Exploration of Themes and Influences in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"

"Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, is the story of a scientist, who creates a human being by joining parts of bodies.

The monster and its creator

The result of the experiment is ugly and revolting. In fact, the Monster becomes a murderer and at the end it destroys his creator.

Both Captain Walton and Doctor Frankenstein tried to go beyond human limits.

The Monster is complementary to his creator: they both suffer from isolation and they both begin with a desire to be good.
It seems that a number of things, like the reading of ghost stories, speculation about the reanimation of corpses or the creation of life, her personal anxieties and the memories of her sense of lass at the death of her own mother were the origin of the novel.

Scientific interest of Mary Shelley

Mary shelley was interested in science, and particularly chemistry; so that by the time she wrote Frankenstein, she was aware of the latest scientific theories and experiments in the fields of chemistry, evolutionism and electricity. These sources provided contrasting scientific attitudes important to Mary Shelley's conception of science in Frankenstein, whose protagonist is the first embodiment of the theme of scienze and its responsability to mankind.

Theme of the double

The three important characters of the novel are Captain Walton, Doctor Frankenstein and the Monster. They are all linked to the theme of the double. Walton is a double of Frankenstein since he manifests the same ambition, the wish to overcome human limits in his travelling towards the unknown, and the same wish for loneliness and pride of being different. Frankenstein and his creature are complementary: they both suffer from a sense of alienation and isolation, both begin with a desire to be good but become obsessed with hate and revenge.