A study of the novel “Frankenstein” as the voice of its author, Mary Shelley.
This paper examines how Mary Shelly?s “Frankenstein” is one of the most highly debated works of the 19th century and how there is a plethora of themes and issues rooted in this masterfully woven tale of human creation, interaction, and dejection. It discusses whether it is centered on science, themes of motherhood and birth, feminist protest, or the basic need of every man to have a companion. It explores how “Frankenstein” presents a poignant picture of human weakness and codependency and how, through various characters, Shelly shows readers just how much humans need one another to maintain sanity and functionality. It also examines how the novel contains many gender specific properties, which form and shape the framework for its very important subtext.
“Possibly the most dominant theme of Frankenstein is that of human weakness and the codependency that is our nature. Victor creates his monster, in large part, because he is lonely. This observation does not suggest that his purpose lay in this loneliness, but only his subconscious motivation. Were he more social and had he been privileged to have a close friend or two, he might not have had the mad desire to pursue science to its limits. Perhaps, then, he would not have entangled himself in his own web of occupation with his project, even to the point of losing his sanity. There is almost a Biblical allusion to God’s creation of man when comparing these two accounts. It has been argued that God created man out of His need for interaction, and Victor, for lack of the same, pieces together his beast as a means of escape from the loneliness of his life. The base point is that he needed someone constant and on the outside of Victor’s own psyche who might have helped him see the error of his proposed creation.”