There is a saying that goes: "Life is stranger than fiction." Another one says that some things are so strange that they could not possibly be made up. Mary Shelley wrote, Frankenstein, a novel about a young scientist named Victor Frankenstein who creates a monster and brings it to life leading to dire consequences for both the creator and creation alike. "The story, continually told in the first person, keeps the reader always closely linked to the character. At times it is not clear exactly who is speaking, leaving the reader with a sense of uncertainty about the boundaries separating these characters from one another and from Shelley herself." (123) Although the premise of the story is fiction, there are elements of the story which parallel
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Ironically, it results in her father disowning her it may perhaps have stemmed from her parents who "lived unorthodox lives" and "were each staunch opponents of the institution of marriage and only agreed to marry as a means to avoid Mary’s bastardization." (120-121) The fact that Mary and Victor both lose their mothers is one of the most important parallel aspects of their lives. Because of the profound loss, each resorts to behaviors which seem unfavorable to outsiders, but are actually ineffective ways of expressing their deep-seeded pain. According to D'Amato:
Her internal conflicts surrounding motherhood and mothering were, however, being processed within this story on purely unconscious and perhaps somatic levels, beginning with her dream. Victor Frankenstein abandons his creation, making Victor a would-be-mother who relinquished his role. This thread in the story may suggest that writing is safer than actually giving birth. Yet bearing and losing children enacts Mary’s repetition and appears to have been a necessity in her life. Frankenstein may have simply been Shelley’s record of that life. Yet, Frankenstein, like all literary work, gave Shelley eternal life. …show more content…
Each of them is longing and searching for connection: the struggle against isolation is central to each repetitive story. As in a dream, all of the figures in Frankenstein appear to represent some psychical piece of Shelley. The story, continually told in the first person, keeps the reader always closely linked to the character. At times it is not clear exactly who is speaking, leaving the reader with a sense of uncertainty about the boundaries separating these characters from one another and from Shelley herself. (123)
Shelley may have regarded herself as a murderer and possibly held herself responsible not only for the death of her mother, but also for the deaths of her biological progeny. (127)
Ambivalence surrounded her role in her mother’s death because she never really knew if she was the cause, i.e., the murderer or the consequence, i.e., an abandoned victim. Utilizing these deeply buried emotions, she created a story that universalized the fear of both abandonment and connection.
Ironically, it results in her father disowning her it may perhaps have stemmed from her parents who "lived unorthodox lives" and "were each staunch opponents of the institution of marriage and only agreed to marry as a means to avoid Mary’s bastardization." (120-121) The fact that Mary and Victor both lose their mothers is one of the most important parallel aspects of their lives. Because of the profound loss, each resorts to behaviors which seem unfavorable to outsiders, but are actually ineffective ways of expressing their deep-seeded pain. According to D'Amato:
Her internal conflicts surrounding motherhood and mothering were, however, being processed within this story on purely unconscious and perhaps somatic levels, beginning with her dream. Victor Frankenstein abandons his creation, making Victor a would-be-mother who relinquished his role. This thread in the story may suggest that writing is safer than actually giving birth. Yet bearing and losing children enacts Mary’s repetition and appears to have been a necessity in her life. Frankenstein may have simply been Shelley’s record of that life. Yet, Frankenstein, like all literary work, gave Shelley eternal life. …show more content…
Each of them is longing and searching for connection: the struggle against isolation is central to each repetitive story. As in a dream, all of the figures in Frankenstein appear to represent some psychical piece of Shelley. The story, continually told in the first person, keeps the reader always closely linked to the character. At times it is not clear exactly who is speaking, leaving the reader with a sense of uncertainty about the boundaries separating these characters from one another and from Shelley herself. (123)
Shelley may have regarded herself as a murderer and possibly held herself responsible not only for the death of her mother, but also for the deaths of her biological progeny. (127)
Ambivalence surrounded her role in her mother’s death because she never really knew if she was the cause, i.e., the murderer or the consequence, i.e., an abandoned victim. Utilizing these deeply buried emotions, she created a story that universalized the fear of both abandonment and connection.