Frankenstein is a story about betrayal. Frankenstein would not have been able to create his monster if all of those who helped him were not selfish, but that’s just what happened. Frankenstein’s closest friends betrayed him and Frankenstein betrayed the monster as well. Frankenstein was also betrayed by his family and even his own parents! Frankenstein’s monster was betrayed by Frankenstein himself.
Frankenstein doesn’t want anyone to ever find out that he created the monster, but Frankenstein told everyone Frankenstein has created the monster right after Frankenstein made him! Frankenstein didn’t even show his creation enough love to name him (and Frankenstein was supposed to be “unable” to give names). And so many other people betrayed Frankenstein and his monster throughout the book, too. The betrayal of Frankenstein’s closest friends is first seen when Frankenstein brought his friends together so they could help him create a human being from old body parts.
Frankenstein asked all of them for help without thinking about how they might feel afterward if they helped Frankenstein create a being that would have all its life ahead of it just like Frankenstein’s friends. Frankenstein’s monster was Frankenstein’s best friend, but Frankenstein told everyone Frankenstein has created the monster and that Frankenstein didn’t know how to make a human being (which is what Frankenstein said when Frankenstein first revealed himself to Frankenstein).
Mary Shelley betrayed Frankenstein by not thinking about how Frankenstein might have felt if she ever published a book telling everybody who made the horror of Frankenstein come alive. Mary Shelley knew it would be easy for anybody to find out who had written this book, so it makes sense that Mary Shelley never tried to publish Frankenstein or any other books after this one because of all those who were killed throughout the story.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley tells the tale of Frankenstein, a doctor who is unable to accept death as inevitable. Frankenstein instead seeks to conquer mortality by using his knowledge of science and alchemy with human body parts from graveyards to create a new being that he names Frankenstein’s Monster.
Frankenstein soon comes to find out numerous flaws in his creation, including the Monster’s lack of knowledge on how to speak, Frankenstein’s own disgust at Frankenstein’s Monster, Frankenstein’s father being murdered by Frankenstein’s Monster, Frankenstein fleeing from his creation thus not only abandoning Frankenstein but also making Frankenstein feel extreme guilt once he realizes what consequences his actions have brought. Many critics believe that Mary Shelley is attempting to convey Frankenstein’s hubris by portraying Frankenstein as someone who is flawed in his need to create something new and perfect.
Frankenstein wants to act as a God, but Frankenstein’s hubris leads Frankenstein instead to become the opposite of what he intended with Frankenstein’s Monster becoming Frankenstein’s complete opposite in every way. By creating life Frankenstein believes that he will be able to control the outcome through his knowledge; however, Mary Shelley suggests that this can’t be done no matter how much knowledge one has because there is always more than what meets the eye.
The idea that one can never fully understand something or know all there is about it can also be seen within Frankenstein where Victor Frankenstein says “Could I create, could I revive if indeed I had already created my fellow-creatures and breathed a soul into them? ” Frankenstein’s Monster later comes to life, but Frankenstein fails to communicate with Frankenstein’s Monster. Frankenstein cannot understand Frankenstein’s Monster and Frankenstein therefore cannot control Frankenstein’s Monster like Frankenstein wants too.
While Mary Shelley does not explicitly state the notion that humanity is flawed in its knowledge of nature, she implies this by portraying Frankenstein as someone who initially has the best intentions yet fails to create something perfect because it is impossible for humans to fully understand nature. The depiction of how Frankenstein abandons his creation shows that human beings are unable to trust anything they do not understand; while Frankenstein feels bad for abandoning his monster he also fears what will come upon him if he continues his relationship with his monster.
Critics believe that while Frankenstein does feel guilty for his actions Frankenstein views Frankenstein’s Monster as a thing and therefore Frankenstein does not truly care about Frankenstein’s Monster. This is made evident within Mary Shelley’s novel where Frankenstein says “I looked on the being I had cast among mankind; I saw him staggering beneath the oppressive weight of new existence, sinking beneath it. ” Frankenstein feels pity for Frankenstein’s Monster yet Frankenstein also realizes that Frankenstein cannot keep up with Frankenstein and thus wants to end Frankenstein’s life.
Mary Shelley suggests that because Frankenstein has created something he has no control over, this reflects how humans will always be unable to fully understand nature thus making human beings feel as if they need to destroy what they don’t know or understand in order to protect themselves. While there are undeniably numerous flaws within Frankenstein Mary Shelley suggests that Frankenstein is not truly evil since Frankenstein does feel some guilt for abandoning Frankenstein’s Monster.
Frankenstein’s Monster later decides to kill Frankenstein by creating a female partner for Frankenstein’s Monster, but the two are unable to create life. This shows how human beings also have trouble with reproduction because it requires both man and woman, thus suggesting that even though Mary Shelley believes humans are flawed in their knowledge of nature she also believes there may be hope when humanity works together to find answers.
Frankenstein is a true betrayal of nature, as Frankenstein creates life violating the laws of God and Nature. Frankenstein’s monster is used as proof for this accusation. Frankenstein creates his creature after studying anatomy and tries to instill feelings into it, Frankenstein’s monster takes these advances and uses them against Frankenstein creating a monster that Frankenstein could not control (Fradenburg). Frankenstein’s monster is truly an object of evil and Frankenstein was truly a mad scientist.
Frankenstein’s monster is “an example of Frankenstein’s tampering with nature’s ways” (Fradenburg). Frankenstein creates life in the disgusting fashion that he does, taking parts from different bodies and animating them into one, Frankenstein has violated nature by creating other beings to only kill their peers which goes against God’s wishes for all things to be equal. Frankenstein should have never attempted to create life; this act went against everything that he had been taught and did not take its consequences seriously enough.
