Frankenstein is a novel written by Mary Shelley. Mary Shelley is an English writer who was born on August 30, 1797. Among her works it is possible to mention The Last Man, Valperga, Lodore and other. However, her most famous novel is Frankenstein. The idea of writing a horror story was proposed by Lord Byron. It was at this time when Shelley started to work at her novel Frankenstein which was written in 1818. The book immediately became a success. In fact, it is still considered as one of the most successful books of the 19th century and there are numerous film adaptations to it.
It is clear that the novel Frankenstein is mainly focused on the characters of Victor Frankenstein and the monster. These are major characters of the book and they may be considered as the protagonist and the villain correspondently. Victor Frankenstein is an ambitious man who has always wanted to go beyond human knowledge and to change the world. Since childhood Victor was very curious and he showed interest in chemistry and biology. He was interested in such questions as how blood circulates or how human body works. The man was deeply intrigued by the secrets of science and alchemists. Frankenstein was especially interested in the structure f human frame. In fact, it is possible to say that this interest resulted in in Victor’s desire to generate life. It is clear that Frankenstein is a self-confident man who has a strong belief in oneself. At the same time Victor Frankenstein may be perceived as an egoist. He is totally preoccupied with his invention and never thinks about the possible consequences of his actions. Only when he creates the monster and sees the result of his work, the man realizes that he opened dangerous knowledge.
The monster is the result of Frankenstein’s work. At first, he appears to be a miserable creature abandoned by his own creator. The monster feels lonely and desperately wants to receive some sympathy from humans. He tries to integrate into society but his appearance distracts people. Even more, when they see the monster, they feel fear and disgust. Such treatment makes the monster feel anger towards his creator. The monster is disillusioned by his life and wants to take revenge on his creator. The creature clearly suffers from hatred and disappointment. He doesn't receive support from Frankenstein. As a result, he wants Victor to feel the same pain as he does. Closer to the end of the story the creature starts to behave as a real monster.
The setting of the story plays an important role and helps the author to show a conflict between nature and science. The action of the story starts in the Arctic where Robert Walton, a sea captain, saves Victor. A lot of attention in the story is given to the depiction of Victor’s native land, Geneva. While describing it to Walton, Frankenstein feels great attachment to it. He describes his fascination by Geneva’s beautiful lakes and mountains. Part of the action takes place at the University of Ingoldstadt, Germany. It is a place where Victor makes his first steps in science and starts to think of generating life and creating human. It is a place when he spent hours in the laboratory conducting various experiments. The rest of the story is focused on Frankenstein’s travel around the Europe being constantly followed by the monster. The fact that the setting of the story is focused on nature proves that Shelley wanted to show the conflict between nature and humans, the conflict between nature and science.
So, the story starts with the letters of captain Robert Walton who wrote a series of letters to his sister about his journey to the Arctic. In this journey he encountered weak Victor Frankenstein who told the captain his story. Victor starts his story with the depiction of his life in Geneva. From this description it becomes clear that Frankenstein loves his motherland. He continues his story describing his life in Germany and his interest in science. Being interested in chemistry and biology, Frankenstein wants to find the source of life. He spends hours in the laboratory conducting various experiments. In fact, his interest in such experiments is frightening. He doesn't sleep enough and spends his nights collecting human bones. Frankenstein starts to feel oneself as if he is a God. He often dreams about his meeting with his creatures and believes that they would be grateful to him. As Victor states, “A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me” (Shelley 1818, p. 154). He doesn't think about possible consequences of his invention. It seems that the scientist seeks for fame and recognition.
However, the major conflict of the story appears when Frankenstein meets the result of his work. He meets a monster – an ugly and disgusting creature that arouses only the feeling of fear and disgust. He abandons the monster being unable even to talk to him. At first, the monster wants to integrate into human’s society. He seeks for love and care. However, quite soon the creature realizes that he is different from other people and that his ugly appearance pushes them away. He feels miserable and asks his creator to make a female monster. However, Frankenstein understands that it is too dangerous and he refuses to do so. Being abandoned again, the monster wants to take revenge on Frankenstein. He kills all Victor’s closest people in order to make him suffer just as he does. At the same time, it is worth considering that the monster is not able to kill his own creator and he allows him to leave.
All in all, it is possible to arrive at a conclusion that Shelley’s Frankenstein is an impressive novel. Its significance lies in the fact that it teaches readers a number of important lessons. It clearly shows the main conflicts between science and nature as well as the results of such conflicts. The novel shows how dangerous it might be to go beyond human knowledge. Moreover, it teaches the readers to always think about the possible consequences of their actions. Thus, Frankenstein was so obsessed with himself and his idea of generating life that he didn't think that the result of such work might be extremely dangerous for the humanity. Only when he met the monster, the scientist understood his mistake. He understood that his desire to go beyond human knowledge was truly destructive. In general, Shelley’s novel is rather impressive, tense, and instructive. It definitely gives the readers food for thought.
Works cited
Shelley, M. (1818). Frankenstein. [e-book] Retrieved from: http: // www.planetebook.com
Mary Shelley Biography (n.d.). In Biography.com. Retrieved from: http: // www.biography.com
