How Does Mary Shelley Explore the Idea of Society in Frankenstein?
Summary:
Shelley explores the mindset of society in Frankenstein through demonstrating the way in which society members treat a living product of scientific knowledge, relative to their class, social status and religious beliefs. Shelley suggests that the society of the time did not approve of scientific knowledge as it threatened various elements of society.
How does Shelley explore the idea of society in Frankenstein"
Shelley explores the idea of society in Frankenstein through demonstrating the way in which society members treat a living product of scientific knowledge and how this relates to their class and place in society and their beliefs.
Through depicting society's reaction to the creature that Victor creates as negative, as well as showing Victor's reflections on the turmoil this creature creates, Shelley suggests that the society of the time did not approve of scientific knowledge as it threatened various elements of society. Society's religious beliefs of God being the only pro-creator were threatened by science as Victor has attempted to play the role of God by procreating, as the creature's language suggests "natural lord" "my creator", and uses religiously negative language throughout the novel, for instance "I bore a hell within me which nothing could extinguish" Through this, Shelley is demonstrating society's belief that scientific exploration cannot replace the role that nature plays in creating a natural world; it is portrayed as a threat to the natural world through Victor's line "I pursued nature to her hiding places" which shows that Victor is disturbing nature. This notion is reinforced through Victor's destructive language when describing the creature's appearance, for example "The deformity of its aspects" "demoniacal corpse"; it is evidently physically ugly and repelling. This provides a contrast to several characters created by nature, Justine is described as "the most grateful little creature in the world", Elizabeth as "So dear, so worthy...the purest creature on earth." The French Revolution, which occurred close to the time in which Shelley wrote Frankenstein, theoretically grew violent when the people defied God. By Victor procreating, he is defying God's role and consequently violence will come out of this act. Through this, Shelley enforces the idea that science, which has allowed Victor to defy God, is troublesome and should not be explored.
Shelley explores society's belief that science is a negative knowledge to possess as it is unnatural and nature is the favorable and stronger pro-creator hence it will attempt to destroy any scientists that weaken its role in the world. This is shown through the landscape Victor encounters which seems to impede his way, for example "The wind was unfavourable and the rain fell in torrents"; Victor has explored with science to the point where he is threatening nature, hence nature is attempting to kill him. Science is reinforced as a threat to society as it can be seen as disempowering women's traditional role in society of giving birth as Frankenstein discovers a way of procreating that requires only a male scientist. However the fact that the creature, which has been created with science, creates such turmoil and is unhappy implies that providing nurturing to one's child is necessary for a healthy child; hence Shelley portrays women as useful society members as nurturing is their responsibility. Shelley explored the notion of women being essential members of society through the depiction of Agatha. The only woman in the De Lacey household, she "arranges the cottage and prepares the food", which indirectly allows the De Lacey family to survive as without Agatha the household could not function.
Shelley implies that to succeed in life one must be physically attractive. This is shown through the creature's scary appearance being greatly disadvantageous to him in life; because the creature is physically ugly he repels the company of people and has no friends in life. The fact that Victor does not want to listen to Professor Waldman because he is physically unattractive reinforces the idea of society judging by appearance. Elizabeth being accepted into the Frankenstein family for her beauty suggests that beauty is advantageous in society as Elizabeth is rescued from a poor family with low standards of living by a happy, upper-class and wealthy family. Because the creature that Victor creates is physically ugly, he repels the company of people and has no friends in life. His scary appearance puts him at a great disadvantage in life. This not only suggests that society views beauty as significant but also that money creates happiness. This Marxist notion is further explored through portraying the impoverished De Lacey family to be unhappy; their unhappiness is caused by their impoverished state as the creature suspects, for example "I discovered one of the causes of the uneasiness of this amiable family; it was poverty, and they suffered that evil in a very distressing degree" The fact that poverty is described as evil reinforces the idea that poverty is the root of unhappiness and without money, people cannot be happy; hence money is the root of all happiness in life.
Shelley portrays society to be unjust throughout Frankenstein. Shelley highlights injustice in society from the way the creature is treated; because he is not pleasant to look at he is rejected and mistreated, hence demonstrating society's immorality. Social injustice is shown through the fact that the Frankenstein family, being middle-class, gain various advantages in society merely because of their class in society as Alphonse implies in the lines "I am by birth a Genevese; and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic. My ancestors had been for many years councillors and syndics" which shows that one's family background and therefore class determines one's place in society and therefore opportunities in life. The fact that Justine Frankenstein is executed despite proof of her innocence shows social injustice. "Sweet niece," said my father, "dry your tears. If she is, as you believe, innocent, rely on the justice of our judges, and the activity with which I shall prevent the slightest shadow of partiality
By showing the negative results of scientific exploration and the way in which it can threaten various aspects of society, Shelley explores the ideas of society that were common to her time. Shelley supports Erasmus Darwin, a scientist of the time, in believing that science should be observed but not tampered with. In doing so she is showing society's common rejection of scientist Humphrey Davy's theory which proposed that scientific creation of life is possible and desirable. Through Frankenstein, Shelley explores the idea of society being corrupt by demonstrating the superficiality of their way of judging people by their appearance, demonstrating social injustice and showing that money is necessary for success and happiness in life.
Tess Wetmore
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