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Aruna Kaliraj (202323004)

Professor Inhye Ha

Studies in the 18th Century English Novel

9 March, 2023 (Reading Response 1)

Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus (Volume 1)

Serving as a perfect example for an epistolary novel, Frankenstein begins with a series of letters

written by Robert Walton to his sister Margaret Saville. These letters serve as the framing

narrative, thus providing a setting for the embedded narrative of the fiction. The loneliness of

Walton and his quest for a friend, for example, forecasts the Monster’s plight in the novel.

Besides, this framing narrative can be seen as the present of the novel, in which Victor

Frankenstein recounts his past as a flashback and the future is yet to reveal. The icy background

of the narrative also unintendedly reveals the gothic nature of the novel in advance. Mary

Shelley’s love towards literature is evident through her reference of “Paradise Lost” in the

epigraph and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” in a few places and so on.

As the daughter of the first real feminist, Shelley adopts some of her mother’s feministic

thoughts for her novel. Women in Frankenstein are only passive characters who support men

emotionally – typical of the women of the century. Both Caroline and Elizabeth are sketched

as poor beings for whom Victor’s father is the ‘protecting spirit’ (64). Justine Mortiz, the

innocent servant of the house who plays the role of a mother in Frankenstein’s household, is

accused of William’s death (originally caused by the Monster). Victor, even after knowing the

truth takes no effort in saving her just for his cause, “I had no fear, therefore, that any

circumstantial evidence could be brought forward strong enough to convict her … expecting

the trial with eagerness, but without prognosticating an evil result” (106). When Victor

describes the nature of Elizabeth, his “playfellow” (65) as a beautiful yet humble person,
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Shelley highlights the characteristics of a woman, as expected by the 18th century society.

Elizabeth being “airy; and, though capable of enduring great fatigue” (65) can be equated to

Mary Shelley herself, who had undergone severe adversities in her life. The concept of

educational discrimination is recorded; as Victor “delighted in investigating the facts relative

to the actual world; she [Elizabeth] busied herself in following the aerial creations of the poets”

(66). On the contrary, Mary Shelley is credited as the first writer of science fiction.

Shelley connects so much of her life instances to that of Victor’s. Her father’s role in educating

and inspiring her can be seen through Victor’s relationship with his father. His interest in

reading the famous alchemists, Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus gives a

hint of the creation of the Monster. As an ideal father Alphonse anticipates the evil his son is

about to bring to the world and thus warns him, “Ah! Cornelius Agrippa! My dear Victor, do

not waste your time upon this; is sad trash” (68). Shelley mourns for the death of her own

mother through Victor’s words, “It is so long before the mind can persuade itself that she …

departed for ever” (72).

Eventually Victor masters in studying the human body as he wished and becomes at once proud

of himself as the one who is “reserved to discover so astonishing secret” (80), which

subsequently brought his downfall. The scene in which the Monster comes to life and Victor

flees away frightened by its appearance is the recreation of Shelley’s nightmare on 16 June,

1816. This nightmare which refused to leave her mind is the vision with which the whole fiction

is built, can be associated with the psychoanalyst C. J. Jung’s definition the Visionary Fiction

as he had mentioned in his “Psychology and Literature” of The Creative Process: A Symposium

“The experience that furnishes the material for artistic expression is no longer familiar. It is a

strange something that derives its existence from the hinterlands of man’s mind.” The setting

of this very scene is enough to view this novel as a gothic one. Phrases such as ‘dreary night’,

‘rain pattered dismally against the panes’, ‘teeth chattered’, ‘dim and yellow light of the moon’,
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‘miserable monster’, ‘a grin wrinkled his cheeks’ infuse the readers’ minds with terror and

horror.

Shelley’s way of writing shows that she was much accustomed to the skill of story narration.

The diction she has made use of is smooth as well as exceptional. Thus, the first volume of the

fiction discusses all the possible themes of the fiction – gothic, scientific, alienation, loss of

innocence, man versus nature, revenge, life and death, family, ambition and so on.

Cited works:

Jung, Carl Gustav. “Psychology and Literature.” The Creative Process. A Symposium. Ed.

Brewster Ghilsen. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1985. 217-232. Print.

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus: The 1818 Version.

Ed. Macdonald D.L. & Kathleen Scherf. Canada. Broadview Literary Texts, 1999. Print.