Frankenstein

Science Fiction is a branch of literature that explores the possibilities of human scientific advances, especially technological ones. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (published in 1818) was a sign of the sort which was established by Jules Verne's novels of the late 1800's. HG Wells at the turn of the twentieth century brought more scientific strictness in his works, such as The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds. Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke are among the most familiar writers of science fiction of the modern era (Cambridge Encyclopaedia, 1994). However, works from an earlier time, Frankenstein and I Robot have had a profound influence on thinking about science and its relationship to humanity and the world we live in. This essay explores the cultural legacy of these two

works and seeks to explain why they have been so influential.

Frankenstein explores many issues related to science and humanity. Behrendt has identified

some of the themes as individual and class alienation, social conditioning, gender

stereotyping, conflict between rational intellect and intuitive emotion and the revisionist

Romantic view of the relation between God and humanity (1990). Alienation is seen in the

fact that Frankenstein left community to do his experiments, and refused to share with others

what he had found; at the same time he utterly abandoned the life that he created (Madigan

2000, cited in Penner nd). Gender stereotyping is noted by Johnson (1987) who sees the

novel as the story of a man who usurps the female role by physically giving birth. Alienation

and gender are linked in the fact that the monster becomes a premeditating murderer only

when Victor destroys the half-finished female.

The context in which the novel was written seems to have been an important

influence. Critics believe that Shelley was reacting to the science of her time when

scientists studied the elusive boundary between life and death, through experiments

which tried to restore life to persons who had recently died by using electricity (US

National Library of Medicine 2002). The model for Frankenstein may be the Scottish

scientist James Lind, a school menot

r to Shelley's husband; Mary became intrigued

with tales of his experiments (SMH 2/5/02). Tim Marshall (1995) gives a different

perspective: just after the publication of Frankenstein the science of anatomy aroused

controversy because of the infamous case of Burke and Hare [found guilty in

Edinburgh of murdering at least 15 people to obtain bodies for dissection]. In 1832,

the Anatomy Act granted anatomists access to unclaimed bodies from the

workhouses. Before this time, dissection was a feared and hated punishment for

murder but the Anatomy Act, according to Richardson (1989, cited in Marshall 1995)

successfully redefined poverty as crime. The ensuing publicity made Frankenstein

even more popular.

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Relation between God and humanity is another issue. Joyce Carol Oates (1987)

believes that no one in the novel is evil. The universe is emptied of the concept of

God and assumptions of good and evil, and this constitutes the novel's modernity. The

monster is Frankenstein's deepest self and hints at his secret wish for self-destruction.

It is no wonder that many people believe that the monster rather than his creator is

called Frankenstein. Madigan (2000, cited in Penner nd ) believes that Shelley's novel

is not condemning creative science but pointing out that scientists should be aware of

what they are creating. If scientists decide to "play God" in the interests of

compassion and the search for an understanding of the whole of life, there would be

no problem.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, published in 1886, is another work which

emphasises the duality of human nature. It is one of the most horrific depictions of the human

potential for evil ever written and the names 'Jekyll' and 'Hyde' have become synonymous

with the idea of split personality. Like Frankenstein, it depicts a creature turned diabolic as

the result of rejection and hatred. 'Hyde is never an angel but not originally a devil either'

(Eigner 1966, p.161). It is a rewriting of the Frankenstein myth in another way: the

misguided scientist is eventually destroyed by his own creation. But there is an important

difference. Frankenstein and the monster are separate being but Jekyll and Hyde are the one

person; by committing suicide Jekyll kills Hyde as well (Hammond 1984).The novel is also a

profound study of hypocrisy: by adopting the mask of Hyde, Jekyll