Share:

Introduction:

Frankenstein or even Modern Prometheus is a horror, gothic fiction written by an English novelist, Mary Shelley during her early age. It is known for its surreal and wicked dive into a man’s life. Victor Frankenstein is a scientist studying in the University of Ingolstadt. Where he creates and finds something he was maybe too curious about. He creates a creature; a monster after putting different parts from freshly dead bodies, collecting them day by day, he himself is horrified by the creation made by his own hands. Shelley had written the novel first when she was 18 years old. Later on it got published anonymously, when it was revised the author was known to be Mary Shelley. The novel has taken parts in different European countries. Frankenstein is also used to refer to the monster. The novel is great writing exploring the genres fiction, horror, thriller.

Plot:

Victor Frankenstein is a young boy born into an upper class family of Genevese, who spent his early years obsessing over books and with the curiosity to know what the ‘heaven and earth’ hid in between. Victor was brought up with Elizabeth who was taken in by his parents, they were the same age, so basically he had a friend, and supporter who was always by his side.Later on his parents settled into Geneva after his younger brother William was born. As he gets older he finds he is really interested in Chemistry. Brought up in a house filled with love and support, he finds himself going to a University after the death of his mother; Caroline. During his time in the university, Victor finds out a way to create life. Putting together body parts that were stolen from fresh graves, one day he creates a large creature.After the creature wakes to life, he flees from the laboratory out of fear, to find out the creature disappeared the next day.

The story then explains more about the creature who ran away. The creature discovers fire and learns to stay away from humans as they get frightened by his appearance. He then finds his way into a small shack attached to a small house. He observes the doing of the family next to the shack. He slowly learns how to speak, communicate, and write. He finds a bundle of books from which he learns to read form. Later on, he reads the papers he found in the clothes he took from the university where he learns about his creation and his creator. One day, he reveals himself to the family blind father when he is alone, and the man treats him with kindness and warmth. In the return of all the other members they get scared and chase him away. He also saves a drowning girl but gets shot by her father, who misunderstood his help for an attack. To confront his creator he goes to Geneva, when he arrives he encounters Victor's brother, when he finds that he is of the same family he kills his creator's brother. The monster then frames a servant of his wrong doing. Victor suspects that the crime was done by his horrific creation but doesn't intervene when the servant is executed. Later on, Victor encounters the monster while hiking, the monster then tells Victor to create a female companion to give him a reason to be happy. Listening to this, Victor agrees on creating a female companion.

We see that Victor and his friend Henry Clervel leave the mainland for Britain where Victor establishes a laboratory. Working on the female companion for his first life creation he is frightened by the chances of the two giving birth to children. Due to this, he destroys the female, finding out about this the monster is filled with anger and promises Victor to meet during his wedding and kills his friend Henry as an revenge. Victor returns back to his home while grieving his friend. He then marries his dearest Elizabeth. As promised the creature appears on the night of the wedding and kills Elizabeth. After the death of Elizabeth, Victor’s father dies due to grief. With no one by Victor's side he vows to avenge his dearest ones.

In the search for the monster, Victor is seen in the Arctic where he nearly dies due to exhaustion and hypothermia. Seeing this a Captain rescues Victor, Victor then tells the captain about the creation and encourages the party to continue their journey. Out of fear they decide to abandon the journey and return. Victor refuses to back out and tells the captain he will search for his creation. But due to the cold and exhaustion he dies aboard. As the ship is descending the creature comes on the ship. He starts to mourn his creator's death and tells the Captain he plans to burn himself and then departs.

Critical Analysis:

The story delves deeply into both the creator’s and the creature’s lives and desires. Shelley clearly illustrates how Victor crosses the limits of humanity without considering the consequences of his experiment. His unchecked pursuit of knowledge shows how unknown actions can lead to destruction. This raises an important question: is Victor a visionary scientist, or a sinner who failed to limit his curiosity? Reflecting on this question is essential to understanding the novel.It can be argued that Victor himself is the true monster of the story. He was not motivated by the genuine needs of society or by a desire to benefit humanity; instead, he misused his curiosity to satisfy his own ambition. While knowing one’s limits is a sign of good nature, Victor’s actions prove the famous idea that reason without ethics leads to harm and destruction.

Conclusion and Recommendation:

In conclusion, The novel has a very investing and delving storyline. Exploring how Victor doesn't question himself even once about his action is completely diabolical. Shelley has made the read so interesting that even an uninterested person is completely surrounded by the questions the plot has provided. I would recommend this book to non-readers and someone who has a big interest in horror. And I am totally sure that anyone could pick this book up for a read because everyone has heard of Frankenstein once in their lives. The book is a great example known for its well-written and witty writing of this thrill of a story.