Draft: Essay 3

Zareth Martinez

Laura Cline

English 102

16 October 2011

A Tragic Tale

Frankenstein has several themes within the story to choose from. Critics have widely debated the interpretation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Some of the topics that have been covered are the dangers of knowledge, abortion, secrecy and the monstrosities revealed within the story. Critics have argued her intent was to illustrate women in a more passive role rather than the typical strong female role. Whatever Mary Shelley’s reason was behind Frankenstein, it cannot be denied it is a tale which reflects in some manner on her life experiences. According to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the story was intended “to be the kind of ghost story that would curdle the blood, and quicken the beating of the heart” (Moers 215). However, after reading the story, it appears the story was more about loss and tragedy than a ghost story. Larry Lipking displayed similar feeling when he wrote “For Frankenstein does not let readers feel good. It presents them with genuine, insoluble problems, not with any easy way out” (319). Many people have experienced their fair share of tragedy throughout life, yet there are those few whose lives seem to be surrounded by tragedy. Mary Shelley demonstrates a perfect example of this with Frankenstein, portraying events of tragedy which are believed to be related to her personal life.

As one examines the story, there appears to be similarities in the characters that portray a side of Mary Shelley’s personal experiences, whether it is an event she experienced, such as her losses, or her feeling of isolation and anger. An anonymous critic provided evidence of this by writing, “This tale [Frankenstein] is evidently the production of no ordinary Writer; and, though we are shocked at the idea of the event on which the fiction is founded…” (Anonymous 196). Mary Shelley’s tragedies can easily go unnoticed to those who are unaware of her life’s story. Mary Shelley in many ways can be compared to Victor Frankenstein, whose immoral choices, and surreptitiousness, affected the lives of others. Both Victor and Mary Shelly were left with remorse for the loved ones whose lives they affected.

“…A women who, as a daughter, mistress and mother was a barer of death” (Moers 223). Mary Shelley was similar to the monster in the story, death seemed to follow her. She was an outcast to society, abandoned and lonely, her feelings were displayed mostly through him. Robert Walton is a character where Mary Shelly reveals her secrets through cryptic notation as his character is developed within her story. In the story, Victor Frankenstein confides in Robert Walton for the reason that he saw himself in Walton. “Walton provides the frame which allows us to glimpse Frankenstein story. He is the wedding guest who can hear the story only because he is so similar to Frankenstein and can engage us because while he is outside the story, he is still like us, implicated in it. He is the link between our world and Frankenstein’s...” (George Levine 213). George Levine, was speaking over realism within Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and illustrated thoughts over similar views on Robert Walton’s Character.

Several articles are subjugated with criticism about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; each having their own perception behind Frankenstein’s creation. However, these critics all share similarities, focusing on comparisons of several experiences within Mary Shelley’s life; whether it was Ellen Moers analysis behind the terrors of motherhood, or Lawrence Lipking’s proposal of apparent evidence within Mary Shelley that illustrates the true meaning of Frankenstein.
“Death and birth were thus hideously mixed in the life of Mary Shelley as in Frankenstein’s workshop of filthy creation. Who can read without shuddering, and without remembering her myth of the birth of a nameless monster, Mary’s journal entry of March 19, 1815, which records the trauma of her loss, when she was seventeen, of her first baby, the little girl who did not live long enough to be given a name” (Moers 221)
In addition, Moers notes that Shelly had a dream of her dead infant being brought back to life. These incidents played out in Frankenstein; simple indications revealed through such facts that the creature was never given a name. The dream was mentioned through Victor as his dream to bring life to lifeless matter. “…I thought that if I could bestow animation upon lifeless mater, I might in process of time... Renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption” (Shelly).

In Lawrence Lipking’s analysis, he referred to the three main characters in Frankenstein to have a lack of education, just like Mary Shelley experienced. “Each of the three narrators of Frankenstein represents a general problem of education as well as a specific aspect of Mary Shelley’s Background” (324). Lawrence Lipking shows how the similarities between Victor Frankenstein and his father are comparable to the estranged relationship between Mary Shelley and her father.
“To some extent that decisive turn or catastrophe of the novel occurs very early, not in any spectacular hazard of life and death but in the cursory glance that the elder Frankenstein casts at the volume of Cornelius Agrippa his son holds out to him. All misfortunes stem from that moment. If only, Victor says, his father had taken pains to explain the powers and practical use of modern science… It is even possible that the train of my ideas would never have received the fatal impulse that led to my ruin.” As for Shelley’s relation with her father, Lawrence comments “Mary Shelley spells out her point.. With didactic directness: I cannot help remarking here that many opportunities instructors posses of directing the attention of their pupils to useful knowledge, which they utterly neglect” (325).

For the monster in Frankenstein, Lawrence Lipking describes “The creature, by contrast does better”. This example can be taken to illustrate the similarity between the monster and Mary Shelley; both educated themselves.

As for the story itself, it began similar to Shelly’s life in which he displays her own misfortune through Victor. Her tragedies were extensive; from the death of her mother, abandonment she felt from her father, to the fact she was left to educate herself at a very young age.

The Monster is another character that embodies certain traits Shelley feels she has. The Monsters feelings of abandonment by Victor his creator can be compared to Shelley and the absence of her mother along with the rejection of her father. Mary Shelly was born by two intellectual writers; this novel could be considered proof of her ability to provide symbolism between her life and her writing, which shows how great of a writer she is. Mary Shelley seems to describe the Monster as a hideous being that was created through tragedy, misunderstood feelings and a need for understanding. Ellen Moers analysis of the Monster appears to be related to the tragedies Mary Shelley experienced.
“..Critics have begun to see Victor Frankenstein’s disgust at the sight of his creation as a study of postpartum depression, as a representation of maternal rejection of a newborn infant, and to relate the entire novel to Mary Shelley’s mixed feelings about motherhood. Having lived through an unwanted pregnancy from a man married to someone else only to see that baby die...” (Moers 246)
Frankenstein may perhaps be known as one of the most mysterious piece of literature for its time. An unimaginable tale that posses its countless controversies. This novel will continue to have critics examining, dissecting, assessing, for centuries to come; trying to find its true meaning and inspiration. Mary Shelley is the only one who will ever know. Regardless, it is hard to argue that whether subconsciously or not, pieces of Mary Shelly portrays her life’s grief, pain and anger that will forever be embedded in Frankenstein. So whenever there is an interpretation it will undoubtedly be referred back to a time in Mary Shelley’s life.

Work Cited

Shelley, Mary, and J. Paul. Hunter. Frankenstein. New York: W.W. Norton &, 1996. Print.

Moers, Ellen. “Female Gothic: The Monster’s Mother.” Frankenstein. Ed. J. P. Hunter. New York: Norton & Company, 1996. 214-224. Print.



Lipking, Lawrence. “Frankenstein, the True Story; or, Rousseau Judges Jean-Jacques.” Frankenstein. Ed. J. P. Hunter. New York: Norton & Company, 1996. 313-330. Print.



Anonymous. From Edinburgh Magazine (March 1818). Frankenstein. Ed. J. P. Hunter. New York: Norton & Company, 1996. 191-196. Print.