereft of a moral sense." In what way was Richard III bereft of a moral sense? In Richard's desire for the throne, he set out to kill everyone in his path. He killed his brothers, his wife, and many the people around him who stood in the way of his taking safe possession of the crown. In the story however, readers come to understand Richard when he admits that his cruelty springs from the fact that he was unloved because of his physical characteristics being deformed and unattractive.

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And yet, it was his outward appearance, his deformity and ugliness, which Richard uses to gain the sympathy of other people in order to temper the perception against his wicked desires. He was cautious in how he acted and he wrapped himself in the perception that he has a moral authority even appearing before the people in the story with a prayer book.

However, Richard lacked the conscience for the evil things that he plotted. He knew what was right from what was wrong and what was proper from what was improper. And this knowledge, he used to manipulate other in order to achieve his goal. Instead of using this knowledge to do the right thing, he deliberately used the knowledge of what is moral and ethical to do the wrong thing. He intentionally did what was immoral and unethical because he lacked conscience.

"Conscience can be described as an act of the mind telling one what is right and wrong, which prods us to follow it and accuses us if we do not," this is according to Donnelly (par. 3). Richard only thought of himself, ignored the common good of the people as well as the rights of others. Instead he allowed himself total freedom to do whatever he desired. Donnelly (par. 11) said, "Our freedom ends were the rights of others begin. Freedom has certain limits -- it is limited by the common good of society, the well-being of each individual person… Conscience marks the limits of human freedom." Richard did not display a limit to his freedom and in so doing; he conveyed what was immoral and unethical......

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