Themes in Frankenstein
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Shelley's themes are largely based upon social themes she faced during her time such as childbirth, abandonment, as well as life and death. It is no secret that the tragedy Shelley face in her personal life affected the themes of her work immensely.
Child birth is a theme of Frankenstein because it challenges the natural way of bringing life into the world, the story questions whether it is too powerful for humanity to create life by other means than natural birth. This theme brings into question modern sciences and actions that have taken place in today's world such as abortion, vitro fertilization, and child rearing in general. The Being is created outside the womb much like vitro fertilization where technicians create a human by combining eggs with a sperm, when Victor disposes of the female for The Being he is essentially choosing not to abort the creature, and finally when The Being is brought to life it is essentially an infant, it "muttered some inarticulate sounds" at Victor with "one hand stretched out" similar to a toddler wanting to me picked up by a parent (71). Yet another theme carried out in Frankenstein is the condemnation of the innocent. After bringing The Being to life Victor denounces It, which is essentially an infant to the world he is brought into. Then in Chapter 8 Justine feels responsible for Williams death because she gave him the necklace and then she is executed for the murder when in actuality Victor and the audience both know The Being is responsible for the child's death. In addition to the previous theme there is another underlying theme of guilt throughout the novel, each character feels responsible for the actions of others and situations that are out of their control. For instance, in chapter 8 Justine feels responsible for Williams death because she gave him the necklace that he asked for believing that someone must have attacked him to steal the gold necklace. Then before Justine's sentencing she Victor claims the courts decision was the "result of [his] curiosity and lawless devices would cause the death of two of [his] fellow beings.." (110). Victor ultimately feels responsible for the deaths of those he love's and it each death burdens him further and further until he sees no light in the world by killing The Being to avenge everyone's death. |