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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has thrilled readers for two centuries, whether for the enthralling mad scientist, creation gone amok, or simply the mythical aspect of creating life from lifeless matter. Frankenstein is the story of Victor Frankenstein, a student attending university who becomes consumed by an experiment. But this is no ordinary experiment; Frankenstein believes that he has found the secret to life. For months, he enthusiastically works in secrecy on his experiment, an attempt to create a being composed of parts stolen from corpses. When he finally succeeds at bringing his creature to life, he runs from the creature, sickened and horrified by what he has created, leaving the creature to wander the countryside. Paul Sherwin accurately describes the events that follow as “one catastrophe after another” (qtd. in Soyka). Frankenstein is the story of a secret experiment gone amok and the interminable effects this experiment has on Frankenstein’s life. Throughout the book, Victor Frankenstein acts the part of the modern Prometheus, God the creator, and cursed Satan, while the Monster takes the roles of innocent Adam and Satan the avenger.
According to “Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley,” Mary Shelley’s parents were two of the most eminent and revolutionary thinkers of their time. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was a radical feminist who authored A Vindication of the Rights of Women while her father, William Godwin, was a radical political theorist who authored Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and Caleb Williams (“Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley” 3202). According to Carol Adams, Douglas Buchanan, and Kelly Gesch in The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Frankenstein, Mary’s parents “had entered the politiciz...
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...icism: 1500 to the Present. Ed. James P. Draper. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992. Print.
Madigan, Timothy J. “Tampering in God’s Domain.” Readings on Frankenstein. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2000. Print.
“Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley.” World Literature Criticism: 1500 to the Present. Ed. James P. Draper. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992. Print.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003. Print.
Small, Christopher. “The Monster Modeled on Milton’s Adam.” Readings on Frankenstein. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2000. Print.
Soyka, David. “Frankenstein and the Miltonic Creation of Evil.” English.upenn.edu. University of Pennsylvania English Department. 1992. Web. 20 Sept. 2011.
Tropp, Martin. “The Monster.” Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations: Frankenstein, Updated Edition. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 2007. Print.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: the original 1818 text. 2nd ed. Ed. D.L. Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf. Peterborough: Broadview, 1999.
Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein is a novel narrated by Robert Walton about Victor Frankenstein and the Monster that he creates. Frankenstein grew up surrounding himself with what he loved most, science. He attended Ingolstadt University where he studied chemistry and natural philosophy, but being involved in academics was not enough for him. Frankenstein wanted to discover things, but did not think about the potential outcomes that could come with this decision. Frankenstein was astonished by the human frame and all living creatures, so he built the Monster out of various human and animal parts (Shelley, 52). At the time Frankenstein thought this creation was a great discovery, but as time went on the Monster turned out to be terrifying to anyone he came in contact with. So, taking his anger out on Frankenstein, the Monster causes chaos in a lot of people’s lives and the continuing battle goes on between the Monster and Frankenstein. Throughout this novel, it is hard to perceive who is pursuing whom as well as who ends up worse off until the book comes to a close.
Frankenstein is a book written by Mary Shelley in 1818, that is revolved around a under privileged scientist named Victor Frankenstein who manages to create a unnatural human-like being. The story was written when Shelley was in her late teen age years, and was published when she was just twenty years old. Frankenstein is filled with several different elements of the Gothic and Romantic Movement of British literature, and is considered to be one of the earliest forms of science fiction. Frankenstein is a very complicated and complex story that challenges different ethics and morals on the apparent theme of dangerous knowledge. With the mysterious experiment that Dr. Victor Frankenstein conducted, Shelly causes her reader to ultimately ask themselves what price is too high to pay to gain knowledge. It is evident that Shelly allows the reader to sort of “wonder” about the reaction they would take when dealing with a situation such as the one implemented throughout the book.
Since its publication in 1818, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has grown to become a name associated with horror and science fiction. To fully understand the importance and origin of this novel, we must look at both the tragedies of Mary Shelley's background and her own origins. Only then can we begin to examine what the icon "Frankenstein" has become in today's society.
Duncan, Greg. "Frankenstein: The Historical Context." WSU.edu. Washington State University. Web. 07 Mar. 2011. .
Works Cited for: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: A Norton Critical Edition. ed. a. a. a. a. a J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996.
Many consider Shelley as an early feminist. Certainly her mother’s views on the issue cannot be doubted. In her book “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” Mary Wollstonecraft criticizes society’s treatment of women. Similarly in Frankenstein Shelly, more than simply telling a story, challenges a dominant patriarchal value system. In the novel the women are constructed as victims of male egotism and selfishness. Caroline Beaufort, Victor Frankenstein’s mother, lived in ‘poverty’ due to her father’s ‘abominable pride’ that refused to accept help or charity. Safie, daughter of the Turkish merchant is almost kept from the one she loves by her father’s ‘treachery’. Thus we can see that Shelly presents us with a s...
Peter Brooks' essay "What Is a Monster" tackles many complex ideas within Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and the main concept that is the title of the essay itself. What is the definition of a monster, or to be monstrous? Is a monster the classic representation we know, green skin, neck bolts, grunting and groaning? A cartoon wishing to deliver sugary cereal? or someone we dislike so greatly their qualities invade our language and affect our interpretation of their image and physical being? Brooks' essay approaches this question by using Shelley's narrative structure to examine how language, not nature, is mainly accountable for creating the idea of the monstrous body.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: A Norton Critical Edition. Ed. J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a nineteenth century literary work that delves into the world of science and the plausible outcomes of morally insensitive technological research. Although the novel brings to the forefront several issues about knowledge and sublime nature, the novel mostly explores the psychological and physical journey of two complex characters. While each character exhibits several interesting traits that range from passive and contemplative to rash and impulsive, their most attractive quality is their monstrosity. Their monstrosities, however, differ in the way each of the character’s act and respond to their environment. Throughout Frankenstein, one assumes that Frankenstein’s creation is the true monster. While the creation’s actions are indeed monstrous, one must also realize that his creator, Victor Frankenstein is also a villain. His inconsiderate and selfish acts as well as his passion for science result in the death of his friend and family members and ultimately in his own demise.
Baldick, C. "Making Monstrous - 'Frankenstein', Criticism, Theory - Botting,F." Review Of English Studies 45 (1994): 90-99.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: A Norton Critical Edition. ed. J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. D.L. Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf. Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press, 1999.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or; The Modern Prometheus, published in 1818, is a product of its time. Written in a world of social, political, scientific and economic upheaval it highlights human desire to uncover the scientific secrets of our universe, yet also confirms the importance of emotions and individual relationships that define us as human, in contrast to the monstrous. Here we question what is meant by the terms ‘human’ and ‘monstrous’ as defined by the novel. Yet to fully understand how Frankenstein defines these terms we must look to the etymology of them. The novel however, defines the terms through its main characters, through the themes of language, nature versus nurture, forbidden knowledge, and the doppelganger motif. Shelley also shows us, in Frankenstein, that although juxtaposing terms, the monstrous being everything human is not, they are also intertwined, in that you can not have one without the other. There is also an overwhelming desire to know the monstrous, if only temporarily and this calls into question the influence the monstrous has on the human definition.
Bloom, Harold and Golding, William. Modern Critical Views on Mary Shelley. Edited with an introduction by Harold Bloom. Chelsea House Publishers, New York, 1985.