Frankenstein - Collins Classroom Classics

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Introduction Summer 1816. A group of unconventional writers and their companions sit in the drawing room of the Villa Diodati on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland.

The weather that year – caused by the eruption of an Indonesian volcano – is bizarre: volcanic ash shrouds the sun; the weather is cold, the rain relentless. Confined to the villa one evening by an almost apocalyptic lightning storm, the group find entertainment in a collection of chilling ghost stories. Soon, English poet Lord Byron challenges them to write their own ghostly tale.

Among the guests is 18-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, there with her married lover, the libertarian poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (the couple had eloped to Europe two years earlier and would marry later that year). Mary agrees to the contest. But nothing comes. She heads down to breakfast each morning, into the perpetual gloom, confessing to yet more writer’s block.

Then one night, after listening to a conversation between Byron and Shelley about the potential use of electricity to restore life, Mary retires to bed.

Eventually, she falls into troubled dreams of a ‘pale student’ experimenting on a ‘hideous phantasm’ who stirs to life (p.xxiv). And so, perhaps the most famous monster of them all was conceived.

Contexts The genesis of the novel In her preface to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein, Mary reflected, ‘How I, then a young girl, came to think of v

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… so very hideous an idea?’ (p.xix). Born in London in 1797, she was the daughter of two famous radicals: Mary Wollstonecraft, writer of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, one of the earliest feminist texts, and William Godwin, author of works on social justice. Mary Shelley seemed destined to become an author, admitting that Percy Shelley was ‘very anxious that I should prove myself worthy of my parentage, and enrol myself on the page of fame’ (p.xx). The pressure of following in such literary footsteps perhaps contributed to her struggle to give life to Frankenstein.

It is unsurprising that Byron and Percy Shelley’s discussion about bringing the dead back to life so interested the young Mary. In February 1815, Mary had given birth to a daughter who died after 12 days. Mary was distraught. Given her own mother’s death, shortly after Mary’s birth, it is little wonder that themes of death and creation weighed on her mind as she wrote Frankenstein, published in its first edition in 1818.

By the time of the 1831 edition, Mary had suffered further grief, losing two more children. After the demise of their beloved son William in 1819, Percy wrote ‘by the skill of the physician he was once reanimated after the process of death had actually commenced, and he lived four days after that time’.1 It is understandable that parents struck by recurring tragedy wanted to believe that death might not be final.

By July 1822, Percy was also gone, drowned during a reckless sailing trip. Critics have argued that the change in Mary Shelley’s personal circumstances between 1818 and 1831 shifted her view of the world. In the 1818 version of Frankenstein, Victor is a man of free will, pursuing his hubristic experiments through choice; in the 1831 edition, his future is determined by fate. As you vi

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INTRODUCTION

read the 1831 text, you might consider whether Shelley conveys, through her portrayal of Victor, a sense that our lives are decided not by the choices we make, but instead by external forces that we are unable to control.

The Gothic novel Gothic literature is gloomy and mysterious, featuring occult occurrences, extreme behaviour and images of horror and decay. Beginning with Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto in 1765, the Gothic genre was especially popular throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, and includes enduring classics such as The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1887) and Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897). Frankenstein’s terrifying vision of dead bodies brought to life has ensured Frankenstein’s monster entered the popular consciousness; there have been countless Hollywood movies, including cuddly cartoon depictions, far removed from Shelley’s macabre tale of the grim consequences of meddling with forces beyond our understanding. Shelley’s use of the supernatural is unconventional, however, with the monster lacking the standard form of a ghost or spirit. Instead, the reader’s psychological horror requires the belief that the creature is flesh and blood, albeit of a colossal and grotesque nature. With the exception of the creation scene, Shelley describes little of the monster’s appearance, allowing the readers themselves to imagine his ghastly form.

Science In an age of dramatic scientific discovery, scientists, with what Victor calls their ‘new and almost unlimited powers’ (p.43) were viewed with awe, but also suspicion, often at odds with the religious establishment. Like vii

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LETTER 1

To Mrs Saville, England.

St Petersburgh, Dec. 11th, 17–.

You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. I arrived here yesterday; and my first task is to assure my dear sister of my welfare, and increasing confidence in the success of my undertaking.

I am already far north of London; and as I walk in the streets of Petersburgh, I feel a cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks, which braces my nerves, and fills me with delight. Do you understand this feeling? This breeze, which has travelled from the regions towards which I am advancing, gives me a foretaste of those icy climes. Inspirited by this wind of promise, my day dreams become more fervent and vivid. I try in vain to be persuaded that the pole is the seat of frost and desolation; it ever presents itself to my imagination as the region of beauty and delight. There, Margaret, the sun is for ever visible, its broad disk just skirting the horizon, and diffusing a perpetual splendour.

There – for with your leave, my sister, I will put some trust in preceding navigators – there snow and frost are banished; and, sailing over a calm sea, we may be 1

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MARY SHELLEY

wafted to a land surpassing in wonders and in beauty every region hitherto discovered on the habitable globe.

Its productions and features may be without example, as the phenomena of the heavenly bodies undoubtedly are in those undiscovered solitudes. What may not be expected in a country of eternal light? I may there discover the wondrous power which attracts the needle; and may regulate a thousand celestial observations, that require only this voyage to render their seeming eccentricities consistent for ever. I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man. These are my enticements, and they are suďŹƒcient to conquer all fear of danger or death, and to induce me to commence this laborious voyage with the joy a child feels when he embarks in a little boat, with his holiday mates, on an expedition of discovery up his native river. But, supposing all these conjectures to be false, you cannot contest the inestimable benefit which I shall confer on all mankind to the last generation, by discovering a passage near the pole to those countries, to reach which at present so many months are requisite; or by ascertaining the secret of the magnet, which, if at all possible, can only be eected by an undertaking such as mine.

These reflections have dispelled the agitation with which I began my letter, and I feel my heart glow with an enthusiasm which elevates me to heaven; for nothing contributes so much to tranquillise the mind as a steady purpose – a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. This expedition has been the favourite dream of my early years. I have read with ardour the accounts of the various voyages which have been made in the prospect of 2

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FRANKENSTEIN

arriving at the North Pacific Ocean through the seas which surround the pole. You may remember that a history of all the voyages made for purposes of discovery composed the whole of our good uncle Thomas’s library. My education was neglected, yet I was passionately fond of reading. These volumes were my study day and night, and my familiarity with them increased that regret which I had felt, as a child, on learning that my father’s dying injunction had forbidden my uncle to allow me to embark in a seafaring life.

These visions faded when I perused, for the first time, those poets whose eusions, entranced my soul, and lifted it to heaven. I also became a poet, and for one year lived in a Paradise of my own creation; I imagined that I also might obtain a niche in the temple where the names of Homer and Shakespeare are consecrated.

You are well acquainted with my failure, and how heavily I bore the disappointment. But just at that time I inherited the fortune of my cousin, and my thoughts were turned into the channel of their earlier bent.

Six years have passed since I resolved on my present undertaking. I can, even now, remember the hour from which I dedicated myself to this great enterprise. I commenced by inuring my body to hardship. I accompanied the whale-fishers on several expeditions to the North Sea; I voluntarily endured cold, famine, thirst, and want of sleep; I often worked harder than the common sailors during the day, and devoted my nights to the study of mathematics, the theory of medicine, and those branches of physical science from which a naval adventure might derive the greatest practical advantage. Twice I actually hired myself as an under-mate in a Greenland whaler, and 3

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CHAPTER 1 I am by birth a Genevese, and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic. My ancestors had been for many years counsellors and syndics; and my father had filled several public situations with honour and reputation. He was respected by all who knew him, for his integrity and indefatigable attention to public business. He passed his younger days perpetually occupied by the aairs of his country; a variety of circumstances had prevented his marrying early, nor was it until the decline of life that he became a husband and the father of a family.

As the circumstances of his marriage illustrate his character, I cannot refrain from relating them. One of his most intimate friends was a merchant who, from a flourishing state, fell, through numerous mischances, into poverty. This man, whose name was Beaufort, was of a proud and unbending disposition and could not bear to live in poverty and oblivion in the same country where he had formerly been distinguished for his rank and magnificence. Having paid his debts, therefore, in the most honourable manner, he retreated with his daughter to the town of Lucerne, where he lived unknown and in wretchedness. My father loved Beaufort with the truest friendship, and was deeply grieved by his retreat in these unfortunate circumstances. He bitterly deplored the false pride which led his friend to a conduct so little worthy of the aection that united them. He lost no time in endeavouring to seek him out, with the hope of 23

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MARY SHELLEY

persuading him to begin the world again through his credit and assistance.

Beaufort had taken effectual measures to conceal himself; and it was ten months before my father discovered his abode. Overjoyed at this discovery, he hastened to the house, which was situated in a mean street near the Reuss. But when he entered, misery and despair alone welcomed him. Beaufort had saved but a very small sum of money from the wreck of his fortunes, but it was sufficient to provide him with sustenance for some months, and in the mean time he hoped to procure some respectable employment in a merchant’s house.

The interval was, consequently, spent in inaction; his grief only became more deep and rankling, when he had leisure for reflection; and at length it took so fast hold of his mind, that at the end of three months he lay on a bed of sickness, incapable of any exertion.

His daughter attended him with the greatest tenderness; but she saw with despair that their little fund was rapidly decreasing, and that there was no other prospect of support. But Caroline Beaufort possessed a mind of an uncommon mould, and her courage rose to support her in her adversity. She procured plain work; she plaited straw; and by various means contrived to earn a pittance scarcely sufficient to support life.

Several months passed in this manner. Her father grew worse; her time was more entirely occupied in attending him; her means of subsistence decreased; and in the tenth month her father died in her arms, leaving her an orphan and a beggar. This last blow overcame her, and she knelt by Beaufort’s coffin, weeping bitterly, when my father entered the chamber.

He came like a protecting spirit to the poor girl, who committed herself to his care; and after the interment 24

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Glossary Introduction xi

a modern Prometheus: in Greek mythology, Prometheus (whose name means ‘forethought’) is best-known as the Titan who defied the gods by stealing fire and giving it to humanity. According to the Greeks, this act began human civilisation and allowed us to make progress by having access to light and heat. Prometheus is often seen as a rebellious, intelligent figure who showed compassion for humankind.

The Greek myths also tell us that Prometheus was responsible for the creation of man from clay. His punishment for his disobedience – which is narrated in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem Prometheus Unbound (1820) – following a sentence by Zeus, king of all gods, was a life of suffering. He was chained to a rock, where each day an eagle (the symbol of Zeus) was sent to peck out his liver. As Prometheus was immortal, his liver would grow back and he would have to endure the same painful daily routine.

In recent times, Prometheus’s name has been used to represent the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence – especially scientific knowledge – could also result in tragedy.

Mary Shelley’s comparison of Prometheus and Victor works on several levels: first, the idea of the pioneering individual facing lasting torment for his decision to bypass the natural order; second, the use of light and heat (in the form of electricity) to bring about new life; finally, the ironic lack of forethought displayed by egocentric, all-too-human Victor, in comparison with the careful, deliberate actions of the immortal Prometheus.

Letter 1 1

St Petersburgh: Russia’s second largest city and capital of the Russian Empire from 1703–1917

2

navigators: Arctic explorers

2

discovering a passage near the pole: For centuries, 262

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GLOSSARY

explorers searched the Arctic for the North West Passage, a body of water that was thought to connect the North Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It was not discovered until the early 20th century.

3

Homer: ancient Greek poet born around the eighth century BC. He was most famous for the epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey.

4

an English stage-coach: horse-drawn carriage that travelled in stages of 10 to 15 miles (or 16 to 24 kilometres) at a time

4

Archangel: city and seaport in the north of European Russia

Letter 2 6

romantic: The word here refers to a person who believes in Romanticism – a philosophy preoccupied with individual freedom, the power of nature and an adventuring attitude – rather than romantic love.

8

mariner: sailor

9

as silent as a Turk: Turkey, in 1831, was part of the Ottoman Empire, a rival to the British Empire in India. As a result, Turks were seen as suspicious and uncivilised.

9

‘the land of mist and snow’: line from the poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, published in 1798. This epic poem had a deep influence on Shelley during the writing of the novel. The line refers to the Antarctic waters where the mariner’s ship finds itself during a voyage, after a particularly harsh storm. Walton’s allusion to the events of the poem appears jovial and self-deprecating, but highlights his attraction to nature’s dangerous extremes.

It also foreshadows his eventual meeting with Victor who, like the mariner, is a thoughtless and impetuous character, haunted by a self-destructive desire to see things through to the bitter end.

9

I shall kill no albatross: In Coleridge’s poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, the mariner shoots an albatross, to the fury of his crew, who believe he has brought a curse upon the ship. This is because sailors traditionally believed 263

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GLOSSARY

the souls of dead sailors to live on in albatross form. As punishment for his rash decision, the mutinous crew make the hated and isolated mariner wear the dead albatross around his neck. The story takes a supernatural twist, with a visitation from Death, leading to the mariner’s shipmates slowly dying and leaving him alone and helpless. Eventually, the mariner prays to God, at which point the albatross slips from his neck into the sea, and the dead sailors rise as ghosts to assist in the ship’s passage. The long-suffering and guiltstricken mariner is shipwrecked then rescued, finally finding redemption for his sins. Like Frankenstein, the poem has a frame story, with the mariner relating his tale to a wedding guest, who at the end, having listened to the cautionary tale, finds himself ‘a wiser and sadder man’ (The Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Wordsworth Editions, 1994, p.209).

Letter 3 11

latitude: lines of latitude are horizontal circles around the Earth’s surface that mark the degree above or below the Equator; high latitudes are found further North or South

Chapter 1 23

Genevese: person from Geneva, which was an independent republic at the time the novel was written but is now part of Switzerland

23

counsellors and syndics: politicians and government officials

23

Lucerne: city in central Switzerland

24

Reuss: river in Switzerland

27

Milanese: person from Milan, which is located in the Lombardy region. Lombardy was part of the Austrian Empire at the time the story is set, but now belongs to modern day Italy.

27

schiavi ognor frementi: slaves forever in a rage or trembling. The term describes a group of Milanese citizens who didn’t like being part of Austria and wanted their region to become an Italian state again.

28

Providence: protective care provided by a god 264

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