I believe ‘Frankenstein’ is a warning against people trying to play God. This is shown in the conversation between the Doctor and Frankenstein on the mountainside. Mary Shelley makes many references to God during this extract. If Frankenstein hadn’t created the monster, the creation wouldn’t have killed those dearest to the doctor, `Cursed be the day, abhorred devil, in which you first saw light! Cursed (although I curse myself) be the hands that formed you! The Doctor painstakingly regrets ever creating the monster and giving it life. The monster sees the Doctor as his God and he feels like the devil, `You purpose to kill me. How dare you sport thus with life?` Frankenstein feels he is superior to the monster and has the right to take away his life. `Begone, vile insect! Or rather, stay, that I may trample you to dust and, oh! That I could, with the extinction of your miserable existence`. The monster has been given life and doesn’t want it taken away from him. `Have I not suffered enough, that you seek to increase my misery? Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it`. The monster won’t hurt his God but would easily elude him in a mortal fight. `Remember, thou hast made me more powerful than thyself; my height is superior to thine, my joints more supple. But I will not be tempted to set myself in opposition to thee`. Frankenstein has the responsibility and duty to act like God to his creation. The monster wants society to accept him, `Yet it is in your power to recompense me, and deliver them from an evil`. (Part of the Lord’s Prayer.) The reader will begin to empathize with the monster because he is being reasonable, not insulting like Dr Frankenstein.
I also strongly believe the same warning is a viable reason against people trying to play God today. It is wrong to manipulate nature to force the evolution of humans for our benefit only. A problem that has already been witnessed in our society is ‘Designer Babies’ where doctors can control exactly what the baby will look like, it’s personality and it’s future by changing it’s genetic make-up, which could affect humanity in ways laboratory testing can’t predict. There could be some advantages like being able to develop new and better medicines and predicting and preventing certain diseases. It is wrong to play God though, because as the example of ‘Frankenstein’ sets us, not everything goes to plan. I think there are two simple morals behind this story, ‘Don’t play God’ and ‘Appearances can be deceptive’.
The second point I am going to reflect on is the Victorian interest in the supernatural, also linked to God and the afterlife. Victorians were very interested in spirits and the afterlife. This was because Science was becoming increasingly popular and people were looking for scientific evidence or explanations to support common phenomena. Their technology, although advancing, couldn’t explain many mysterious happenings. People still believed far more in God and the devil than science, and put strange occurrences down to their work. In the Victorian Era the mortality rate was very high, especially that of young children. This was due to primitive medicines and poor hygiene, though the Victorians thought it was because of God and/or the Devil. They believed ghosts or spirits were `stuck in between` Hell or Heaven.
I am going to discuss ‘The Signalman’ by Charles Dickens, as this is a ghost story, which is relevant to my present point.
The two main characters in ‘The Signalman’ are the signalman and a passer-by. The passer-by tells the story.
The story is set in the Victorian Era on a steam railway line in ghostly surroundings. The signalman is responsible for a particular stretch of line. When Queen Victoria was first made Queen, transport was very minimal. When she died there were steam trains, cars and advanced boats. The reason the story is set on a railway reflects the fact that new transport systems were progressively evolving and people were very interested in this ever-changing technology.
The story begins with the passer-by trying to grab the signalman’s attention. `Halloa! Below there!`. The signalman looked very confused as he stood waving his red flag as if not knowing which direction the voice came from. `One would have thought, considering the nature of the ground, that he could not have doubted from what quarter the voice came; but instead of looking up to where I stood on the top of the steep cutting nearly over his head, he turned himself about and looked down the line`. The passer-by called again, this time the signalman looked in the right direction. He asked if there was a path by which he could get down to the signalman’s level. He pointed to a zigzag path by which the stroller could get down to the line.
The surroundings in which the signalman works are very eerie, ghostly, as if not in the `natural world`. `His post was in as solitary and dismal place as ever I saw. On either side, a dripping wet wall of jagged stone, excluding all view but a strip of sky; the perspective one was only a crooked prolongation of this great dungeon… there was a barbarous, depressing and forbidding air`. The signalman himself is a `dark sallow man, with a dark beard and rather heavy eyebrows`. The passer-by explains that he thinks the signalman is scared of him, the signalman answers simply `I was doubtful whether I had seen you before`, whilst pointing at a red light in the mouth of the tunnel. This is the first time in the story when the passer-by explains he thinks the signalman is insane. `I have speculated since, whether there may have been infection in his mind`.
The signalman takes the passer-by into his control box, `Where there was a fire, a desk for an official book in which he had to make certain entries, a telegraphic instrument with it’s dial, face and needles and the little bell of which he had spoken`. The passer-by suggests the signalman is very clever, perhaps more intelligent than what his job requires of him. `On my trusting that he would excuse the remark that he had been well educated, and (I hoped I might say without offence) perhaps educated above that station`.
The passer-by describes the signalman as being very attentive and watchful. When the bell rang and he had to wave his flag. `I observed him to be remarkably exact and vigilant, breaking off his discourse at a syllable, and remaining silent until what he had to do was done. In a word, I should have set this man down as one of the safest of men to be employed in that capacity`. However the incident that followed made the passer-by change his mind, `But for the circumstance that while he was speaking to me he twice broke off with a fallen colour, turned his face towards the little bell when it did NOT ring… and looked out towards the red light near the mouth of the tunnel`. Something was troubling the signalman but he wouldn’t say what it was, `It is very, very difficult to speak of`. The signalman promised the passer-by that if he made another visit, the next day at 11pm, he would try to tell him what it was. `If you ever make me another visit, I will try to tell you`. They wished each other goodnight. The signalman explained he didn’t want the passer-by to call out to him when he arrived the following night. `And when you come down tomorrow night, don’t call out! … What made you cry, “Halloa! Below there!” tonight`? The signalman is extremely concerned and asks if those exact words were conveyed to the passer-by in any `supernatural way`. The passer-by denies any knowledge of this.
The passer-by arrives on time at 11pm to meet the signalman, to find out what has been troubling him. The signalman explains he took the passer-by for someone else, `I took you for someone else yesterday evening. That troubles me`.
He begins to tell his story. `One moonlit night…’ The signalman explains he heard a voice calling him, `Halloa! Below there!` He got up, out of his seat and looked out of the window to see who it was. ‘It’ was standing near the red light outside the tunnel, shouting repetitively, `Halloa! Below there! Look out!` When the signalman ran up to ‘it’, to find out the problem, ‘it’ disappeared, into thin air. ‘I ran right up at it, and had my hand stretched out to pull the sleeve away, when it was gone`. The passer-by tried to console the signalman. `He ought to know something of the wind and the wires`. The signalman had not finished. He went on to explain, `Within six hours after the appearance, the memorable accident on this line happened, and within ten hours the dead and the wounded were brought along through the tunnel over the spot where the figure had stood`. The passer-by reasoned that it was probably a coincidence.
The signalman still had not finished his story. Six or seven months had passed and the signalman had recovered from the previous incident when the presence returned again. This time, however it was silent. `I, standing at the door, looked towards the red light, and saw the spectre again`. The same day another tragedy, on the same stretch of line occurred. `That very day, as a train came out of the tunnel… I heard terrible screams and cries. A beautiful young lady had died instantaneously in one of the compartments`. The passer-by couldn’t think of anything to explain this strange occurrence with. `I could think of nothing to say, to any purpose, and my mouth was very dry. The wind and the wires took up the story with a long lamenting wail`.
The signalman still had not finished his story. `The spectre came back a week ago. Ever since, it has been there, now and again by fits and starts… At the Danger-light`. `It calls to me, for many minutes together, in an agonized manner, “Below there! Look out! Look out!” It stands waving to me. It rings my little bell`. The passer-by asks if it rang the bell when he was there with the signalman the evening before. `Did it ring your bell yesterday when I was here, and you went to the door?` The signalman agrees with the passer-by, `Twice`.
The passer-by disagrees, `How your information misleads you. My eyes were on the bell, and my ears were open to the bell… it did NOT ring at those times`. The signalman shakes his head; the ghost’s ring and the station ring are both very different. `I have never made a mistake as to that yet, sir. I have never confused the spectre’s ring with the man’s. The ghost’s ring is a strange vibration in the bell that it derives from nothing else`. Both times the bell rang the spectre was out by the danger light. The passer-by accompanies the signalman outside to see if the presence is there again. `Do you see it?` asks the passer by. `No, it is not there`, replies the signalman.
The passer-by left the signalman at two in the morning after calming his mind. He had offered to stay the night with the signalman, but he wouldn’t hear of it.
The passer-by at this point clearly thinks the signalman is mad and wants to take him to a doctor. `I ultimately resolved to offer to accompany him… to the wisest medical practitioner we could hear of in those parts, and to take his opinion`. The passer-by had scheduled to meet the signalman again in the evening. He stood on the edge of the cliff, where he had first called out to the signalman, down below. The passer-by saw, `The appearance of a man, with his left sleeve across his eyes, passionately waving his right arm`. `I saw that this appearance of a man was a man indeed, and that there was a little group of other men… to whom he seemed to be rehearsing the gesture he made. … A little low hut, entirely new to me, had been made of some wooden supports and tarpaulin. It looked no bigger than a bed`. The passer-by had a sudden sense that something was seriously wrong. He quickly made his way down the zigzag path.
`What’s the matter`, the passer-by asked the group of men. `Signalman killed this morning, sir… He was cut down by an engine… No man in England knew his work better… It was just at broad day`. The man who drove the engine, which killed the signalman, proceeded to show the passer-by what happened. `Coming round the curve in the tunnel, sir, I saw him at the end, like as if I saw him down a perspective glass. There was no time to check speed, and I knew him to be very careful. As he didn’t seem to take heed of the whistle, I shut it off when we were running down upon him, and called to him as loud as I could call. “Below there! Look out! Look out! For God’s sake clear the way!” … I never left off calling to him. I put this arm before my eyes not to see, and I waved this arm to the last; but it was no use`. The arm movements the train driver uses are exactly the same as the movements the presence apparently uses.
The following are all valid reasons to support the signalman’s insanity.
Firstly, every time the ‘ghost’ appears, something tragic happens. `If it came on those two occasions, only to show me that it’s warnings were true as so to prepare me for the third, why not warn me plainly now?` It is too much of a coincidence to occur three times.
Secondly, the signalman has plausible evidence (i.e. the deaths) to reinforce everything he says. `Within six hours after the appearance the memorable accident on this line happened`. `That very day as a train came out of the tunnel… I ran after it, and, as I went along, heard terrible screams and cries. A beautiful young lady had died instantaneously`.
A further reason is, the signalman can describe everything in great detail from the ghost’s posture to how the bell rings. He must have witnessed it. `He (the ghost) had his left hand at his chin, and his left elbow rested on his right-hand crossed over his breast`. `I have never confused the spectre’s ring with the man’s. The ghost’s ring is a strange vibration in the bell, that it derives from nothing else`.
Finally, the signalman was fatally drawn to the ‘ghost’ by the tunnel. There must have been something there. `I knew him to be very careful… It was a dreadful time sir. I never left off calling to him. I put this arm before my eyes not to see, and I waved this arm to the last, but it was no use`.
At the end of the story it is too much of a coincidence that, the train driver, the passer-by and the ghost all make the same hand signals and call, `Helloa! Below there!
The following are all legitimate reasons to support the signalman’s insanity.
Firstly, the eerie surroundings in which the signalman works may create an unreal atmosphere where his imagination plays tricks on him. `So little sunlight ever found it’s way to the spot… as if I had left the natural world`.
Secondly, the passer-by clearly believes the signalman is mad throughout the story because he wants to take him to a doctor. `There may have been infection in his mind`. `I ultimately resolved to offer to accompany him to the wisest medical practitioner`.
Furthermore, The signalman could be bored. The signalman is extremely intelligent and the job doesn’t require much of him. The ghost is a figment of his imagination. `On my trusting that he had been well-educated (and I hoped I might say without offence) perhaps educated above that station`.
In addition another reason is, the passer-by didn’t hear the bell ring on the two occasions the signalman claimed he did. `My eyes were on the bell and my ears were open to the bell… it did not ring`.
Lastly, when the passer-by went out with the signalman to look for the presence, he couldn’t see anything, neither could the signalman at that time. `Do you see it?`… `No` he answered `It is not there`. `Agreed`, said I`.
This story leaves us with unanswered questions about the ghost and the signalman’s state of mind. I believe the signalman did see a ghost or presence, though there are many different reasons both to support and discredit my opinion. There are too many coincidences for the ghost to simply be a figment of the signalman’s imagination. From this story it becomes obvious that the Victorians were very interested in the supernatural and insanity.
The final point I want to discuss is the Victorian curiosity in mentality. The work of Sigmund Freud and other similar psychoanalysts was becoming recognized and people were starting to show a concern in how the brain works. We have already observed this interest in ‘The Signalman’ where the stroller is primarily certain that the signalman has an `infection in his mind`.
In ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ By Edgar Allen Poe, the narrator is the murderer, who is trying to prove to the reader he is not mad, yet by doing this he actually has the opposite effect on the reader. The reader will conclude the narrator is insane.
The main characters in ‘The tell tale Heart’ are the murderer (who speaks in first person), and the old man, (victim).
Edgar Allen Poe manages to convince us his character is mad by using a number of different techniques, these are as follows:
Poe uses a lot of repetition in his story. This convinces the reader, the murderer is mad. It shows his obsessive nature when he talks as if fixated about one particular point. `I moved it slowly, very, very, slowly`. This builds up suspense.
Poe describes everything very morbidly. This convinces the reader he is mad because sane people don’t describe death in the way the murderer does.
‘Hell’- Reader will realize someone is going to die, in a horrible way. Poe used this word to show death and to create an evil atmosphere.
‘Stone-dead’- The author selected these words to make the death of the old man final. The reader is able to relate to this phrase because they realize their own worst fears. Nobody is immortal- everyone dies eventually.
‘A pale blue eye with a film over it’- The murderer talks about the eye, as if it is completely separated from the man, almost as if it can’t see because it’s glazed over. It makes the murderer’s blood run cold. It is mad killing someone because you don’t like his or her eye.
Enveloped the victim’- This phrase shows the victim won’t get away alive. This also gives a clue to how the victim will die, later on in the story. The author chose this phrase because it shows `death is all around`.
Poe also makes the old man’s eye sound gruesome by talking about it like a mad person. The only given reason for the old man getting killed is because of his eye. The murderer didn’t want the old man’s money, `For his gold I had no desire’. The old man hadn’t offended the murderer, `He had never given me insult`. If the murderer had been offended by the old man or did want his money the reader would be able to understand the motive behind the killing more than the explanation actually given.
The murderer tries to explain to the reader he is sane, however to the reader’s point of view, the same evidence proves he is insane. For example, ‘Would a madman have been so wise as this?’ The murderer uses this phrase when he is explaining how cautiously he enters the room in which the victim is sleeping so as not to wake him. ‘If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body’. The murderer uses this phrase when he is about to describe the precautions he takes when hiding the body, under the floorboards. The murderer becomes aware of his victim’s sleep pattern after watching him for seven nights and is extremely cautious.
Poe builds up a lot of suspense in the first paragraph by leaving us with lots of unanswered questions about the murderer, which leaves us very confused about him. For example: ‘What is the disease he talks about?’ ‘Why doesn’t he believe he is mad’? ‘Is his disease of the mind or is it physical?’
The final point, which convinces the reader the murderer is insane, is at the end of the story. The police question him on some disturbances heard in the area earlier in the night. At first the murderer is calm and collected, ‘The officers were satisfied’. His manner convinced them. He even placed his chair upon the floorboards, underneath was the dead body. The murderer begins to hear, ‘A low, dull, quick sound- much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton’. He could hear the old man’s heartbeat. The sound becomes louder and quicker, this agitates the murderer more and more. ‘I foamed- I raved- I swore!’ His sudden change in behaviour is what convinces the reader and the police, the murderer is mad. ‘I admit the deed! - tear up the planks! – here, here! – It is the beating of his hideous heart!’ The murderer admits he committed the murder.
In conclusion it is clear that the literature I have studied, ‘The Signalman’, ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ and ‘Frankenstein’ all directly reflect the interests of Victorian Britain. The curiosities in the role of God, the increasing developments in science and technology, the supernatural and insanity were all reflected in these books, as was the work of Psychoanalysts like Sigmund Freud. There was better transport than ever before and psychiatrists found out how the mind worked and were then capable of looking inside it. The literature had to reflect the interests of the time in order to be successful.
