Frankenstein: A Warning or Homage to Modern Scientists

“A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs”

(Shelley Chapter 4)

Before Victor created monster

- Only focused on positive outcome

- Distractions from other consequences

“ I was now about to form another being of whose dispositions I was alike ignorant; she might become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate and delight, for its own sake, in murder and wretchedness ... I shuddered to think that future ages might curse me as their pest, whose selfishness had not hesitated to buy its own peace at the price, perhaps, of the existence of the whole human race”

(Shelley Chapter 20)

After Victor created monster

- All possibilities

- Frankenstein more experienced

“ I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body… but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep”

(Shelley Chapter 5)

First impression of monster

- Ugliness of monster

- No love for creation

“Believe me, Frankenstein, I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity; but am I not alone, miserably alone? You, my creator, abhor me; what hope can I gather from your fellow creatures, who owe me nothing?”

(Shelley Chapter 10)

Turning of monster to evil

- Turn evil because of Frankenstein

- Kills Frankenstein's loved ones