The Complexity of The Frankenstein written by Mary Shelle - Book Report/Review Example

FRANKENSTEIN By Mary Shelley Outline Frankenstein is a story which was written by Mary Shelley in the year 1818. She started writing this novel at a very early age of 18. Though this story was presented as a purely fictitious work, it has a greater depth than this. The writing of Mary Shelley expresses her ambitions. This reflection is presented in a perfect manner in the character of Frankenstein. The novel portrays an image of Mary Shelley writing her book in the work of Frankenstein while creating the monster. The ambitions of Mary Shelley as a young writer can be perfectly compared with those of Frankenstein as a young scientist trying to craft his own creation. At the same time, Mary Shelley has also related this novel to the scientific and industrial changes that were taking place in the early nineteenth century. This included the impact of the industrial revolution. The concept of galvanism which was a subject of study at that time is used as a theme of the novel. The novel also encompasses many facts related to the life of Mary Shelley, and her personal experiences and encounters have been used in the presentation of this novel. The writing shows interplay between Mary Shelley and Victor Frankenstein as Frankenstein is the creation of Shelley and the monster in the book is the creation of Frankenstein. Mary Shelley further works on showing the relationship between the monster and Frankenstein. This relation is portrayed in the accounts presented by Frankenstein about the monster and the life of the monster as portrayed by the monster himself. Frankenstein Frankenstein is an intriguing novel that was written by Mary Shelley and published in the year 1818. This novel has its roots in the scientific changes that were taking place during that period that is the era of the Industrial Revolution when there were abrupt changes in technology. It integrates the theories of “galvanism”, which is a term used to describe the creation of a being by incorporation of life into muscles by the usage of electrical power. The creation of this novel by Mary Shelley can be closely related to the creation of the monster by Victor Frankenstein in the writing itself and the script also provides a perfect interweaving of the account of Frankenstein about his creation as well as the version presented by the monster about his life. Mary Shelley had always had interest in literature and writing ever since she was a small child. She used to sit and write things during her idle time. Her interest continued with her age. At the same time she was also a day dreamer and used to think of things which were not possible. She explained that her dreams were her saviors which were there with her all the time and she resorted to them in times when she was sad. A similar case is seen in her creation of Victor Frankenstein who was always an explorer ever since he was young. He wanted to search for the reason to everything and his passion for science was hence with him like Mary Shelley’s since they were children. Hence a similarity exists between the passions that Shelley possessed for writing fictitious things which did not exist and the passions of Victor Frankenstein to explore science which made him reach to the level of creating a being. Mary Shelley had literary roots in her blood because of her parents who were both great contributors to the field of literature. Mary Shelley did have exposure to the field of literature and she had always wanted to make her contribution. She did not actually start writing until her visit to Switzerland with her husband Percy Shelley. The weather of Switzerland did not permit them to go out much and the because of the rains they had to stay indoors. Lord Bryon was a friend of the Shelley’s in Switzerland and they stayed together during this trip. It was in this time that the whole group started reading horror stories which provided them with an inspiration. This was the first step towards the development of this horror fiction novel. Though all three of them started their own works but it was Mary Shelley who actually brought her work to completion and succeeded. In a similar way the character of her novel Victor Frankenstein was an ambitious student who wanted to research in the field of science. The creator Shelley and her creation thus shared a similar ground with Shelley aiming to write something one day and Frankenstein aiming to move ahead in the field of science. He had always wanted to do something in the field of science that others had not succeeded to do. The push for Shelley to write came during her visit to Switzerland and in a similar way the thrust to Frankenstein’s ambitions came after the demise of his mother. After this loss Frankenstein decided that he would work towards creating a being so that he could have control over human life and he would not have to suffer the sorrow of losing his loved ones. At the same time he had to leave his family and move ahead to Ingolstadt to pursue his studies. This separation and the exposure to the field of science that he received were enough to serve as a drive in assisting him to form a being. Both Shelley and Frankenstein started their work after a change was brought in their life. For Shelley it was in her blood to work for literature and an interesting visit served as a boost and she started her work. But for Frankenstein the case was slightly different because it was a suffering in his life that is the loss of a loved one that pushed him to start working on creating a being. This serves an example to support the fact that there is a close link between the writing of Mary Shelley and the creation of the monster by Frankenstein. Shelley shares a very interesting factor with Frankenstein in their respective creations. Shelley was very young at the time when she started writing her book. She was 18 years old when she commenced her novel. In a similar way Victor Frankenstein was of the age of 17 years when he was sent to the University of Ingolstadt and it was soon after this that he started his work on carving a monster out of human body parts. Mary Shelley was very much interested in her ghost story and after the idea of a ghost story had sprung up she really wanted to implement it .She explained that she was desperate for an idea to search for what she actually wanted to write. In her introduction she clearly mentioned that at every dawn this was her only thought. As this time was passing she spent her time listening to the conversations between Percy Shelley and Lord Bryon. They discussed matters related to science and the work of Darwin. This was also related to the theories of galvanism. It was on this night that Shelley dreamt about the actual theme of her book. In her dream she saw an artist creating a painting which actually came to life. This work that he had done out of interest scared the artist but he could not escape from it. It was then that Shelley woke up and she was horrified. It struck her mind that an image that could scare her could also serve as a perfect theme for a horror novel and could be a ghost story that could scare anyone. It is from this theme that the novel was created which provides the reason why this story is fictitious horror story related to theories of science. In a similar way Victor Frankenstein had always had ideas of moving ahead in science and looking for the reasons that explained the existence of life. Mary Shelley searched for a subject in literature and her creation Frankenstein searched for a subject in science. His drive to achieve something in science was as much as Shelley’s because he kept on thinking about the idea regarding his work. And it was only after much thinking that he received spark on what he actually wanted to do like Shelley. He was very engrossed in his creation which can be seen from the fact that he did not respond much to the letters he received from his father. This can also be related to the way that Shelley was in search for a script which she thought of all the time. Another striking similarity can be seen from the fact that Shelley actually published her first work anonymously and Frankenstein also after creating his being wanted to hide him from the world. A major difference that exists between Shelley and Frankenstein in their creation is that Shelley started writing after she got scared by the idea and this drove her to write on the theme. But Frankenstein actually worked day and night on his creation not caring about his health. It was after he infused life into the being that he became horrified at his own creation and considered it to be a mistake on his part. Shelley on the other hand was content with her writing and this provided her with motivation to continue her career in the literary field. On the other hand Frankenstein was disturbed by what he had actually done and wanted to run away from the work that he had been really desperate for not caring about his family and health. Shelley had the support of her husband in her work whereas Frankenstein completed his creation on his own. Mary Shelley has focused on infusing life in the characters of her novel with the use of her pen and knowledge. She provides each character with an individual identity. The life of Victor Frankenstein is explained in a perfect manner by explaining his relationship with everyone in the book. His parents and his siblings and his friends are given a separate entity but these all revolve around the life of Frankenstein. As Mary Shelley does her part of giving life to the characters of her book which is her creation, Frankenstein also worked towards providing life into the being that he created. He gathers human body parts and muscles and integrates them into a creature and provides it with life. This aspect very interestingly follows the theory of galvanism which was a concept in that era. Frankenstein provides an account of his creation as well in his words. He experiences a sudden change in expression and feelings which explain that he is not satisfied with his result. He accepts his failure and his attempt to play as God and create a physically perfect being has been unsuccessful. Thus Frankenstein is a book which is created by Mary Shelley which she completely basis on Frankenstein and it is the major creation of his book. In the book Frankenstein creates a being and he provides an insight into his creation. Thus there is interplay of creation and the creator in the book. The monster is explained as a horrible beast which cannot be even looked at by his inventor. The monster presents a dreadful sight that even his creator Frankenstein cannot stand. He himself is afraid of the monster and wants to get rid of him. Frankenstein explains that the monsters appearance becomes even more difficult to see when he starts walking and moving. His sight is explained to be one which no one could see. The monster is explained to be very inhuman and a being that could be very harmful even to its own inventor who brought him into existence with so much of hard work. The monster is ugly with skin which is yellow and the skin is unable to cover the work that had been done in making the monster. He has uneven features with a dried face and black lips which make him appear dreadful. This presentation of the monster by his own creator explains his disappointment and that his attempt to advance in science and technology has crashed. Frankenstein had created a mortal but he had not been able to cover the marks and his lack of perfection can be seen from the fact that the disintegrations in the features of the monster were obvious. The monster appears to be even worse than a mummy who has been given life. The drive of Frankenstein to go against all odds and boundaries of religion had made him do this work but after its completion he had realized that he had not achieved what he had wanted. Thus the monster is explained by Frankenstein as a horrible creature and a disastrous invention by Frankenstein which he greatly regrets to an extent that it drives him ill. Mary Shelley follows a very opposite stand to this. The book Frankenstein was her first writing which she still remembers to this day with good memories which is very opposite to the fact of Victor who even on his deathbed greatly regretted what he had actually done. The writing was a good start for Mary Shelley whereas the monster which was created by Frankenstein was the initiator of destruction to his life. Thus Frankenstein is a work which shows captivating similarities between the effort done by Mary Shelley in writing the book which is her creation and the effort done by Victor Frankenstein in his invention of the monster. They both started their work on similar grounds with the aim of achieving something but Frankenstein was not successful in his creation and his monster was responsible for the catastrophes in his life. Mary Shelley’s writing on the other hand was a beginning for a successful career in literature for her. Bibliography: Top of Form Byron, Glennis. Frankenstein: 1831 Edition. York notes. Harlow: Longman, 1998. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Top of Form Mellor, Anne K. Mary Shelley Her Life, Her Fiction, Her Monsters. Bt Bound, 2008. Top of Form Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1831. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Shelley, Mary. Mary Shelleys Introduction To the 1831 Frankenstein London, 1831. Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Maurice Hindle.Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus. Penguin classics. London: Penguin Books, 2003. Read More