Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

...the original, archetypal ghost story, Frankenstein or *The Modern Prometheus has become synonymous with mad scientists and evil monsters. This seminal piece of writing has gone on to spawn a thousand imitations, lodging itself very firmly in everyday folklore that has a very special place in the modern day psyche.

I read Frankenstein with the inevitable notion of comparing it to Stoker's Dracula. I have to say that the two books are ...
...today.

With Frankenstein being so well known it's worth giving a brief introduction to its writer - Mary Shelley. Born in 1797, the daughter of William Godwin & Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary went on to become one of the world's most renowned writers. Her parents were both radical writers of their day providing something of an influence to the talented Mary. She met the then unknown, Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1814 with whom she eloped to ... more

Oh well, whilst waiting for a movie cat that will come soon I'm sure, writing an op on "To Kill a Mocking-Bird" (the book) and possibly joining in the ongoing Ciao story thingy, I thought I'd post an op I wrote a while ago but was never really happy with the version that made it to Ciao. One senior member criticised me (quite rightly) for dumbing down the intro by including a reference to a Sister Sledge song. This is the version that should have been posted.

Perhaps considered by many to be the original, archetypal ghost story, Frankenstein or *The Modern Prometheus has become synonymous with mad scientists and evil monsters. This seminal piece of writing has gone on to spawn a thousand imitations, lodging itself very firmly in everyday folklore that has a very special place in the modern day psyche.

I read Frankenstein with the inevitable notion of comparing it to Stoker's Dracula. I have to say that the two books are very different albeit both lit a flame in a literary sense that still burns brightly today.

With Frankenstein being so well known it's worth giving a brief introduction to its writer - Mary Shelley. Born in 1797, the daughter of William Godwin & Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary went on to become one of the world's most renowned writers. Her parents were both radical writers of their day providing something of an influence to the talented Mary. She met the then unknown, Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1814 with whom she eloped to the continent

In 1816, residing on the shores of Lake Geneva, Percy suggested a ghost story competition inspiring Mary to start her original work. Subsequently finished in England, the book was initially met with mixed reviews on its publication. Its interesting to note that most people thought that the book had been written by Percy Shelley following its original publication in 1818 as the author remained anonymous until its second edition in 1823.

So, to the story. Set on a ship sailing in the far north, Captain Walton sends a series of letters to his sister, Margaret back in England. He recounts the strangest of tales as the story unfolds. Surrounded by ice, the ship encounters two men. The first was seen traversing the ice on a sledge pulled by dogs described as "...the
shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature.." Having lost him on the horizon, a short while later the captain picks up a second man found drifting towards the ship on a make-do boat. Somewhat amazed to find anyone so far north, Captain Walton sits down with the stranger to hear his story. Of course, the stranger is Frankenstein of the book's title.

In a series of broken tales over the course of a week, Frankenstein guides the spellbound captain through a maze of murder and intrigue. Responsible for the creation of a "human being", Frankenstein's experiment with nature backfires creating an abomination that he immediately rejects. The creature leaves its birth site only to come back to pursue its master for a solution to its ills. The two meet up in the shadow of Mount Blanc where the creature re-creates its steps for its master since its "birth", telling him of it's efforts to be accepted by man only for them to be doomed to failure. Subsequent rage and despair had led the creature to murder Frankenstein's young brother as retribution for the indignation felt by its abject rejection at the hands of man. The creature's request is simple - make me a mate and I will disappear from your life forever. Frankenstein initially agrees but then goes back on his word and so releases an explosive chain of events that shake the very foundations of its master's life and the lives of those close to him.

So why is Frankenstein so popular, even now? Well, there is no laboratory scene with weird machines and lightening conductors. The creature itself is only described in the vaguest terms with no real description of how it came about. There are certainly no references to piecing together dead body parts seemingly derived from the infamous Burke and Hare. Needless to say, there has been a great deal of license taken with the story over the years.

In its simplest form; Frankenstein seems to be the age-old struggle of good versus evil. Frankenstein is the good doctor who has made a naïve blunder in his creation whilst the iconic monster is typically repellent with a vicious streak resulting in a trail of destruction. However, as you read Frankenstein you realise the boundaries are far more blurred that at first glance. After all, the creature didn't ask to be created and it was hardly its fault that it came to be known as a daemon. Its motives are simply inclusion, which is one of the most basic forms of human rights. It's hard to decide whether the creature is the aggressor although its appetite for revenge does seem extreme. This conflict of motives is found pivotal at the meeting at Mount Blanc where, having listened to the creature's entreaties, Frankenstein agrees to its creation's argument, determining to make a female companion for the creature. However, he later reneges on the agreement fearing "..a race of devils would be propagated on this Earth..."

Frankenstein's motives can be called into question. Having dabbled with the dark arts, he has toyed with the fabric of nature maybe in the same way that scientists skim the borderline through gene technology. Whilst his whiter than white background paints the image of a conscientious, noble individual, its up to the reader to decide just what the repercussions should be for an excursion into the seemingly taboo world of what amounts to cloning. One of the sadder aspects of the story is the awe in which the creature holds its master. Despite the cruel rejection and revulsion of its creator, Shelley manages to get across a paedic bond that seemingly is only felt by one of the parties. This feeling of denial by its father leaves the reader ponderous towards the way the creature is treated although it's difficult to justify the murderous outpourings that result from its paternal contact.

Frankenstein is a classic, timeless tale that works. Today's reader may find the language a little formal but, of course, this story is nearly 200 years old. For me, I found the description of the surrounding countryside the most alluring aspect of the book. A typical passage would be "....It was nearly noon when I arrived at the top of the ascent. For some time I sat upon the rock that overlooks the sea of ice. A mist covered both that and the surrounding mountains. Presently a breeze dissipated the cloud, and I descended upon the glacier..." This is an example of the imagery used by the author almost certainly inspired by her own first hand view of the beauty of Europe in the 19th Century. Ample opportunity is given for such description as the story sweeps across Europe taking in countries from England to Turkey to the further most reaches north of Archangel. Frankenstein is a tragic tale so be prepared for a litany of agony and despair as the story lurches from one disaster to another. The reader can't help thinking that the antagonists are joined by fate determining their individual destinies at some future point.

Surely, books like Dracula and Frankenstein are essential reading in most people's wish list? You cannot fail to be moved by the passion and guile that these stories represent. Free from the artistic license reigned in their direction over the years, the end result is something groundbreaking in its time but written with a formidable penchant for drama that belongs with the most dramatic of opera. Would I recommend it? To be honest, I can't believe it's taken all this time for me to get around to reading Frankenstein.

Thanks for reading.

Marandina

Note:
The version I read was from the Penguin Classics collection and contains: An introduction from Maurice Hindle, notes on the text, suggested further reading and a chronology of Mary Shelley.

Also included is the author's introduction to the standard novels edition (1831), a preface by P.B. Shelley and appendices A - Select collation of the texts of 1831 & 1818), B -"A Fragment" by Lord Byron and C - "The Vampyre: A tale" by Dr John William Polidori.

The actual story is only 202 pages.

ISBN is 0-14-043362-7 and cost £2.99 from WH Smith. You can read the text online for free at http://www.literature.org/authors/shelley-mary/frankenstein/

*In Greek mythology, Prometheus was the Titan who gave fire to man. Prometheus was the wisest of the Titans. His name means 'forethought' and he could predict the future.

 

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