Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus is an eighteenth-century Gothic and Romantic novel that encompasses a monstrosity, murder, and madness. Written by Mary Shelley, the novel narrates the story of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who creates a nameless monster and suffers the consequences of science and knowledge. The creature’s hideous appearance is the reason for the society’s disgust and hatred.
Shelley conceived the idea and wrote Frankenstein in 1816 when the scientists were experimenting with electricity. Many believed the power to create a new race of humans was within the human’s grasp. But the moment Frankenstein succeeded “the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” Thus begins the terrifying chain of murder, which leads Victor to chase his creation.
Throughout the novel, the author portrays the theme of the danger of science in the characters of Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and his creation. Society, since the beginning, always had a thirst for science and knowledge. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley questions the wisdom in a such a pursuit and sends a precautionary warning to the readers. This thirst for science though can become a dangerous endeavor.
The first character that the author introduces that shares the passion for science, knowledge and the unknown is Robert Walton. At the start of this cautionary tale, Walton begins by writing to his sister Margaret Savile and informs her of his craving to seek the unknown. He expressed to her how she cannot imagine all the benefits that he would “confer on all mankind, to the last generation, by discovering a passage near the pole to those countries, to reach which at present so many months are requisite; or by ascertaining the secret of the magnet, which, if at all possible, can only be effected by an undertaking such as mine.”
This quote illustrates how passionately he sought out after knowledge and science. After Walton finds Victor Frankenstein, he explains his pursuit to him. Walton expresses that he would sacrifice “my fortune, my existence, my every hope, to the furtherance of my enterprise.”