The Limits of Human Empathy

Paper Summary:

The paper examines "The War of the Worlds", "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Frankenstein" and illustrates how the bonds of humanity, love and parenting that should create commonality and connection are shown to be false in all three works. The paper shows how the three novels show the limits of human compassion when human beings become selfishly focused on their own survival, honor or goals.

From the Paper:

"HG Wells' The War of the Worlds, William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein all revolve around a central, frightening theme--the inability to know what is in another individual's heart. HG Wells dramatizes the alien nation of another person's consciousness in a very dramatic fashion by pitting humans against aliens. The humans cannot understand the way the aliens think, or their motivations. This causes them to behave desperately and cruelly towards other human beings. William Shakespeare's comedy is about love, but because of the divisions between men and women in the society of Hero and Claudio, Claudio is easily deceived by the evil Don John that Hero is not a virgin and nearly destroys her life and her honor as a result of his credulity. Finally, Dr. Frankenstein is so intent upon creating a scientific reputation for himself and defying God that he does not think about the feelings of the being he 'gives birth to,' showing that even parents do not fully know their children."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Shakespeare, William. "Much Ado About Nothing." MIT Shakespeare Homepage.11 Mar 2008. http://shakespeare.mit.edu/much_ado/
• Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Literature.org. 11 Mar 2008.http://www.literature.org/authors/shelley-mary/frankenstein/
• Wells, H.G. The War of the Worlds. 1898. Web edition of The War of the Worlds. Edited by John Walker 1995. 11 Mar 2008. http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/warworlds/warw.html

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