I just finished “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley and am reflecting on how unexpectedly moving this novel was.
Little did I anticipate how wildly different the modern understanding of this story would be so far removed from the original. The way Shelley winds us through this novel is spectacular: it is narrated and broken into three volumes, each with its own vantage.
You experience suspense, anguish, sympathy, and grief over and over. You journey from Geneva, across the Swiss Alps, to Ingolstadt, along the Rhine, to France, and England, among other European locales as the novel takes unexpected and thrilling turns.
I do not ever remember to have trembled at a tale of superstition, or to have feared the apparition of a spirit. Darkness had no effect upon my fancy and a church-yard was merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of life, which from being the seat of beauty and strength, had become food for the worm. (40)
The novel had me thinking deeply on the certainty of death. How should I live in response to the knowledge that I am ephemeral and that each passing day leaves me one-less to appreciate and make use of this life? How do I endure and learn from the grief I experience along the way to my own eventual end? What will people think and say of me when I am gone? What is my creation…my legacy…my work to leave behind?
A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquility. I do not think that the pursuit of knowledge is an exception to this rule. If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not benefitting the human mind. (43)
The archetype of the mad-scientist descending into seclusion and eventual insanity originates with Victor in “Frankenstein”. Reading Shelley’s explaination of what he refers to as “natural philosophy” (science) reminds me of how quickly we have made huge advancements. Two centuries ago, it was purely science-fiction and today, we can conceive of the creation of a sentient, human-like creature in a laboratory to be entirely plausible.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F866db37c-f0bd-4c0a-bf85-afe61405015e_980x550.jpeg)
Nothing is more painful to the human mind, than, after the feelings have been worked up by a quick succession of events, the dead calmness of inaction and certainty which follows, and deprives the soul both of hope and fear. (81)
The language of hopelessness, fear, uncertainty, and grief used in “Frankenstein” formed some of the most moving passages I’ve ever read. On more than a few occassions, I found myself stopping to re-read sentences and paragraphs and reflect on her use of prose.
To you first entering on life, to whom care is new, and agony unknown, how can you understand what I have felt, and still feel? Cold, want, and fatigue, were were the least pains which I was destined to endure; I was cursed by some devil, and carried about with me my eternal hell; yet still a spirit of good, followed and directed my steps, and, when I most murmured, would suddenly extricate me from seemingly unsurmountable difficulties. (197)
The triumph of my enemy increased with the difficulty of my labours. One inscription that he left was in these words: “Prepare! your toils only begin: wrap yourself in furs, and provide food, for we shall soon enter upon a journey where your sufferings will satisfy my everlasting hatred.” (199)
As Victor seeks to avenge his creation, he discovers taunting messages along the way. This one felt especially chilling: it makes you feel with great certainty the visceral contempt which the monster has toward his creator.
While the element of science-fiction is expected, you should also be familiar with Shelley’s influences before reading (or re-reading). I’d recommend being somewhat acquianted with Milton’s “Paradise Lost”, as it informs much of the storyline and helped me piece together certain themes. Shelley uses the fallout from Frankenstein’s creation of the monster to question whether or not humanity should tamper with the natural processes of life and death. “Playing God” is a theme visited time and again in literature and film. It continues to fascinate us as developments in genetics like CRISPR and others in artificial intelligence have us imagining surreal (and sometimes frightening) futures where we, the human race, lose control over what we have set into motion.
“Frankenstein” may be over 200 years old, but it remains a powerful and timely myth regarding the acquisition of new and controversial scientific knowledge and technological practise. Dates referenced in the novel allow us to place the story in accord with the French Revolution (1789) and the Reign of Terror (1793). Shelley was writing in a world on the brink of incredible technological advancements and it reads as a warning to civilisation that though we may think these changes noble, if we are not careful, they may end up being our downfall.
Beyond this however, the most important aspect of this novel for me is the heart-wrenching exploration of loss; not just of loved ones, but of ourselves: the idea that the cost of engaging too deeply with our craft is assuredly a descent into madness wherein we lose all touch with the outside world and people we love. There is something at once beautiful and horrifying about it. Shelley’s writing speaks to the wonder and potential for insanity surrounding the discovery of new information and methods in the sciences, but I believe it can relate to any such hobby or interest we have taken it upon ourselves to explore deeply and seek to perfect.
All that which sparks wonder and curiosity within us can grow to entice us into the shadows. What begins as a flicker in our nimble and excitable minds; something promising and innocent even, can become an obsession. Before we realise, we are tumbling into hysteria, losing grip on reality, sacrificing our health and foregoing the aspects of life which we once enjoyed in favour of our new maniacal fixation.