FRANKENSTEIN
by Mary Godwin Shelley
• THE OVERREACHER
•THE DOUBLE
•ROUSSEAU'S IDEA OF "THE GOOD NATURAL
•THE GOTHIC NOVEL :
MAN" AND SOCIAL CRITICISM
•FRANKENSTEIN Vs DR
GENERAL FEATURES
•GENERAL FEATURES
(THEMES)
•SCIENCE AND MORALS
•NARRATIVE FEATURES
•CHARACTERS
JEKILL & MR.HYDE
THE OVERREAC HER
Victor Frankenstein is defined "The Modern Prometheus" in the subtitle of the novel. As Prometheus defied Zeus
stealing the fire from him to bring it back to Mankind, the Swiss scientist protagonist of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel
defies any natural law and God himself for his great ambition: to create, not to generate, life. To give life to an
inanimate body.
Both Prometheus and Dr. Frankenstein are OVERREACHERS, special types of rebels who:
 try to go beyond the limits imposed to Mankind by God or Nature
 are moved by a great ambition
 are always punished with death (not Prometheus, since he was a Titan, a semi-god)
THE DOUBLE
There are two examples of this theme in Mary
Shelley's novel. Two characters recognize in an "alter
ego" their wrong side, the flaws in their personality:
1. Captain Walton recognizes in Dr Frankenstein his
own great ambition, which might lead him to self exhaustion and death, and decides to stop his
exploration of the North Pole, in order to avoid risking
his crew's lives and his own. So Dr Frankenstein is an
alter ago/ the double to Captain Walton.
2. Victor Frankenstein recognizes in the horrible
creature he has created the embodiment of his own
"awful" ambition. This is why he is so terrified by the
vision of his "living experiment".
ROUSSEAU'S IDEA OF "THE GOOD NATURAL MAN" AND SOCIAL CRITICISM
Mary Shelley was influenced by J.J. Rousseau's ideas. Rousseau believed a human being was born innocent and
uncorrupted , then the unjust social system and its prejudices spoilt and corrupted him.
The monster represents Rousseau’s natural man , that is a man in the primitive state , not influenced by civilization.
This is exactly what happens to Frankenstein's creature who was naturally good when he came to life but was then
turned into a monster and an evil murderer by the prejudices of all the human beings he met, starting with his
creator.
 He was rejected and wronged because of his ugly appearance.
Another important influence was the work of Coleridge’ s Rime of the Ancient Mariner as the novel is the story of a
physical and a psychological journey but also a tale of a crime against nature. In addition Frankenstein holds
Wlton’s attention with his story as powerfully as the Mariner held the wedding guest’s. Even the atmosphere of
Frankenstein reminds the hauntd atmosphere of Coleridge’s poem.
SCIENCE AND MORALS
Frankenstein is considered the forerunner of the science fiction genre.
The authoress, fascinated by physiology, chemistry and physics, reflects on the relationship between science and
morals - something we call bioethics nowadays
She wonders what the destiny of someone who overcomes the border might be, so Mary Shelley’s conception of science
is related to the theme of science and responsability to mankind.In fact , instead of respecting the evolutionary principles
described by Darwin, Frankenstein interferes in the evolutionary process by trying to create a human being through the use of
electricity and chemistry.
NARRATIVE FEATURES
Frankenstein has a complex structure. It is an epistolary novel with three different levels of narration,
three narrators and different points of view. The technique used is usually called "Chinese boxes"
Unlikely the many Gothic tales written before, the characters in this novel are not flat and there is a certain
psychological insight
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In addition, unlikely the Gothic tradition
, this novel does not tell of supernatural
but rather the protagonist, Victor
Frankenstein , embodies the theme of
science and responsibility to mankind.
At first Walton informs his sister
Then Frankenstein informs Walton
who informs his sister;
Finally the monster informs
Frankenstein , who informs Walton, who
informs his sister.
Thus all the novel has Walton’s sister
as receiver , but present three different
points of view.
CHARACTERS
WALTON , who is the double of Dr. Frankenstein
as he manifests his ambition, is characterised by
Romantic element:
 his desire to explore the unknown ( the North
Pole) ;
Nature seen as the embodiment of God;
His pride of being different.
He tries to go beyond human limits ( Prometheus
myth) and, like Prometheus, he is punished with
the imprisonment of his ship in the ice and the
rebellion of the crew.
FRANKESTEIN and THE MONSTER are
complementary: they both suffer from a sense of
alienation and isolation , both of them
begin with a desire to be good but they
become obsessed with revenge.
FRANKESTEIN may be considered Faustian
overreacher who is looking for forbidden
knowledge.
The third part of the novel has the MONSTER as
protagonist.
He makes several attempts to communicate with
people but he is rejected because of his ugly
aspect and therefore he becomes an outcast , a
murderer and a rebel against any human
being.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
the distinguishing features of the Gothic novel. GENERAL FEATURES
•THE GOTHIC NOVEL
•The adjective “Gothic” had three important
connotations:
•MEDIEVAL , because it is related to the
architectural style of the Middle Ages
•IRREGULAR as opposed to the proportion and
order of CLASSICISSM;
•WILD & SUPERNATURAL in the sense of
MYSTERIOUS and FEARFUL
•great importance given to terrifying descriptions
•ancient settings (i.e. isolated castles, secret
rooms, mysterious abbeys)
•the choice of Catholic countries as the setting for
the most terrible crimes due to the
Protestant prejudice against Catholicism
•use of supernatural beings (vampires, monster,
ghosts)
•flat characters (the villain - a terrifying male
character, often the victim of his evil impulses ;
the sensitive over reactive heroine- the persecuted
girl derived from the model of Richardson’s
Pamela; the brave sensitive hero)
•a new conception of beauty : SUBLIME
GENERAL FEATURES
MARY SHELLEY’s main achievement: FRANKENSTEIN, or the modern Prometheus
epistolary novel
use of multiple narrators (Chinese boxes)
interest in science
the overreacher
the double
social injustice
Rousseau's idea of a "good natural man"
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FRANKENSTEIN & Dr. JEKILL & MR. HYDE
FRANKENSTEIN VS JEKYLL
1. THE FIGURE OF THE OVERREACHER - The two protagonists are scientists who, led by their
great ambition, fulfil their achievement but, thus doing, they overcome the limits and borders
imposed to them by ethics, nature or God.
•Their punishment is death by exhaustion in one case, by self-destruction in the other.
•Both are OVERREACHERS, rebels who go beyond the limits imposed to Mankind by God or
Nature, who have their prototype in Prometheus, the mythical Titan who defied Zeus stealing the
fire from the Olympus.
2. FORBIDDEN SCIENCE - Both Mary Shelley, who is considered a forerunner of science fiction, and Robert Louis Stevenson reveal deep interest in science in these works and reflect on
what is now called bioethics.
FRANKENSTEIN - Dr. JEKILL & MR. HYDE
3. COMPLEX NARRATIVE STRUCTURE - The two stories are told by different narrators and the
reader shares different points of view. Mary Shelley's work is an epistolary novel with three
narrating voices, whose narration doesn't follow a chronological sequence. It is also designed as
"Chinese boxes"
•Stevenson's "Jekyll and Hyde", too, has a multi - narrational structure: four different narrators
and a series of different points of view are proposed to the reader: 80% of the story is told by a
third - person external narrator but Enfield's, Lanyon's and Jekyll's contributions are necessary,
essential, to the completeness of the puzzle Mr Utterson is trying to re-compose.
FRANKENSTEIN & Dr. JEKILL & MR. HYDE
4. THE DOUBLE - In Frankenstein we can recognize two examples of these fascinating theme.
Captain Walton can be considered Victor Frankenstein's "alter ego", his double, since they
manifest the same ambition. Walton and Frankenstein try to go beyond human limits and are
punished in the end as are all overreachers: Walton's punishment is the imprisonment in the ice
and the rebellion of his crew; Frankenstein's punishment is definite, it is death.
• The second example of double is Frankenstein and the creature/monster he created. Why can
the latter be considered the alter ego of the first? What does Frankenstein recognize of himself in
the wretched creature he brought to life? That monstrous being is the embodiment of his horrible
guilty ambition, of his monstrous plan for usurping the female role and defy the basic natural
laws of life.
•The theme of the double in Stevenson's mystery story is based on the double identity /
personality of a single human being. As Henry James said: "It deals with the relation of the baser
parts of man to his nobler - of the capacity for evil that exists in the most generous nature..."
FRANKENSTEIN - Dr. JEKILL & MR. HYDE
5. GOTHICISM . Gothic elements characterize both novels:
 the monster, exoticism, nocturnal gloomy scenes, bloody crimes, fear and terror in
FRANKENSTEIN
 mysterious, foggy, dark setting, evil crimes, ugly devilish Mr Hyde, fear and terror in
JEKYLL AND HYDE
•6. RELATION TO MYTHS OF THE PAST - If Shelley's herself defined her Frankenstein a
modern Prometheus, can't respectable Dr Jekyll be considered a modern Faust?
•7. SOCIAL CRITICISM - Though not realistic stories meant to be social novels, they convey the
attempts of their authors to criticize contemporary society as both books contain in fact critical
messages in that direction. Frankenstein highlights the social injustice which transforms an
innocent creature into a murderous monster by emarginating him for his ugly aspect.
•Jekyll and Hyde, instead, attacks the hypocritical duplicity of the respectable Victorian society
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