The creator
"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
As Francisco De Goya once stated, “Fantasy,
abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the
mother of the arts and the origin of marvels.” (Brainyquote) Mary Shelley’s fantasy was that of a dream; a nightmare that bore the
masterpiece we now call Frankenstein
and cherish for its classical horror tale.
The monster had originally been taken by Mary Shelley to be portrayed as the wayward scientist, Victor Frankenstein. Modern day interpretations of Frankenstein have manipulated the monster to become others such as the creature itself, society and the creator.
The monster had originally been taken by Mary Shelley to be portrayed as the wayward scientist, Victor Frankenstein. Modern day interpretations of Frankenstein have manipulated the monster to become others such as the creature itself, society and the creator.
Presented throughout Mary Shelley's novel and the films created, Frankenstein pointedly directs the image of the monster being the creator, not the created. Though the modern day films mainly portray the monster to be the creature due to his aggravated assaults and murders, however Shelley's novel and several overlooked details within the films hint at a more subtle monster in the midst. “Frankenstein's monster was a good man
in an appallingly ugly body. His countrymen could have been educated to accept
him, but the person responsible for that instruction--his creator, Victor
Frankenstein--ran away from his foremost duty, and abandoned his creation at
first sight. Victor's sin does not lie in misuse of technology or hubris in
emulating God; we cannot find these themes in Mary Shelley's account. Victor
failed because he followed a predisposition of human nature--visceral
disgust at the monster's appearance--and
did not undertake the duty of any creator or parent: to teach his own charge
and to educate others in acceptance.” (Gould) Instead of taking the responsibility for his actions and taking care of the creature, Victor Frankenstein instead fled from the creature, leaving the being to fail in understanding why it had been created. Victor should
have taken responsibility for his own creation, no matter far off from idealism
it was. The creature would have reacted in turn to his creator’s initial
actions and thoughts, and with Victor’s horror, the creature reacted in the
same manner, causing for a chain reaction of startling events throughout the
novel and the films.
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On the other hand, text presented by Mary Shelley herself allows for readers to insinuate a deeper understanding of her responses. “My hideous
progeny...‘How I, then a young girl, came to think of, and to
dilate upon, so very hideous an idea?’’ (186) Parallel to the novel itself, Mary Shelley
unfortunately lost her children and her husband and the book was the only
actual product of her life that had been set out into the world and survived
and eventually flourished. Her distaste for the ironic fame and productivity
allows for a deeper view to understand that the creator, Alluding to her personal life within the text, Mary Shelley herself,
is the monster.
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