What Is Mary Shelley’s Relationship To The Enlightenment? Essay, Research Paper

The Enlightenment broadly means the new wave of ideas and attitudes which surfaced during the late seventeenth an eighteenth centuries. They attempted to break free from old ideas and institutions such as the Catholic church. The Enlightenment had many facets, it was involved in science, philosophy, religion, politics, society, economics and nearly every other aspect of life. A number of philosophers during this time were interested in the notion of “the state of nature”, this is a hypothetical situation of what human life was like before society was formed. It was argued that in the state of nature the human soul was fully exposed, this could help the present society to create a peaceful, harmonious and virtuous framework to live in. The conceptions of the state of nature varied greatly, from Hobbes’ bloody war against all to Rousseau’s belief in the noble savage – satisfied with the most basic requirements. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus in 1818. It is about a young scientist who manages to create a living monster. However, the monster is then left to its own devices and cast out of society. The monster becomes bitter and takes revenge on its creator. The book can be seen to have a number of interpretations, it was written towards the end of the Enlightenment period and so draws from this way of thinking. It can be seen as an argument against the advancement of science and a kind of proleptic for scientists such as Einstein, or comment on the French revolution. It is however best interpreted as an argument for the Enlightenment and what it stands for. The hometown for Frankenstein is Geneva, a city widely considered to have been an Enlightenment ‘hotbed’ with philosophers such as Rousseau residing there. It was also considered democratic ( an Enlightenment desire ) for its time. Mary Shelley was English and so it appears unnatural to set the story here and not , for example, in London. The two main characters in the book are Victor Frankenstein, the creator and the monster. These two characters appear to possess the goodness of the Enlightenment period and the neglect of the ‘Pre-enlightenment’ period. They are both well educated from books, but because the type of books read are so different, they become very different people. Victor Frankenstein is a Pre-enlightenment scientist. His work is based on people such as Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535), Paracelsus (1493-1541) and Albertus Magnus (1193-1280) who were alchemists and magicians. There are continual references to the uselessness of these scientists, for example, Victors father refers to Cornelius Agrippa as, “sad trash” ( Volume I Chapter II ). Later, M. Krempe, a university professor who finds out about Victors’ studies says, “Every instant that you have wasted on those books is utterly and entirely lost….In what desert have you lived, where no one kind enough to inform you that these fancies….are a thousand years old and as musty as they are ancient? I little expected, in this enlightened and scientific age, to find a disciple of Albertus Magnus and Paracelsus….you must begin your studies entirely anew.” ( Volume I Chapter III ) Victor himself remarks that with hindsight the science he studied was somehow bad, “I feel exquisite pleasure in dwelling on the recollections of childhood, before misfortune had tainted my mind, and changed its bright visions of extensive usefulness into gloomy and narrow reflections upon itself.” ( Volume I Chapter II ) Shelleys’ contempt for Pre-enlightenment science can be clearly seen early on, she also uses the phrase, “this enlightened and scientific age,” which shows awareness of the Enlightenment period. Victor manages to create the monster which he describes as a catastrophe. He realises that he has created something far from beautiful and quickly becomes frightened.He flees from the monster and hopes that the next time he visits the college the monster has gone. Victor had worked for two years on this accomplishment and never had the foresight to decide what to do with the monster if he was successful. Many Enlightenment philosophers ( for example, Rene Descartes ) would have dearly loved to have been able to educate an adult mind which had no preconceptions about anything. Victor failed to instruct, guide, educate, give it a companion or integrate the monster into society , he did not even name it, something which can be seen not only to be negligent and immoral but against Enlightenment principles and ideas about education. Victor is punished for this by the monster who persecutes him. Victors’ character has many negative characteristics, he is an introvert riddled with guilt powered mainly by desire and revenge on his own creation, his temper can be violent and his passions are vehement. It can be asserted that if aesthetics are forgotten about, it is Victor who is the true ‘mad monster’, many clues are given by Shelley, for example, Victor says, “In a fit of enthusiastic madness I created a rational creature.” ( Volume III Chapter VII). The monster is in stark contrast to Victor, it is educated to Enlightenment ideas through books such as Volney’s “Ruins of Empires” (1791) and John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” ( 1667 and 1674 ).Because of this it is rational ( that is guided by a form of reason and not desire ), sane and to an extent virtuous and tranquil. If looks are ignored, the monster is a highly educated enlightened man, who has the same needs and desires as a human and is ready to accept ‘the social contract’. But society refuses to accept it because of their prejudices against such a deformity. The monster becomes very lonely, turns bitter and declares an everlasting war against the human race, especially against Victor. The monster is essentially in how Shelley sees the state of nature, at first it is completely uneducated and follows it desires for basic comforts such as water, food, warmth and shelter. It is naturally content and ready to be filled with ‘ever greater goodness’. This is how the Enlightenment philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his book “A Discourse on inequality.” also sees the state of nature. Gradually however, the monster learns about itself through its own reason, experiences and observations, it becomes corrupt and prejudiced against humans. It finds out who its creator is through a diary which it had taken from Victors’ lab, and decides to try to seek him out. This first part of the monsters life, that is before he becomes bitter, can be interpreted as Shelleys discourse on the state of nature. The second part of the monsters life can be seen to be an analogy of what was occurring at that time. The monster has the mind of an enlightened man and so thinks in the ways of the Enlightenment, he is also excluded and persecuted by a corrupt society because of the prejudice which exists. Parallels can be drawn with many ( particularly early ) Enlightenment writers who had similar beliefs as the monster, who had books banned, were exiled to foreign lands and excommunicated, therefore also out of society. The monster can therefore be seen to be firstly, the intellect of these writers and secondly, the anger at being rejected and persecuted by the institutions, particularly the Catholic church, for being ‘different’. This therefore makes Victor an analogy for the institutions which construct society, they both have contempt for Enlightenment ideas and foundations in Pre-enlightenment ethics. They are there waiting to be toppled by Enlightenment thinking in the form of the monster and so try to suppress and destroy it. There are a lot of references to miscarriages of justice, in Frankenstein. This is another parallel to Enlightenment thinking, where how society functions and regulates itself is very important. Shelley shows the fallibility of society and the monstrosity of the institutions through the examples of justice. These are principally the execution of Justine Moritz and the release of Victor in Ireland. Victor considers himself guilty of the murders which the monster commits because of his neglect to prevent them. The wrongful conviction and execution of Justine is central to the development of Victors character, it is the factor which guilts him and leads him to revengeful ideas, “she was….innocent, but the fangs of remorse tore my bosom and would not forego their hold”. In Ireland, Victor is found innocent of murder, when he sees that the monster has killed his friend Clerval he comments, “Have my murderous machinations deprived you also..of life?” ( Volume III Chapter IV ) . This clearly shows that Frankenstein shares the guilt inside himself. But the laws do not allow conviction of this kind and so he walks free. Shelley writes about the “wretched mockery of justice” ( Volume I Chapter VIII ) and appears to be using these instances, particularly Justines, to offer a critique showing how justice is imperfect and needs to be improved. The prejudice in Justines trial meant that it is impossible for justice to occur, Victor comments “the popular voice and the countenances of the judges had already condemned my unhappy victim.” ( Volume I Chapter VIII ) The tyranny of the French and Turkish states on a Turkish merchant and a French family and the consequent ‘foul play’ by the Turk, as told by the monster again shows the injustice which occurs. But it also shows the cruelty and prejudice which humans in society lay upon each other. The Turk promises to help the French family in exchange for his life, but he does not. Again Shelley is showing how society is very fragile and very little is needed to expose the monster that lies underneath. In conclusion, it can be seen that Mary Shelley can be interpreted as a pro enlightenment writer.