Nicholas Schweers
LTC Ticen
12/16/18
Overview of Reception
Themes of Responsibility in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”
For my overview of reception of the “ERH-421WX – One Text: Frankenstein” course, I have chosen to focus on the contemporary dilemmas of science that were warned about through the entirety of “Frankenstein”. Throughout “Frankenstein”, Mary Shelley constantly shows how Victor, the creator of the monster, is to be held responsible for how the creature turned out. I focused on this concept in every paper and project that I have worked on for this course. I am fascinated how such a general warning can live on and remain relevant for two hundred years. Shelley, who wrote “Frankenstein” in a time of great scientific achievement, as well as political and societal change, realized that there should be things done in order to prevent science from getting out of hand. When Victor Frankenstein ran from his creation, he left it to a hard world that ended up turning him into a monster. If Victor had given him guidance and raised him as a child, the creature would have been (we suppose) a functioning and healthy member of society. But Shelley also warns us of our actions towards others, showing how the creature was also turned to vengeance because of how all other people treated him. She shows how his morals were inverted by the poor treatment he received at the hands of all whom he encountered, forming him into a true monster. As a whole, she is reminding her readers to be good people, and to be responsible enough to care for and further develop their productions, lest they grow bad and cause more harm than good.
Sources:
“The Gentleman’s Magazine”. 88: 334-335. April, 2018. http://www.rc.umd.edu/reference/chronologies/mschronology/reviews/gentlemansmag
Reed, Edward S. “From Soul to Mind: The Emergence of Psychology, from Erasmus Darwin to William James”. Yale University Press, 1997. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/j.ctt32bjtm.6.pdf?refreqid=search%3Aaf7a05a4816df74401f53109d9c89a2c
Ziolkowski, Theodore. “Science, Frankenstein, and Myth”. The Sewanee Review, Vol 89. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/27543797.pdf?refreqid=search%3Aaf7a05a4816df74401f53109d9c89a2c
Baumann, Rebecca. “Frankenstein 200: The Birth, Life, and Resurrection of Mary Shelley’s Monster”. Indiana University Press, 2018. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/j.ctt22p7j32.11.pdf?refreqid=search%3A76d1935e8fa51431c0373ed7c473ddd9