Is Beowulf Selfish?

I do believe Beowulf is selfish in his constant quest for fame. It seems that all he is ever concerned about is becoming famous and accomplishing feats simply to prove he is better than everyone else. He never says he wants to defeat Grendel or help Hrothgar because it's the right thing to do. It seems that to Beowulf, there is no good or bad, only strong or weak. The poet writes, "But Beowulf longed only for fame, leaped back into battle" (1529-1531) Beowulf does not leap back into battle because he longed to conquer evil, or because he knew it was the right thing to do. He leaped into battle once again so that his name would be remembered by posterity.
In my opinion, people should gain fame because they want to do the right thing, not do the right thing because they want to gain fame.

Book Cover Selection

I think the cover that best illustrates the concept of The Fifth Child is the third one. It depicts a young boy with dissheveled hair that is "scribbled" in all different directions on top of his akwardly shaped head. But what really jumps out at the viewer are the child's green-yellow eyes rimmed in an even brighter yellow hue. This detail lets the reader know for sure that the child is Ben, because Lessing emphasizes his menacing eyes when she writes, "They were focussed greeny-yellow eyes, like lumps of soapstone. She had been waiting to exchange looks with the creature who, she had been sure, had been trying to hurt her, but there was no recognition there," (Lessing, 49). This cover also looks somewhat blotchy and has no set pattern of design, which can be seen as a metaphor for Ben's personality. His own mother finds it impossible to relate to him and can not understand his psychotic tendencies. Ben's behavior alienates his brothers and sisters, and everyone he meets is repelled by his personality, just as the uneven pattern repels the eye. Although all four covers evoke emotion, I think the third portrays Lessing's idea the best.

Correlation Between Frankenstein and Mary Shelley's Personal Life

The idea that Mary Shelley's personal life affected her writing makes a lot of sense. After reading her biography, the reader sees how Shelley's life was tormented and ridden with suffering, just as Victor's and his monster's were. Her upbringing also might have rendered her an oucast amongst others her age, as the monster's creation did him. She grew up around prolific writers and thinkers with relatively unstable personal lives, which made her quite different from the mainstream public. This is outlined in the article Frankenstein: Monster Still Alive 183 Years Later, when Christopher Schildt says "But suffering and loss and pain, the feeling of being ostracized- that I think she knew very well...".
Not only was Shelley publicly ostracized, as Frankenstein's monster was, but she was also internally tormented by the loss of many of her children. Victor constantly tortures himself because of his creation, and although he was not publicly punished, the constant burden of his creation was punishment just the same.
With all of this said, it is easy to see how the theme of Frankenstein was influenced by Mary Shelley's personal life, and her real-life struggles add heart-wrenching authenticity to it.

Frankanstein Post #1

Personally, I enjoyed reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The struggles that each of the characters face are universal, and even though the circumstances are hard to relate to, the emotion at the core of it all is easy to understand. Frankenstein's creature contemplates mankinds morals, and points out some of society's hypocricies. It is easy to see how a new creation could be confused about the idea that possesions are what shows the successes of man instead of intangible virtues, and how quickly a seemingly understaning society could be so judgemental. Shelley illustrated this point well in the creatures naievte, and it was a refreshing perspective for the reader.