In the 1800s very wealthy and more educated people would see an experiment as a social event and would find it very interesting and entertaining. The picture by Joseph Wright shows a group of wealthy people dressed up in their finest clothes to watch an experiment. It was an experiment on a bird in an air pump. Mary Shelley would have done this and found it very enjoyable and entertaining. It shows a scientific experiment harnessing the forces of nature for man to use. The picture of Blake’s Newton portrays a challenge of creationism showing how the precision of science can be used to create the world over nature. It makes out that Newton is more important that a regular human being. That he is God and is using mathematical and scientific skills and equipment to map out the world and create it. This would then link in with the idea of creationism and that life and earth was actually created by God in 6 days. This picture shoes man interfering with the design of the world. People would argue that God controls everything in nature and it is not up to man to interfere. The fact that scientists would use electricity to make something inanimate, animate, is something that people would argue as wrong and impossible, just like Mary Shelley did when she wrote Frankenstein. Also, back then, experiments on bodies and body parts were illegal and anyone who found out about it would be shocked because it wasn’t something you did.
Mary Shelley makes the act of creating the monster unnatural. The setting seems dark and sinister. “Dreary”, “dismal”, ”dull”, “half-extinguished”. These all make the atmosphere of the room seem almost unbearable to live or work in. “Half-extinguished light” shows us that not only is the light nearly fading out but Frankenstein has lost his energy and has worked hard for a long time. He has half the energy and strength than before.
“The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature.” This shows us that Victor Frankenstein is breaking the laws of nature. That the monster he is creating is unreal and hideous. Mary Shelley uses pathetic fallacy to show you that Frankenstein’s state of mind is very tired, weary and anxious as to what he has built, his creation appears to have emotions and feelings of its own. “I had deprived myself of rest and health”, “but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished”. Frankenstein had lived and breathed the making of his monster with no rest and yet when it was complete he was horrified and disgusted with himself for what he had done.
The story is set in a traditional gothic setting. It is very spooky, dark and secret. It helps hide all of the secrecy of the monster and the fact that Frankenstein is breaking the law. For example, when he says, “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into and inanimate body” he is telling us that he has been working on an experiment to create a life from human limbs using electricity which, is illegal. The weather shows personification as it is described in a very explicit way to create the feeling that Frankenstein’s feelings are similar to the stormy weather: angry, tired and weary. It is a very stereotypical scene with the rain patting against the window and the dark dreary night. “It was already one in the morning”. The setting relates to Frankenstein’s state of mind. He is scared, confused, lost. He is trapping himself inside the room blocking out the outside world. The stormy scene creates and angry atmosphere. This influences Frankenstein’s state of mind and emphasises his feelings.
We immediately get the impression that the monster is an unnatural creation. “Yellow skin”, “hair was of a lustrous black”, “straight black lips”. These all show us that he has unnatural features. They make him stand out from the crowd and you instantly see a monster. Not a human. A monster that is evil. There is a contrast here between beauty and horror. Mary Shelley describes his teeth of “pearly whiteness” and his hair of “lustrous black and flowing”. This makes him seem beautiful. She then goes on to explain his more horrid features with his “watery eyes” set in “dun-white sockets” and his “shrivelled complexion”. This makes him seem like a monster.
The monster is partly born evil because his creator abandons him and leaves him to figure life out by himself. The first thing the monster learns when he escapes the flat is evil and therefore he sees it as a way of life. Frankenstein leaves the flat in a hurry to escape his creation. He abandons the monster. This upsets the monster and thus shows us that even the monster can have a soul and feelings. Upset by this he decides to leave the flat and that is when he discovers all about real life, it is not his fault that he is evil. Frankenstein’s state of mind influences this because he is very stressed, as he has had no sleep and therefore gets angry, scared and emotional quite quickly and easily. If this is what the monster first sees then clearly he will act in the same way.
Mary Shelley makes a lot of literary references in chapter 5. She bases the whole novel on Prometheus. It is known as a “modern Prometheus”. It was a huge part of Mary Shelley’s inspiration. This myth underpins the whole novel. In the myth, Prometheus steals fire and is therefore punished for all eternity. This also goes for Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. The fact that if you go against something so strongly believed in then there will be an eternal punishment. That fact the if you do something against the law – in this case, the law of nature – there will always be consequences.
Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is in the text because it illustrates exactly what Mary Shelley is talking about in the paragraph. It emphasises the fact that Frankenstein has gone against the laws of nature. “Frightful Fiend” not only shows us that Frankenstein has built an ugly monster but it is the concept that is frightening not the monster. That fact that once one person does something – no matter how evil – there will always be consequences and no turning back. Once one person has done something, the door is always open to other people doing the same. In this case, as soon as Frankenstein had created the monster there were more opportunities for, not only making humans out of body parts but for science and experiments and discoveries.
She also refers to Dante. “It became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived”. Dante was famous for his depictions of hell. What she is saying is here is that the monster that Victor had created looked pure evil and it was something that no other man on this earth could have created.
This chapter prepares us for what happens later because abandoning the monster has led it to be evil. Frankenstein is constantly avoiding it trying not to think about it or find it. This makes the monster angry and upset. It will want revenge and because it is evil we expect to see bad things happen such as deaths. The result of Frankenstein’s irresponsible running away is that he has left the monster to work out what life is all about by himself. He was not born evil, he just realised that the first thing he saw in the world was fighting and killing and shouting.
Frankenstein dreamt that his monster would be a success. “The beauty of the dream vanished”. After he had created the monster he endures the horror of it. He suddenly realised that he had committed nearly two days creating something so horrible that he almost knows that no good will come of it. Unable to take in the aspect of the monster he rushed to his room and tries to sleep. He does and he dreams that he kills Elizabeth by kissing her.
“As I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death”. His dream foresees what will happen in the future. It tells Frankenstein that Elizabeth will die. Could it be his fault for Elizabeth’s death? In the dream, he kills Elizabeth but further on in the story the monster does. However, Frankenstein created the monster so is it his fault that Elizabeth dies?
Frankenstein is based on new scientific discovery of the time, such as electricity. It relates to the many experiments being conducted at the time. Even in the 21st century there is still controversy over discoveries in science. There are debates in the news over abortions, genetically modified babies/food, the effects of global warming. Frankenstein relates to developments in science today because no matter when or where discoveries are being made, there will always be debates and arguments over the use of science and how it can effect us when used in such ways that the results are worse.
