In Frankenstein, the consequences of attempting to master life and death are made apparent when, Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist, idiotically creates a "monster" that counteracts man's new control over life and death.
Shelley intended to accentuate the importance of God being the only one who should be able to create life as she shows Frankenstein “playing God” and also “playing a Mother”, as the chapter in which the creature is born is told almost like a woman is giving birth. It soon becomes evident however, that he should attempt neither.
Chapter five – the Creature’s birth - is a big chapter in this novel, not so much in length but the impact it has on the rest of the novel. It is the pivotal point; if Frankenstein hadn’t brought the monster to life then he would have led a happy, normal life with all of his family alive and well. Nevertheless, Frankenstein does bring life to the dead limbs that lay before him and the monster is born.
Shelley skilfully builds up the atmosphere at the beginning of the chapter by using a range of different techniques.
In the first line of the chapter the word “dreary” paints the picture of a boring, dull, wet night which combined with “rain pattered dismally against the panes” immediately sets the alarm bells ringing as it is not expected from a typical Gothic Horror novel.
For such an explosive event as the birth of the creature, it would have been anticipated for the weather to be stormy and electrifying - exciting even. Yet, Mary Shelley chooses to use pathetic fallacy to reflect the mood of Dr. Frankenstein and to also warn you to expect the unexpected.
Also Shelley uses words like “anxiety” and “agony” when describing Frankenstein. These two words alone show that all is not well and that something terrible is going to happen as Victor no longer feels happy about his creation. He feels exhausted by his “toils”, fed up and is itching to finish his work and bring the creature to life.
Shelley also helps to build up tension and atmosphere by isolating Frankenstein.
“It was already one in the morning”
It is typical of a Gothic Horror novel to have a character isolated and completely alone with no means of help if necessary. Here Shelley warns us that something is about to happen because of Victor’s solitary status and the reality that most other people aren’t around or awake at one in the morning.
Also in this crucial chapter Shelley shows us Frankenstein spiral out of control when he starts to forget his initial, selfless goal – to preserve life. It seems that he gets so wrapped up in the outcome of his experiment that he begins to stop respecting his creature by calling it “lifeless thing” and “wretch”.
Here Victor contradicts himself. At first he was creating this creature to try and preserve life so that no one should ever have to suffer death and its effects again but he is more concerned about the end result rather than the consequences.
Again, Frankenstein’s use of the word “wretch” is a contradiction to human life and to his own beliefs. He is out to preserve life and values it so preciously, yet he calls his amazing creature a thing.
Frankenstein is thoroughly excited about his creation and is extremely happy when it lives. This happiness and excitement, however, is short lived, as almost instantly after it wakes, Frankenstein realizes that the monster he has created is in fact just that: a monster. He rejects the creature.
“How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?”
This quotation shows that not only does Victor immediately regret bringing the creature to life but he is also disgusted and frightened by it.
This crucial chapter depicts Frankenstein in a more detailed way; we see the other side of the enthusiastic scientist who is in love with Elizabeth, his wife to be, and his outer layers peel away to reveal a man who is unable to see past appearances.
It is clear in the way that he describes the creature as a “catastrophe” that although he had “selected his features as beautiful” Victor feels repulsed by it. He goes on to describe the “horrid contrast” between each of the perfect components that he had picked out from dead bodies and furthermore, accentuates the creature’s ugliness.
“I collected bones from charnel houses; and disturbed, with profane fingers, the tremendous secrets of the human frame.”
Even though Frankenstein had selected, in his opinion, the very best, beautiful parts of each corpse it still made the creature look unnatural and ugly. The monster’s “yellow eye” and “straight black lips” suggests the idea of a terminally ill or dead person whereas, its “lustrous black” hair and “pearly” white teeth suggests a healthy, live person. So when these two striking differences are mixed they form and altogether different, unnatural being.
Victor collects his components for his creature through body snatching from many different bodies. In the period in which Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein body snatching was a very frequent and common thing. Before the Anatomy Act in 1932 the only legal supply of corpses for anatomical purposes were those condemned to death and dissection by the courts. This did not provide enough subjects for the Medical schools and private anatomical schools.
Consequently, medical researchers turned to body snatching to supply the shortfall. Stealing corpse did not bestow upon you a harsh punishment as it was seen more as a misdemeanour than a felony. People who reduced themselves to body snatching were only punishable by fine or imprisonment, not execution or transportation. Also the authorities turned a blind eye to what they considered a necessary evil; this particularly made the trade too much of an adequately fruitful business to reject even with the slight risk of discovery.
Rejecting the monster may have been the worst thing that Frankenstein could have done. If he had have took the time to help his creature learn and taught it about life then maybe the outcome would have been the one he was hoping for rather than the tragic one he got.
Frankenstein has no sense of responsibility when it comes to his creation because he isn’t able to see past its gruesome looks. In fact, he decides, after the creature comes to life, to go to bed.
“Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room. . . . I threw myself on the bed in my clothes. . . . I slept. . . .”
This shows that Victor Frankenstein is a coward; he refuses to deal with the issue and does the typical male thing and sleeps! If Frankenstein hadn’t been so arrogant in thinking that he was capable of doing what a woman does so well – bring life into the world – then none of it would have happened and he wouldn’t have had to suffer the fatal consequences.
In a lot of ways, Shelly portrays the creature in the same way as a new born baby. He has “water eyes” and on seeing Victor he “muttered some inarticulate sounds”.
“a grin wrinkled his cheeks. . . . one hand was stretched out”
These characteristics are typical of a new born and if Frankenstein were to have looked deeper, past the appearance, then maybe he would have recognized the signs and learned to love his creation.
Back in the 19th century people were very much the same as now: opinionated, judging and appearance-based. Then people committed of crimes were judged on their reputation, wealth but most importantly their appearance.
In an appearance based society, much like today, when a person was rejected they became an outcast, just like the creature. Frankenstein refused to be a part of his life and so he was left to fend for himself without any knowledge of human life or even a name. All he wishes for is normalcy and love but none are granted.
“the feelings of happiness and affection with which my whole being overflowed, that I wished to be participated”
Here we are shown the human side to the “wretch” which Frankenstein so unwittingly created. He is portrayed in more detail, as a normal being with the same thoughts, feelings and needs as every human on the planet. Yet he is stripped of his rights and condemned by everyone, most of all his ‘father’, Victor, to the life of a social outcast.
Again, speaking of chapter five, this crucial chapter helps us to understand 19th century life in a more profound way. We learn that it was not all that different from today in regards to the appearance based society and the underlying need to mess with science and nature. It seems that since the beginning of human life we have always nosed around and meddled with thing which are way out of our power; it is in our nature to search for knowledge which we do not posses.
However, 19th century life also bares enormous differences to today. For example people who were known as ‘Body Snatchers’ were able to get off lightly, with a mere punishment of imprisonment or fine. Nowadays it is unthinkable for a person to even attempt it.
Altogether Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is an educating novel which teaches us simple life rules such as not to play around with life and science, to value those things, to take responsibility for our actions and never to judge anything based on its appearance.
