However, this may be seen as a sweeping statement. We must look in detail at the progression of Frankenstein’s life. He is born into a loving family- ‘I was their plaything and their idol…they seemed to draw inexhaustible stores of affection from a very mine of love to bestow upon me’. Frankenstein is obviously very grateful of this, but as he grows older his rather quaint life begins to suffocate him.
A girl, Elizabeth, is brought into the family through chance, and his love for her is complete. When his mother dies, this deeply affects both Frankenstein and Elisabeth and has consequences in the future for both of them- Frankenstein’s mother’s dream was for the two of them to marry but, although Frankenstein’s doubt about this is never explicitly expressed, when he leaves the family home for Ingolstadt he seems released. The only thing he regrets leaving behind is his close friend Clerval.
This isolation from his friends and family whom he has lived with so long, coupled with his obsession with natural philosophy, could explain the change in Frankenstein’s character. He explains how he suddenly realises he has this knowledge to breath life into a human and thinks he is somehow working for the good of mankind. However, it is bitterly ironic that in the process of ‘helping mankind’ he loses his own humanism.
As he builds up his creation he gets more and more frantic, and his neglect of his body and of sleep is indicative of his determination but also of the fact that he is losing grip with reality.
After the monster is born and he has a fit, we see the lowest point so far of his life- his subconscious comes out in dreams and he sees images of Elizabeth and his mother in very disturbing ways. This is a hint of the rather warped relationships we shall see later on, but the fact that he has come to such a low point as to be able to hint at them shows his personality is morphing and changing for the worse.
The Frankenstein that is nursed to health by Clerval seems to have gone full circle- one again he seems to appreciate nature and life and all seems well. However I believe Frankenstein has been irrevocably changed and we shall see his new personality- that is presently under the surface=- once again rear it’s head.
Ben Sellers.