Few works examine the mortality and natural limitations of humanity more than Mary Shelley’s Romantic novel, Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus. In her preface, Shelley states, “I busied myself to think of a story—a story to rival those which had excited us to this task. One which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature and awaken thrilling horror” (Shelley ix) and she managed to do so quite well. In this wonderfully macabre tale, the scientist, Victor Frankenstein, learns “the cause of generation and life” (Shelley 51), wherein he is capable of “bestowing animation upon lifeless matter” (Shelley 51). Much like the Greek god Prometheus who was the god of forethought and shrewd counsel assigned with the duty of molding humanity out of clay, Victor Frankenstein sets out to create his own “Adam” without much thought into the repercussions of creating someone in his (Victor’s) own mortal, ungodly image.
Before he creates this creature that he will come to despise and lament, Victor finds himself faced with several pivotal choices regarding his newfound powers of creation, found in chapter four of Shelly’s novel. In this passage, the reader can see how Shelly used setting, tone, language, descriptions, organization, and certain main themes to show the vanity of one man and the foolishness of his arrogance to think that he could succeed in creating humanity like God of the Old Testament. Victor’s statement before this passage is quite telling:
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 (Shelley 52).
This provocative statement is his final admonition after much pain and suffering caused from his choices in this matter seen in this early passage in the novel.
Interestingly, the question that Victor initially ponders is not whether he should attempt to bestow life to a creation, but rather into what form he should create this life. Victor comments, “When I found so astonishing a power placed within my hands, I hesitated a long time concerning the manner in which I should employ it” (Shelley 52). Surrounded by scientific tools, instruments, and machinery, Victor has no doubt that he will succeed despite the experiment being a “work of inconceivable labour” (Shelley 52).
Victor has surrounded himself with the trappings of the scientific method, which was promised by those in the Age of Reason to be the cure of all the ills of humanity. This prideful tone in human achievement is evident when Victor states, “I doubted not that I should ultimately succeed” (Shelley 52). Victor, as with many of his era, was caught up in the glory of humanity and science, and the ending of human misery.
The language employed by Victor also demonstrates the naiveté of a man in love with human scientific achievement. He is one who sees this moment only through rose-colored glasses and thus, he speaks in positive, affirming ways of what he is about to undertake. Victor uses phrases and statements like “so astonishing a power” and “my imagination was too much exalted by my first success to permit me to doubt of my ability to give life to an animal as complex and wonderful as man” (Shelley 52) in his inner dialogue; however, it all builds up his view of this scientific adventure. He writes, “Although I possessed the capacity of bestowing animation, yet to prepare a frame for the reception of it, with all its intricacies of fibres, muscles, and veins, still remained a work of inconceivable difficulty and labour” (Shelley 52). In this passage, Victor shows himself to be an idealistic, optimistic, natural philosopher.
Even the organization of this passage works into Victor’s scientific zeal and affirmation of his dream of human regeneration and creation because it reads like the blueprint for Scientific Methodology. As Victor discusses what he will do, he talks about the Question (Can I re-animate human tissue?), the Hypothesis (Yes, I can using the modern scientific ideas and machinery I have developed), the Prediction (I am going to piece together a giant man and bring him to life), the Test (Even if I have some failures, I am going to continue until I succeed), and the Result (And Victor saw his creation and thought it would be good). This is most evident when Victor says,
I prepared myself for a multitude of reverses; my operations might be incessantly baffled, and at last my work be imperfect; yet, when I considered the improvement which every day takes place in science and mechanics, I was encouraged to hope my present attempts would at least lay the foundations of future success (Shelley 52).
Most importantly, in this passage, Shelley demonstrates several important themes presented in this novel, that of individualism, enlightened rationality, the pursuit of knowledge, ethics, and human arrogance. Concerning the self-centeredness of Victor, in this passage alone, he use “I” fifteen times and “me, my, myself” an additional fifteen times, too. Clearly, he, like God before the world, is at the center of his universe, unfortunately without the same eternal perspective. Considering what he has accomplished, he should be humbled; instead, he becomes full of himself. With his own words, Victor boasts of his new, unique scientific knowledge and the mysterious wonders that it has conquered and will in the future; unfortunately, he talks little of the dangers of what could happen because of that knowledge—who could be killed, what can be destroyed, or how nature can be perverted into a monstrosity.
Ultimately, the inclusion of this passage in Shelley’s novel is ironic considering the final outcome in the final chapter. The initial goal of Victor for his creation was life from lifelessness, but in the end, both the creator and the creation sadly lose their lives. Finding his creator dead, the weeping Monster states,
I shall collect my funeral pile and consume to ashes this miserable frame, that its remains may afford no light to any curious and unhallowed wretch who would create such another as I have been. I shall die. I shall no longer feel the agonies which now consume me, or be the prey of feelings unsatisfied, yet unquenched. He is dead who called me into being; and when I shall be no more the very remembrance of us both will speedily vanish. I shall no longer see the sun or stars, or feel the winds play on my cheeks. Light, feeling, and sense will pass away; and in this condition must I find my happiness (Shelley 211).
In the passage from chapter four, Victor (almost prophetically) says, “Nor could I consider the magnitude and complexity of my plan as any argument of its impracticability. It was with these feelings that I began the creation of a human being” (Shelley 52) and starts his journey toward annihilation. Through the setting, tone, language, descriptions, organization, and main themes in this passage, the reader comes to better understand the dangerous trap that Victor Frankenstein has set for himself (and others) when he vainly made his choices of what to do with his newfound scientific skills.
Works Cited
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus. New York: Penguin Books, 1983. Print.