The Influenceptions In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

A novel whose distortion led to its simultaneous preservation as the emblematic framework for science fiction, Frankenstein. Frankenstein’s influence, or pop culture’s regurgitation of this novel, seems to permeate society in more abundance than the original form of the book. Both versions have their own audience and different reputations. Frankenstein is a worthwhile read, even if it is being read comparatively to pop cultural misconceptions. Despite an excessively foreshadowed plot, Shelley’s (the plot’s) ability to separate the reader from the setting while heightening a keen capacity in the reader to become more familiar with the spectrum of human emotions is enthralling and valuable. Mary Shelley foregrounded the feeling of estrangement now associated with science fiction. …show more content…
I was always familiar with “It’s alive!” and a large green man. I assumed the story was his narrative entirely, and of course that his own name was Frankenstein. Instead we have a monster, human in every aspect besides his creation, desperate for his creator to feel in accordance with the joy he imagines himself to be capable of. Both characters demand that the reader engage in the “who’s at fault for the other’s dejection” debate.
Even in indelible absence, Victor and the monster plague each other’s existence, both seeming to exist in excess. Victor’s volatile emotions become a constituent element of his persona, exceeding Mary Shelley’s portrayal. Similarly, the monster appears to others, and the reader, as overwhelming overflow from his own representational confinement. This renders the monster unintelligible, and therefore