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Is Victor really playing God in this gothic novel? The author was wrote this novel the summer of 1816.
Like most of the writers in her literary circle, from Lord Byron to Doctor Polidori, Mary Shelley--self-educated and one of the best-read women of her time--was intrigued by old tales and ancient myths concerning lost and outcast wanderers. Jesus' parable of the prodigal son fits perfectly into the Romantic notion of the isolated soul, the tortured, wandering loner who is, by fate or circumstance, cast adrift on a sea of loneliness and despair. In chapter 11 of Frankenstein--the first chapter narrated exclusively by the monster--there is a very subtle yet unmistakable allusion to Christ's parable (Thompson 192).
The novel’s title, “Frankenstein”, or “The Modern Prometheus”, is self-explanatory once you read the book and it allows you to understand why this was chosen by Mary Shelley. Seeing as how this setting is a very gloomy one, it leads one to think about probable evil that will occur. The reader also notices the death of a close relative in the beginning of this novel.
Frankenstein is a product of a period in which the secularization of society placed human beings at the center of the universe. The freedom to pursue independent thought and action however also shifted the responsibility for life's outcomes away from God and Satan. And onto the shoulders of human beings. Victor's "monster" is thus not a form of heavenly retribution for daring to "play God." as many have suggested. The text indicates that whether there is a God or not, Victor is responsible for his own behavior, and ultimately for the deaths of those he loves. His struggle is not with his Creator, but with his own ego. Out of this first assumption comes the primary theme of the novel: With knowledge comes personal responsibility; the denial of responsibility leads to tragic outcomes(Nocks 138).
This particular event shows how unpleasant the story has become already and it’s only a matter of time before the major conflict arrives. Victor shows characteristics of arrogance, guilt, intelligence, and most importantly curiosity. After the incident where the violent storm took place, Victor began showing interests in working in his lab. He became a dedicated student of chemistry and anatomy at Ingolstad. After studying these courses, Victor began his attempt in creating a human being. In this act, Victor is indeed trying to play the role of a higher divine being.
Victor Frankenstein left his family and went away to study. He became obsessed with studying the source of life, and wondered if he could steal "the secrets of nature" to make a live creature. He hoped to help mankind by defeating death, but also believed he would be famous for his discovery and worshipped by his creatures (Hermansson).
Mary Shelley’s gothic writings reveal the peculiar traits in the novel. These traits include the description of the monster’s bizarre and unattractive features, the bone-chilling environment of Victor’s lab, and the feeling that he’s being followed because of his possible psychic connection with the monster. In this chapter, Shelley brought out the fear and grotesque tone, but it is just the beginning compared to the remainder of her petrifying tale.
What Isaac Asimov termed ‘the Frankenstein complex’ the over-reacher's conviction that his creation will turn on him and exact retribution for his contravention of natural law-is always fashionable, in the sense that it can be fashioned and refashioned to suit changing cultural anxieties. Whether or not Frankenstein was written as a cautionary tale, this is undoubtedly the status it has acquired in popular culture, scientific debate and feminist critique (Goodall 26).
When the reader fully understands the subtitle, “The Modern Prometheus”, one will come to the realization that the story is closely related to the meaning. In Mary Shelley’s time ,Greek mythology was popular. In Greek mythology, “Prometheus” was a Greek figure, a Titan in particular, that stole fire from the Gods to give to warm humanity. He was punished for his arrogance much like Victor Frankenstein in a sense. The version of this myth that most identifies with Victor is called “Metamorphoses.” It’s about how Prometheus created a human being from clay in the image of the gods. This connection between Prometheus and Victor Frankenstein is obvious. It indicates how they both created a life.
Although the reference to "man"'s creation from "clay" clearly intersects with the Promethean story, the Christian mythos of Adam's personal relationship with his Creator separates this creation story from the pagan one. As the reader comes to discover, Milton's text plays an important role in educating the Creature to the point at which he can question Victor Frankenstein in much the same fashion--but this parody of Adam receives no consolation from his maker (Duyfhuizen).
In Victor’s lab, he constructs a replica of an 8 foot tall man from parts he collected from dead flesh. This creature that had been created had superhuman qualities like endurance and strength. Similar to the biblical story of Adam and Eve, as God approached making Adam from the rib of Eve, Victor Frankenstein created a living being by corpse remains. He soon finds out that by mocking God, his method turned out to be a regretful nightmare. Victor was completely dedicated on creating this monster that he refused to stop until it was complete.
The characteristics of Victor Frankenstein before the experiment were arrogant, curious, intelligent, and shameful. Needless to say, the curiousness that he showed while he was creating a living being got the best of him. Victor didn’t eat, sleep, and had most certainly had poor hygiene. He shut himself out from the outside world to accomplish this task. Some would say these were the actions of a “mad scientists.” Most would agree because of the certain qualities that scientists portray like dedication. Even though they may have good intentions, like Victor Frankenstein, they can have dangerous or disputable acts. "Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow” (38). By this quote Victor means that the power of knowledge is great, but also dangerous. As the main character continues to mock God, he soon regrets it. Even a God who some may think created mankind can build a living being with the right intentions, but they rarely remain innocent. Victor Frankenstein had the unfortunate pleasure of witnessing his creation turn into a harmful creature. The main character saw his home-made living being standing over his very own bed at one point and the disgust that Victor felt left him in poor condition. This left his old friend Henry to pick up the pieces after spotting him in the streets.
By trying to play the role of God, Victor realized that his creation had made him physically ill and thinks the monster’s grotesque beauty was a mistake. His creation, much like the Christian God, had disappointed him and had done more harm than good. Look around you, sound familiar? Frankenstein’s fascination with anatomy and chemistry had led him down the wrong road.
The world was to him a secret which he desired to divine. Curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they were unfolded to him, are among the earliest sensations he can remember . . . It was the secrets of heaven and earth that he desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied him, still his inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in it highest sense, the physical secrets of the world (22, 23).
Victor experiences a feeling of grief along with guilt. In the popular bible story of Adam and Eve, one has probably read about Eve taking the bite of the forbidden fruit. God watched as his creations had made the wrong decisions and became damned. Same as Victor Frankenstein, God watched as he couldn’t control or do anything about the fact that Adam and Eve were done for as they disobeyed him. Both God and Victor felt helpless, yet remorseful in a sense. This is one of their similarities from what we’ve read. Like God, Victor had made a monster that began its life playful and care free; the qualities you would see in children. As the monsters life progressed, he saw how the shallow society looks upon ugliness and hideousness. Automatically, society is intimidated by Frankenstein’s creation. Little do they know, he is just as intimidated by them. The more encounters of people he experiences, the more bitter and aggressive he becomes. This ferocious beast is so disappointed by his own physical appearance that he blames his creator, Victor Frankenstein. He begins killing off Victor’s close friends and family. Being as superficial as Frankenstein is, he can’t even accept his own creation because of the disgust he feels through looking at him. As the monster was rejected from society, Adam and Eve were rejected from the Garden of Eden.
The creature is bitter and dejected after being turned away from human civilization, much the same way that Adam in "Paradise Lost" was turned out of the Garden of Eden. One difference, though, makes the monster a sympathetic character, especially to contemporary readers. In the biblical story, Adam causes his own fate by sinning. His creator, Victor, however, causes the creature’s hideous existence, and it is this grotesqueness that leads to the creature’s being spurned. Only after he is repeatedly rejected does the creature become violent and decide to seek revenge (Mellor 106).
In the Old Testament of the Bible, Cain and Abel’s story is quite similar though it’s indirect similarities. The hideous creation is like Cain through his rejection from humanity, but he is also like Abel, a victim of someone who has been separated from God and in Victor’s case, a dangerous desire of knowledge. The monster feels a great desire to be accepted.
Shelley's monster is not evil by inherent constitution. He is born unformed--carrying the predispositions of human nature, but without the specific manifestations that can only be set by upbringing and education. He is the Enlightenment's man of hope, whom learning and compassion might mold to goodness and wisdom. But he is also a victim of post-Enlightenment pessimism as the cruel rejection of his natural fellows drives him to fury and revenge (Gould 14).
He thinks he deserves to be accepted although his looks aren’t appealing to humanity in the least. Victor’s creation thinks he can live in this world without being dangerous as long as he got the same respect. Needless to say, this wasn’t the case. As he repeatedly tried to gain moral virtues, society only saw the superficial side of the monster. His outer appearance affected him in more ways than anyone could imagine. His attempt in educating himself made no difference what so ever because humanity will always judge one from the outer appearance. Without one piece of spiritual or religious influence, this creature was learning purely by the cottagers.
The lack of human interaction is really what drove Shelley’s monster to his absolute limit. Frankenstein’s diary played a part in this as well. Once he got to know Victor, his creator, the hostility had already set in. “I learned from your papers that you were my father, my creator, and to whom could I apply with more fitness than to him who had given me life?” (165) Obsessed or extremely fascinated might even be a better term to use as he read the diary over time. In the last chapter, the creature began to detest Victor, his creator, more and more until finally he snapped. There was nothing but revenge and dark thoughts in his mind and he became more disgusted day after day. He thought that aggression or violence was the only way to get his creator’s attention. Once Victor Frankenstein is dead, the creature thinks this is the one only way to start over. After the vengeful feeling is gone, he is free to begin a new life and recreate himself without the constant disappointment that someone is out there who made him hideous is alive. With the attitude that he’s better off to not exist then to exist ugly shows the reader the shallow way of humanity. The sheltered life can trigger this also by the lack of experience in human interaction.
Victor made a terrible mistake by trying to play the role of God. It is clear that knowledge and fascination can be the death of the curious one. It is also clear that revenge can make one think unclearly. Though most might think that Victor’s imperfect creation was the real monster, Frankenstein is not innocent. His intentions of this creation started out as simply an experiment until he got too carried away as would any “mad scientist”. If anyone would notice that his hygiene, poor diet, and rest hadn’t been taken care of properly, they would see that it is indeed the sign of something a little more serious than the dedication to an experiment- an idea. His role in playing God wasn’t exactly as divine as the actual deity. In fact, Frankenstein was a simply careless man who wasn’t under any circumstances concerned about his consequences in this creature. To be accepted in society you have to look a certain way, think a certain way, dress a certain way, and act a certain way. As shallow and superficial as this may sound, it’s true. The modern way humanity thinks, Frankenstein wasn’t considering. If Victor truly wanted to make things easier, there were factors to be examined closely. He knew he had created a monster, and even he didn’t give him a chance to prove that the outer appearance didn’t reflect his inner behavior, along with the rest of society. Shelley expresses the inevitable shallow characteristics of the modern God through Victor Frankenstein.
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