raymondaliasapollyon
Banned
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2019
- Member Type
- Interested in Language
- Native Language
- Chinese
- Home Country
- Taiwan
- Current Location
- Taiwan
Hi,
The following extract is from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I'd like to know what the "it" and "such views" refer to. Does the "it" refer to modern natural philosophy, or the circumstances in general? Does "such views" refer to the view that modern natural philosophy was not contemptible when scientists were seeking immortality?
Besides, I had a contempt for the uses of modern natural philosophy. It was very different, when the masters of the science sought immortality and power; such views, although futile, were grand: but now the scene was changed. The ambition of the enquirer seemed to limit itself to the annihilation of those visions on which my interest in science was chiefly founded. I was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth.
The following extract is from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I'd like to know what the "it" and "such views" refer to. Does the "it" refer to modern natural philosophy, or the circumstances in general? Does "such views" refer to the view that modern natural philosophy was not contemptible when scientists were seeking immortality?
Besides, I had a contempt for the uses of modern natural philosophy. It was very different, when the masters of the science sought immortality and power; such views, although futile, were grand: but now the scene was changed. The ambition of the enquirer seemed to limit itself to the annihilation of those visions on which my interest in science was chiefly founded. I was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth.
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