Frankenstein
The story of Frankenstein is not only a horror story about a mad scientist's terrible misfortunes, it goes much deeper than you might think. Mary Shelley seems to ask many questions in her book, Frankenstein. She questions the advancement of Science and whether or not it should be limited in certain aspects, such as the creation of life.
In the 1800’s, when religion was losing some of its hold, people were trying to understand the origin of life. Victor Frankenstein represents the Sciences’ pursuit of the answer to this magnificent question. Frankenstein’s Monster represents the people’s fear of what Science might create. Although Frankenstein is a fictional story, it is likely that Mary Shelley was inspired by a few Frankenstein-esque Scientists galvanism, the stimulation of muscles with pulses of electrical current.
In 1780, Luigi Galvani discovered he could make the muscles of a dead frog twitch with sparks of electricity. Giovanni Aldini cut of the head of an ox moved its tongue using electricity. If you only knew of these experiments, it might seem likely that the “essence” of life would quite obviously be electricity. This is what many would have believed in the 1800’s.
By writing Frankenstein Mary Shelley questions whether or not Scientists should continue to experiment with galvanism. So in the end, Victor Frankenstein seems to be a fictional representation of the Scientific pursuit of the “essence” of life. His Monster seems to represent what the people feared what would happen if Science continued to experiment with galvanism.
Characters and Struggles
The two most pronounced character struggles throughout the book are those of Victor Frankenstein and the monster he created. Victor experiences personal loss, obsession and fear, while the monster struggles with confusion, abandonment, and anger.
Victor’s struggles begin when his mother dies of scarlet fever, right before he departs to the University of Ingolstadt. Victor studies hard, reading all he can about science, until he decides to attempt to create life by reanimating dead tissue. Victor gets sucked into his pursuit of creating life, and it takes a toll on him. He spends three seasons working on his masterpiece, and by the end he is very fatigued and sickly. Once Victor succeeds and brings to life a dead body, he is frightened and disgusted by what he sees. He wanders the streets of Ingolstadt and stumbles upon his friend Henry, who questions him about his absence. Victor thinks of the monster he had created and has a nervous breakdown, falling into a coma. When he wakes up, he learns that his brother had been murdered, and his family housekeeper was accused of the crime.
While Victor faces his issues, the monster is going through his own struggles. Immediately after the monster was given life, his creator abandoned him, leaving him alone and confused. He was cast out by everyone who saw him, and he became angry at the world and his creator. If it were not for Victor’s fear the monster would not have felt abandoned and angry.
Time period connection and importance
If Frankenstein had been written and published today, instead of in the 1800’s, it would not have induced such a sensation as it had 199 years ago. Today, we are desensitized to the thought of monsters under our beds and zombies in our streets. Those who read this book back in the 1800’s may have viewed Dr.Frankenstein’s scientific experiment as an abomination from their religious perspective. Chances are, most people in that era believed that the power to create life belonged to God alone. Via Dr.Frankenstein’s reanimation of dead tissue, Mary Shelley caused the reader to question his or her religious convictions and the origin of life itself. This would have been a source of utmost fear and panic to the reader, just as it had been to the community which Frankenstein's monster terrorized.
If Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein had been written in the twenty-first century, it might have been lost in the onslaught of horror films and monster movies. However, it is entirely probable that if Frankenstein was not written two centuries ago, the peoples belief might not have been questioned and demand for this type of literature would not have grown, and in turn the twenty first century reader would not have become as desensitized as we are today. Alas, authors such as Stephen King, would not have been able to have drawn inspiration for his own horror novels. “Stephen King: The inspiration was … Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and my own religious upbringing.”1
1. Stephen…upbringing] https://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/989.Stephen_King
Questions likes and dislikes
Originally I did not like this book. I thought the plot to be quite dull, and the monster had not sparked even the slightest bit of fear in me. The idea of using science to create life from a dead body just does not interest me.
However, after examining the time period in which this book was written, I can appreciate the shock value this book must have had on society at the time. By making people question their religious beliefs, Mary Shelley encouraged people to evolve intellectually, religiously, and socially. She put scientific and religious questions into the minds of the common folk, who were probably discussing these ideas over tea. “There was a lot of interest in the question: What is the essence that animates life? Could it be electricity?”1
Now I am glad that Mary Shelley wrote this book because it inspired many of my favorite movies, books, and video games. For instance, one of my favorite television series is, The Walking Dead, which is based on the reanimation of dead people. The dead in this series are reanimated not through electricity, but through a virus which chemically reanimates a few functions of the brain. I can now respect Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as it may have given birth to one of my favorite genres.
1. There…electricity] http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-real-electric-frankenstein-experiments-of-the-1800s
Language usage and new ideas
“His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.” page.35 Chapter
In this excerpted, the author uses many ugly words to make the reader imagine a horribly disgusting monster, she does this to help the reader understand how disgusted Frankenstein was when he saw the monster he had created.
“Believe me, Frankenstein, I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity; but am I not alone, miserably alone? You, my creator, abhor me; what hope can I gather from your fellow creatures, who owe me nothing?” pg.69 Chapter 10
Here, the author uses words that induce a feeling of loneliness or abandonment to help the reader to understand how the monster feels about his creator hates and abandons him.
Quotes
“So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein—more, far more, will I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation” Chapter 3 pg.28
Frankenstein is realizing his place in the world. He is following the path of scientists before him and is passionate about advancing the world's knowledge of science beyond what is already known.
"No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success. Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world." Chapter 4 pg.32
Frankenstein feels like no one can relate to what he is feeling. He feels it is his responsibility to cure death and save the world. He is so excited that he feels isolated from the rest of the world, resulting in a god like complex.
"I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel." Chapter 10
Frankenstein's Monster did nothing to Frankenstein that would have angered him to the point where he should abandon the Monster so Frankenstein should have sheltered and treated him as his son, but instead he abandoned the monster.
Seminar discussion questions
World Connection Question:
Close Ended Question:
Who was Frankenstein’s Monster’s second victim?
Open Ended Question:
How do you think Frankenstein’s Monster would have behaved if he had not abandoned him?
Universal Theme/ Core Question:
Can you pick out the existential elements of Frankenstein?
Literary Analysis Question: