Frankenstein was written in the early 1800's. During that time period, industrial revolution started. People started view this world in a more scientific way and tried to explain unknown phenomena logically instead of taking for grant as a god's or demon's supernatural power. Under such background, which is called Enlightenment, Frankenstein is a MILESTONE creation, and it is a milestone in at least three aspects.
How is the monster created? To answer this question, two sub-questions need to be discussed. First, for what reason is the monster created. Monsters before Frankenstein is mostly demon and ghost. They are cursed to be monsters because of their bad deeds, so actually, they are guilty, and such creation is used as a method of punishment and warns people not to do bad things. However, Frankenstein is no more than a fail science project until the lightening strikes it. This is an accident, and Frankenstein is not responsible for its behemoth body and abominable resemblance. In modern comics, monsters are all created against their will. For example, hulk, lizard doctor, and Doc Octopus are all due to experimental failure. Such creations reflect innocence and helplessness. Second, through what method is the monster created. It is not hard to see that monsters before Frankenstein are created based on god's, immortal's power or other supernatural power...
PS: due to time issue, i cannot finish this blog before 9 PM, uhhh, so i ll pause for now. It will be updated on weekends.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI think your comparison between Frankenstein's monster and monsters of history and myth is really interesting. Frankenstein's monster, having a human brain and being made of human parts, is maybe more like us than anything readers had envisioned before. Monsters such as demons and ghosts don't need a reason to be malicious, their evilness can just be accepted as part of what they are (regardless of how they became that way). Victor's monster has no distinct classification; it could even be interpreted as a person based strictly on biology. However, I think that this identity crisis is part of what inspires an even more dangerous and scary creature. This monster hasn't committed any initial crime beyond being created, he instead has a chance to study humans and make choices based on his observations. It's a kind of inversion of the monster stories of the past you were referencing.