Enlightenment and Political Fiction by Cecilia Miller

Author:Cecilia Miller [Miller, Cecilia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Europe, General, Modern, Social History
ISBN: 9781317357025
Google: n7HOCwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-03-22T16:13:44+00:00

7 Link to Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818)

Frankenstein, written when Mary Shelley was 19, is similar to Gulliver’s Travels in that it tends to be read in remarkably dissimilar ways. In recent decades, Frankenstein has been taken as a feminist text; historically it has served as the manifesto for Romanticism, and thus also as the strongest statement of the nineteenth century regarding the inherent dangers of science and urbanization.48 All these interpretations are drawn from the story of a high-strung young intellectual who decides to create life out of dead bodies and he succeeds. This book might be best viewed as an early example of magical realism as there is only one key, yet crucial element of fantasy in the story: the creation of Frankenstein’s monster from dead body parts stolen from graveyards and slaughterhouses. His creation, “his monster,” turns out to have many human qualities: violent tendencies, poor impulse control, high intellect, the desire to be loved, and the desire for an education. In many respects Frankenstein and his monster are remarkably similar. Likewise Frankenstein and Gulliver’s Travels are similar—and unusual—in taking on the theme of corrupt human nature so directly.

Frankenstein never learns about the workings of his own psyche, even after multiple deaths in his inner circle and despite his own ravings, for he is often overcome by grand emotions that he cannot harness to his own advantage. The order of the deaths in this story—Frankenstein’s mother, his younger brother, the family servant accused of murdering the brother, his best friend, his bride, and then his father, symbolize the stripping of the young man of his immediate circle, his future happiness, and his heritage. Given the book’s fame (and of course, the many film versions of it), perhaps its subtlety and well-developed characters come as a surprise. Young Dr. Frankenstein, for example, is presented as a poor father to the monster, but not because he was neglected as a child himself. Instead, Frankenstein is shown as having had an ideal childhood; thus, the responsibility for his actions is his own and cannot be passed back to his parents. At no stage during the years of planning does Frankenstein contemplate the consequences of the possible success of his project. Likewise, Frankenstein refuses to recognize the existence of his own emotions, believing that he is wholly driven by rationality. His life is dedicated to his work to such an extent that he ignores his family for years and he is unable, or just too busy, to make friends when he goes to university. At the same time, the theme of longing for genuine friendship is infused throughout this work, from the very opening to the close. This work attacks the glorified notion of genius that does not recognize any needs beyond that of the work, and that is based entirely on a sense of rights without any responsibility. After the multiple murders, Frankenstein becomes mad; he is as lost in his emotions as a leading character on stage in the last act of a tragic opera.

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