‘Natural Philosophy is the genius that regulated my fate’, it was by ‘chance’ that Victor Frankenstein is first intrigued by the realms of science ‘and the hidden laws of nature’. It was both fact and the mythical regarded by Victors father to be ‘sad trash’ nevertheless it was these ‘wonderful factors which soon changed this feeling into enthusiasm’. What endeavoured to ‘throw’ Victor in to the longing to penetrate the secrets of nature’ was the storm he witnessed when he was of fifteen years of age, it was then that he learned of the existence of electricity and replicated Franklins experiment with the kite and key. It was as a result to this Victor pursued his desire to quench his thirst for understanding of the subject that led to his ‘utter and terrible destruction.’
Victor’s mother dies as a result of contracting scarlet fever while nursing the afflicted Elizabeth. It is the death of his mother, which, too provokes his desire to ‘satiate his ardent curiosity’ and drives him to, through scientific means, find a way to preserve the life of those who are dear to us. In the novel, Mary Shelley, according to Anne K. Mellor, ‘distinguishes between that scientific research which attempts to describe accurately the functioning’s of the physical universe and that which attempts to control or change the universe through human intervention’, the latter is relevant to Victor.
Victor is sent to the University of Ingolstadt in Bavaria; there he enrols in courses in chemistry and natural philosophy, inspired by the charismatic M. Waldman. Anne K. Mellor perceives to write that ‘Waldman’s enthusiasm for and description of the benefits to be derived from the study of chemistry seem to be based on Davy’s remarks, as does Victor Frankenstein’s belief that chemistry might discover the secret of life itself. Victor introduces himself to M.Krempe but is repelled by the physical appearance and manners of the professor of natural philosophy. At university, Victor dedicates himself to his studies and makes rapid progress, which causes him to neglect his family and his health, ‘wreck I had perceived to become’.
As the novel reaches at the peak of climax of Victor’s toils, Victor describes the moment he has anticipated ‘with an anxiety that almost amounted to agony’. Alliteration with the letter ‘A’ particularly in that sentence is used to emphasise the emotional state of Victor and the intensity of the atmosphere. The high expectations of Victor contrasts with the atmosphere, which may be perceived to be an omen of what is to follow. The animation of the creation is set ‘On a dreary night in November’, ‘the rain pattered dismally’ onomatopoeia is used to help set the ambience, which proves to be pathetic fallacy for the misery which was due to occur that night. The imagery of dull misery is appropriate for the scene for the opening of the ‘dull yellow eye’ of the creature Victor so repeatedly describes as ‘miserable’ and cause of his misery. Even before the creature is brought to life Victor treats him with disrespect by referring to him as an ‘it’ as though he were still inanimate. The imagery also seems to suggest the process of labour and birth as does the language and description of its birth, ‘it breathed hard…convulsive motion agitated its limbs’ this description of the creature’s first breath of life is not unlike the first breaths of a new born. Victor’s ‘workshop of filthy creation’ have womb like connotations . Some critics have argued that description of the newly animated monster is suggestive of a newborn child, jaundiced, misshapen, shrivelled, of disappointment to the parents, ‘horrified by the wretch’. Victor presents us with an oxymoron as although he had ‘selected his features as beautiful’ yet he follows this with exclaiming in horror: ‘Beautiful! Great God! furthermore the gestation period for a baby inside the womb lasts fore no more than nine months, this is consequently the same amount of time it takes Victor to complete his experiment. The language used to describe this period is often synonymous with that associated with the natural birthing process, ‘during my labours’.
Many critics such as Anne K. Mellor view Victor’s experiments in animating inanimate matter, as a ‘clear attempt to gain power’. Inspired by Waldman’s description of scientists who ‘acquired new and almost unlimited powers’, Frankenstein has sought both the power of a father over his children, and, more omnipotently, of God over creation ‘owe their being to me’. Frankenstein by creating life without means of the female has also sought power over the female.
It has been said that when Victor Frankenstein steals the spark of being, then, he is literally ‘steeling Jupiter’s lightning bolt’, but in Percy Shelly’s terms, ‘he is stealing the very life of nature, the source of both love and electricity’.
Mary Shelly’s novel is well within the stipulations with that of the Science-fiction genre. Mary Shelley contrasted what she considered to be good science to what she considered bad science the ‘hubristic manipulation of the elemental forces of nature’ to serve mans private ends. A critic said ‘The horror in the novel does not stem from the supernatural but rather from science itself’, which has led to the book being considered the first science fiction novel.
However, the novel also qualifies with the terms of the Romantic genre and with that of the Gothic genre. The elusive and elaborate hyperboles of the text such as ‘And I threw myself…endeavouring to seek…forgetfulness.’ The novel fits in more so with the modern definitions of the gothic genre which is now considered as an attempt to ‘expose and explore the unconscious world of desires and fear that both society and the individual in an attempt to maintain stability, attempt to suppress.’ Gothic writers are interested in the breakdown of boundaries. By looking at the character of Victor, we can see he breaks many boundaries, the boundary between natures and the unnatural, the boundary between himself and his incestuous relationship with his sister, between curiosity and obsession, and the overall boundary between life and death. Shelley declared her desire ‘to curdle the blood and quicken the beatings of the heart’ this is the first in many signals to the reader that Frankenstein should be placed in the genre of the gothic.
However, the novel also is within the characteristics of the Romantic. The novel was written the Romantic period, and the romantics inspired Godwin, who placed the source of evil in human institutions, and insisted upon the importance of justice and equality for all, and believed in the perfectibility of the human race. For the Romantics, the imagination is used both to escape the world and transform it, such creativity is seen as powerful, almost god-like, becoming in reality promethean figures, as does the protagonist in the this novel- Victor.
The novel has the criteria for not just the science fiction genre but also that of the Gothic and of the Romantic, it can be said that Frankenstein initiates a new literary genre.
As stated by one critic that this novel was the ‘first spark of a new an hybrid fictional species’
