Frankenstein

The Movies Got it WRONG! Throw out EVERYTHING you think you know about Frankenstein. The monster is not green (that tends to disappoint my students the most for some reason). He’s not incoherent; in fact, he becomes very intelligent and can speak well. And, most important, his name is not Frankenstein. Frankenstein is the name of the doctor who creates him. So, basically, if you watch a Frankenstein movie instead of reading the book, you will fail.

It’s a Frame Tale A frame tale is a story within a story. Think of any movie you’ve seen where the movie starts at an exciting moment, flashes back to show you how the characters got to that moment, and then completes the story. Think of a picture frame. The “frame” goes around the larger story and holds it in place.

Literary Frame Story Frame narratives change the point-of-view for the reader, offering multiple perspectives to one text. They allow the reader to dig deeper into the meanings behind what the main characters are relating. In Mary Shelley's work, the frame-within-frame-within-frame form parallels the search in the story for something deep, dark, and secret at the heart of the narrative. The form thus also resembles the psychoanalytic process of peeling back layers of repressive narratives put in place by the conscious mind to reveal the unconscious.

Literary Frame Story A different individual narrates the events of a story in each frame This structure leads us to question the reasons behind each of the narrations since, unlike an omniscient narrative, the teller of the story becomes an actual character with concomitant shortcomings, limitations, prejudices, and motives.

The Frame in Frankenstein So here’s how it works in Frankenstein: This guy (Robert Walton) is sailing in the Arctic and writing letters to his sister back home about his journey. He finds Victor Frankenstein floating about on a piece of ice. Weird! Frankenstein decides to tell Walton his story. Walton writes it all down in the letters. So the “frame” is the letters written by Walton. Those are narrated by Walton. When Walton starts writing down what Frankenstein tells him, the “I” becomes Frankenstein. The meat of the story (the picture inside the frame) is Frankenstein’s story.

Here’s Where It Gets Fun Like Inception with its dreams within dreams, Frankenstein has a story within a story within a story. At one part of the story, Frankenstein meets up with the monster, and the monster tells Frankenstein his story. Then, the “I” becomes the monster, and Walton is writing down what Frankenstein is telling him that the monster said.

OMG In case that’s not baffling enough, at one point in his story the monster will tell us some background information on someone he’s watching…which kind of makes it a story within a story within a story within a story. WHOA!

Don’t Be Scared Write this down. It will help later. The letters at the beginning and end of the book (the frame) are written by Robert Walton, who is listening to Frankenstein speak. Chapters 1 – 10 and 17 – 24 are from Frankenstein’s point of view as he tells his story to Walton who writes it down. Chapters 11 – 16 are from the monster’s point of view as he tells his story to Frankenstein who tells it to Walton who writes it down.

A Picture Robert Walton Frankenstein Monster

The Theme Science vs. Nature Victor Frankenstein is a scientist obsessed with discovering the secret to creating life, who sees himself like God and his creation like the Adam who will worship and adore him. In the end, Frankenstein’s hubris, or excessive pride, leads to the creation of a killer monster who will ruin his life.

Enlightenment The author, Mary Shelley, wrote this novel just after the Enlightenment. The period of Enlightenment emphasized the importance of reason and the pursuit of knowledge, giving rise to the scientific method. Frankenstein is a critique of Enlightenment and the pursuit of knowledge at any cost.

Romanticism Frankenstein is a Romantic novel. Nope, not the roses and chocolates and moonlit beach type of romantic. Romanticism was a reaction against Enlightenment. It emphasized emotions over reason, and it stressed the importance of respecting nature. Shelley’s character, Victor Frankenstein, demonstrates the destruction nature of science when it tries to undermine nature.

Gothic Literature Frankenstein is also an example of Gothic Literature. Gothic Literature includes mystery, horror, and elements of the supernatural. Gothic works often have a brooding tone and atmosphere.

Science Fiction This novel is also considered one of the first examples of science fiction, and it inspired many other authors to write in his genre.

Relevance? Uh, yeah! Think of all the scientific advances going on today: genetic engineering, genetically altered food (which is called Frankenfood, by the way), etc. There is ongoing debate about whether science is progressing too far, about whether we’re undermining nature too much, and about whether we tamper with things that we ought to leave to nature’s design. Hmmm, sounds like a great paper topic. Hint, nudge, shove, wink, poke, kick….