Problématique : to what extend is Frankenstein's creation a cornerstone to the excerpt and to the whole novel?
I/ An unusual user's guide on creation
1) Gothic elements in the excerpt
a Gothic creation through Gothic elements : place : gloomy laboratory, isolated
the action, plot : to renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption
Frankenstein gets his materials in slaughterhouses, charnel house so it gives a feeling of horror and disgust the monster in itself is hideous : he is giant, abnormal
there is no castle but the laboratory and also a kind of peregrination : In Geneva, city far from England it contributes to the Gothic genre since it is not know by Shelley's readers.
The notion of suspense is characteristics of Gothic stories and it is present at the very beginning of the extract when Frankenstein tells his listener to wait until the end of his story to know the truth.
-> all these elements create the Gothic environment that pervades the excerpt and that characterize the novel

2) Romanticism and Science
Romanticism = return to untamed nature, movement was inspired from the French revolution, period of political and social turmoil. Mary Shelley uses Frankenstein's experiment so as to denounce the illicitness of his act : the creation of a monster againt nature's will. he does not take nature into account. he does not produce a being according to nature law but he uses science instead. so one can say Mary Shelley is an avant-gardist writer since she introduces elements of science fiction. Frankenstein uses scientific devices to understand the secret of life in order to create his own human being. He does not hesitate to violate or torture nature.

3) Secrecy
Secrecy is the key word for both the writing of the novel since it was published anonymously and frankenstein's creation elaborated under cover. (secrecy repeated 3 times). his creation is shrouded in secrecy. his laboratory is the place where he hides his malevolent action.
it is ambiguous because he creates a monster that he wants to hide but the latin for monster is monstrare which means to reveal, to show. as the story unfolds there will be a contraction since the creature will be vowed to seclusion.
the monster arouse a feeling of 'inquiétante étrangeté' (Freud) born from familiar elements (body parts) but create an unrecognisable whole.
=> the monster and the creation appear as a Gothic elements both terrifying and fascinating.

II/ a quest for knowledge
1)Glory
He learnt Chemistry at university and from this moment on the desire for glory flared up in him, in the excerpt : obsessed with his knewly acquired knowledge and wants to bestow animation on man just like himself. his goal is to enrich science no matter what with his discovery, be recognized by humanity and he seems to be sure that his experiment will contribute to it (term success repeated several times) he becomes selfish since he forgets about his family and friends. he does not even follow his envy and his body warning him that what he does is not a good thing: 'often did my human nature turn with loathing from my occupation, while [...] I brought my work near to a conclusion. his health is affected, it is a his creation seems to extrapolate with Darwin's theory on the evolution of species

2) Light and dark
end of 18th century beginning of 19th century, light = discovery, knowledge, dark=hidden things, secrets. clearly expressed in the novel since his goal in the excpert is to reach light through his creation (knowledge) (citation)
the presence of the moon that enlights his experiment at night seems to be leading him towards knowledge. parallel with Nathaniel Hawthorn the Scarlet Letter in which the light of the moon suggests a deeper meaning, an between territory.

3) dangers on unmastered knowledge
his drive for success blinds him to the point that he becomes inhuman. his blindness even leads him to selfishness since he will forget about his friends and family moreover he is so consumed with the knowledge of how to animate a human being that he does not consider the morality or aesthetics . the combination of old and new science leads him to a path of self destruction. in creating such a being he seems to overpass god and to become a kind of god.
parallel with Milton Paradise Lost in which the author refers to god as the Victor (Frankenstein's name)
parallel Frankenstein and The modern Prometheus (title) prometheus stole fire from zeus to give it to Men and was punished for it, just like victor Frankenstein will be tragically punished for his unmastered experiment.
in latin Prometheus made man from clay, allusion to that in the excerpt when victor says 'I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave [...] to animate the lifeless [u]clay[/u]' so frankenstein rebels against the law of nature and will be punished.
one may wonder why Frankenstein allowes himself such rights : manipulate or create life. he wanted to appear as a hero of his time. but he won't be respected for his science but he will be dismissed. indeed, he will be chased throughout the novel and until the end by his monstruous creation. his monster's aim is to make him suffer as much as he has been suffering from seclusion. Frankenstein will die because of his selfishness.

III/
1) Empiricism
definition : empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge arises from evidence gathered via sense experience. John Locke the only knowledge human can have is based upon experience.
beginning of the excerpt : Frankenstein warns Walton on the acquirement of knowledge and how it can be dangerous.
mary shelley seems to warn man against technology and science, that if they are too dependent on them it may lead them to tragic fate.
Rabelais said: « Wisdom entereth not into a malicious mind, and science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul ». So the new Prometheus could open our reflections on what had been learned since Rabelais to the era in which Mary Shelley had lived and then about what our societies have learned. If we have ever learned anything.

2) Revelation on the self
Frankenstein is so consumed with his passion that it turns him into a monster. the being he creates is the illustraton f what he is inside and the monster is his outside mirror. he will loathe his 'child' only because he is his inner self in a physical appearance.
parallel with Dorian Gray or Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hide
his knowledge is monstrous just as him since he assembles body parts to create a whole. his ambition, secrecy selfishness will alienate him from society, no human contact, he is becoming less and less human.

3) a bildungsroman
Definition : psychological characterization and questions of identity
- Bildungsroman for Frankenstein he experiences something but that failed. according to Kant 'il n'y a pas de connaissance sans expérience'. frankenstein has tried but it didn't turn out the way he wanted. if he had not tried he could not have known. but his experience will lead him to destruction. he uses his experience to warn the others. he warns Robert Walton on the fact that when one wants to acquire knowledge, this can be fatale. he advocates ignorance or simplicity of life in order to live smoothly 'how much happier is that man who believes his native town to be the world'.
his experience will be rewarding since at the end of the book, Robert Walton will stop his conquest : to go and explore the Noth Pole and he will go back to England.
- Bildungsroman for Mary Shelley she was like the monster born motherless, nameless and illigetimate and wanted to find a place to fit into society. she lost three of her children and those deaths deeply affected the writing of the book. Frankenstein is a kind of rebirth for her since she feels guilty for her mother's death when she was born and not being a good mother enought since her children died. the fact that victor fails to be a father enabled mary shelley to release her anxiety concerning motherhood and pregnancy. due to her past she is unable to assert herself, to be competent, that's one of the reasons why she did not published it at first under he name. and also the reason why she produces abnormal images such as the physical description of the monster. she uses Romanticism in order to denounce the individuality of society. last but not least, she infers through Frankenstein failed attempt at creating a being just like himself that she does not believe in the enlightment of the 18th century, on Godwin's theory that Man can be improved.

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Modifié par lucile83 le 14-10-2010 08:04