#7
- Although Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is compelling in and of itself, it also functions on a symbolic level or levels, with Frankenstein's monster standing in for the coming of industrialization to Europe — and the death and destruction that the monster wreaks symbolizing the ruination that Shelley feared industrialization would eventually cause. The novel also contains a number of "framing devices," which are stories that surround other stories, setting them up in one way or another. Robert Walton's letters to his sister frame the story that Victor Frankenstein tells to Walton, and Frankenstein's story surrounds the story that the monster tells, which in turn frames the story of the De Lacey family.
#1
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley begins with Captain Robert Walton hanging out in St. Petersburg, Russia, probably near the end of the 18th century. He's waiting around for a ride to the port of Archangel, where he's going to hire some hardy Russians to go sailing off to the North Pole. Unfortunately, the boat gets stuck in impassible ice hundreds of miles from land. Boring! With nothing else to do, he writes letters to his sister back in England. His main complaint? He wants a male friend to keep him company. (What about that ship full of sailors? No, he means a worthy companion.)
Soon, Walton's despair is interrupted by the sight of —a man! On the ice! Riding a dog-sled! The man boards the ship, and it seems as if Walton's wish for a friend has come true. Except this new guy, Victor? Kind of nuts. Here's his story, as told to Walton:
Victor started out like any normal kid in Geneva, with his parents adopting a girl named Elizabeth for him to marry when he was older. You know, totally normal. At college, he decides to study natural philosophy (like a rudimentary physics) and chemistry, along with chemistry's evil twin, alchemy. In about two years, he figures out how to bring a body made of human corpse pieces to life. (We couldn't even manage to finish high school in two years.) Afterwards, he's horrified by his own creation (no…really?) and is sick for months while his friend Henry Clerval nurses him back to health.
Back in Geneva, Victor's younger brother, William, is murdered. The Frankenstein family servant, Justine, is accused of killing him. Victor magically intuits that his monster is the real killer, but thinking that no one would believe the "my monster did it" excuse, Victor is afraid to even propose his theory. Even when poor Justine is executed.
Victor, in grief, goes on a trip to the Swiss Alps for some much needed R&R. All too conveniently, he runs into the monster, who confesses to the crime and tells Victor this story (if you're keeping track, we're now in a story-within-a-story-within-a-story):
When Frankenstein fled, he found himself alone and hideous. No one accepted him (being a corpse-parts conglomeration can do that to you), except for one old blind man. He hoped that the blind man's family of cottagers would give him compassion, but even they drove him away. When he ran across William, he killed the boy out of revenge. In short, he's ticked off that his maker created him to be alone and miserable, and so would Frankenstein please make him a female companion?
After much persuading, Victor agrees. He drops off Henry in Scotland while he goes to an island in the Orkneys to work. But, just before he finishes, he destroys the second monster: he's afraid that the two will bring destruction to humanity rather than love each other harmlessly. The monster sees him do this and swears revenge … again. When Victor lands on a shore among Irish people, they accuse him of murdering Henry, who has been found dead. He's acquitted, but not before another long illness.
Victor returns to Geneva and prepares to marry Elizabeth, but he's a little worried: the monster has sworn to be with him on his wedding night. Eek! Victor thinks the monster is threatening him, but the night he and Elizabeth are married, the monster kills the bride instead. This causes Victor's father to pass away from grief (as he just lost a daughter-in-law and a daughter), so it's kind of a twofer for the monster.
Alone and bent on revenge, Victor chases the monster over all imaginable terrain until he is ragged and near death. (In fact, we can't really tell the two of them apart anymore except that the monster is taller and uglier.) And now we're back up the present: he finds Walton's ship, tells his story, and dies.
Story over? Not quite. Walton discovers the monster crying over Victor's dead body. We're not sure if he's crying because he's sad or because, as he says, he has nothing to live for anymore—but either way, he heads off into the Arctic to die. Alone.
#3
In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, The creature, or "Frankenstein's Monster," is a lonely, sympathetic and largely misunderstood character. Abandoned by his creator -- the closest thing to a father figure that the creature has -- the creature, shocked by the horrified reaction of society to its physical appearance, turns against its creator. The creature's experience is that all humanity equates his deformed physical appearance with evilness. "As I fixed my eyes on the child, I saw . . . divine benignity to one expressive of disgust and affright."Frankenstein is ambitious, preoccupied with his work, and obsessive. It is this drive to succeed that eventually pushes his experimentation too far. While it is often thought that the creature is the villain of the piece, in fact, upon reading Shelly's novel it becomes clear that Victor Frankenstein himself must take some degree of responsibility for the monster's crimes. Victor shows a selfish self-interest in his experimentation; he does not shoulder the monumental responsibility of his actions because he is driven only by ambition and not by a regard for others: "I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart."
Both Frankenstein and his monster see themselves as wronged. Both have the desire and the inclination to love, but their loving intentions are swiftly transformed by hate and isolation. The novel focuses upon the redemptive power of love. Both admire beauty (Elizabeth's), and are repulsed by the physical appearance of Frankenstein's monster. "How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavored to form?"
Both become isolated from main society: Victor is isolated by his obsession with work, and because the creature kills off those he loves. The creature is isolated because of his appearance. Both start out with good intentions: Victor's love of nature encourages him to study natural science but his ambition soon leads him astray. The creature's instinct is to love and be loved, but the reaction to his appearance is one of hatred and repulsion, so it reacts in kind. "This was then the reward of my benevolence! I had saved a human being from destruction, and as a recompense I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone . . . vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind."
While Victor Frankenstein grew up in a loving family environment, surrounded by the love of Elizabeth and the friendship of Henry Clerval, the creature is abandoned almost immediately. Dr. Frankenstein fails to show his creation the same love and support that he himself experienced in his own upbringing. "No human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself."
The story of Frankenstein plays with the themes of human nature, nurture and human needs. Essentially, Victor has a parental duty to nurture his creation, which he fails to do. The monster, on the other hand, is not bound by the usual bounds of humanity, since he has been born an unworldly being. The creature is made from fragments of human life, and as such his heart is similarly fragmented. "I looked upon them as superior beings who would be the arbiters of my future destiny."
#2
The Monster
In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, The monster is Victor Frankenstein’s creation, assembled from old body parts and strange chemicals, animated by a mysterious spark. He enters life eight feet tall and enormously strong but with the mind of a newborn. Abandoned by his creator and confused, he tries to integrate himself into society, only to be shunned universally. Looking in the mirror, he realizes his physical grotesqueness, an aspect of his persona that blinds society to his initially gentle, kind nature. Seeking revenge on his creator, he kills Victor’s younger brother. After Victor destroys his work on the female monster meant to ease the monster’s solitude, the monster murders Victor’s best friend and then his new wife.
While Victor feels unmitigated hatred for his creation, the monster shows that he is not a purely evil being. The monster’s eloquent narration of events (as provided by Victor) reveals his remarkable sensitivity and benevolence. He assists a group of poor peasants and saves a girl from drowning, but because of his outward appearance, he is rewarded only with beatings and disgust. Torn between vengefulness and compassion, the monster ends up lonely and tormented by remorse. Even the death of his creator-turned-would-be-destroyer offers only bittersweet relief: joy because Victor has caused him so much suffering, sadness because Victor is the only person with whom he has had any sort of relationship.
