Week 1: Mary Shelley - Frankenstein

The Gothic

I was surprised to discover that Frankenstein was written when Mary Shelley was around nineteen years old because it such an eloquent and well-versed novel.  The story involves Dr. Victor Frankenstein and goes on to explain how he first became enraptured and mystified with the sciences, becoming attached to it at a very young age. It wasn’t until he was older, however, that he thoroughly became consumed with the thought of actually creating human life. Yet, upon doing so, and actually having his creation come to life, Frankenstein fully understands the gravity of what he has created when the monster opens his eyes for the first time. Frankenstein is soon disgusted and afraid of his creation and runs leaving it behind. The rest of the tale is basically about Frankenstein’s constant attempts at evading a monster that is practically stalking him. The monster is following behind Victor, killing his family and friends, practically at every turn.  The turning point of the novel comes when Victor decides to devote his life to exacting revenge upon his creation and tracks him all the way to the North, somewhere that is covered in ice and snow.

The real heart of the story comes from the characters themselves, it seems to me that Frankenstein’s monster, who was assembled from random body parts and chemicals, is really just a creature who turns to hatred because it is all he’s ever known. From his creation, the monster has been rejected by his father figure, Victor Frankenstein, and also by the society, which he so desperately tries to fit into. It is no wonder that he soon turns to hate himself, because it is all he has ever known, not only that the creature at the beginning of his life was a soft hearted soul, but is constantly rejected thanks to his disgusting outer appearance, all these things culminate in his need for revenge on Frankenstein and so sets the wheels of our story in motion. Victor Frankenstein’s character development throughout the novel is also a noteworthy one. The reader watches as Victor goes from a bright eyed, youthful, and curious soul and morphs into a biter disillusioned and guilty man, who has watched the product of his arrogance kill the ones he loves, leading him into becoming an obsessive hunter of his creation. Overall the story was very interesting, and very well written, the characters all have a very human element to them, which makes the reader sympathetic to their plight, and makes for a very complex and interesting read.