Passion, Creation, and Nature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Or the Modern Prometheus

by Shawn Hassen

Some of the key themes upon which Shelley comments in her novel Frankenstein, Or the Modern Prometheus, include the dangers of passion, creator vs. creation, and nature vs. nurture.

Theme: Passion (Crossing the Boundaries)

This idea is emphasized by the “frame story” construction of the novel. Walton, on his northern sea quest, is bound and determined beyond all reason to complete his mission despite the dangers to his men (who are overtly terrified). It is this “at-all-costs” determination that inspires Victor to tell his tale, a tale of loss and tragedy upon tragedy, brought on by his own similarly stubborn pursuit of a passion beyond all reason (and arguably, the monster’s stubborn pursuit, in turn). Shelley clearly warns of the danger of all-consuming passion.

Theme: Humans as Creator

Victor’s dramatic response upon his creature’s awakening is dramatic for a purpose--to highlight his incapability as a creator. When the monster awakens, Victor is horrified. The beast is unsightly and gruesome to look at. Not only is Victor incapable of creating something that isn’t hideous, but he is so ruled by emotions of fear and repulsion that he totally abandons his creation, calling into serious question whether or not a human has the qualifications to create life. Shelley’s readers would have been very familiar with the Biblical account of creation, and this is anything but.

Theme: Nurture vs. Nature

Shelley implies that the monster was born relatively table rasa. He recounts his own development—curiosity and the ability to learn language—as well as the stirring of new emotions such as kindness, gratitude, and love. Once he is rejected by his beloved cottagers, however, he begins to question and doubt his existence and his creator. The more he pursues Victor, the more Victor rejects him. And the more Victor (and the world) reject the monster, the angrier and more desperate the beast becomes.  Whether Shelley intends to parallel the monster’s table rasa “birth” to humans is unclear, but it is certainly a powerful commentary on the effects of environment and human interaction.

Theme: Revenge as Justice

 As the monster wrecks continued tragedies upon Victor, seeking revenge for his loneliness and hideousness, Victor likewise declares revenge on the monster. Through their destruction of others and ultimately themselves, Shelley solidly calls into question the efficacy of vigilante justice.

Theme: Alienation/Isolation

 Once the monster is rejected and alienated, anger and violence become the guiding force in his solitary life. Likewise, Victor deteriorates from the inside out, as well. As family members and friends are stripped from him, he sinks into a solitary despair and then becomes, much like the monster, singularly focused on revenge. As both of these characters spiral into a dangerous isolation, Shelley makes clear the need for human interaction, comradeship, and compassion.

The Novel’s Correlations/Contrasts to Scripture

Scripture warns against idolatry in any form, and we can often find ourselves dangerously enslaved by our passions. The trail of damage that both Victor and the monster leave parallel the Bible’s warnings about making our own interests and passions ultimate. When we determine our own paths with blind determination, we often leave a trail of damage, as well. Revenge, or vigilante justice is a perfect example of blind determination, and scripture warns that revenge belongs only to the Lord.

Shelley also gives us a valuable warning about the act of creation, paralleling the biblical belief that only God has the capability of or “qualifications for” creating life. It is a sobering reminder not only of humans’ incapacity to generate life out of nothing, but also humans’ incapacity to pursue and love and care for at all costs. Only the God of the Universe creates, pursues, loves, cares for, teaches--and never abandons--His creation. This novel also provides a sound warning to the modern scientific community as there is more and more exploration into cloning and artificial intelligence.

The other aspect of creation--the being that has been created—must also give us pause. Frankenstein’s monster is an implied human. He has a human patchworked anatomy of sorts, but he is never actually considered to be a human—only a monster—perhaps to allow Shelley to more easily create sympathy for him (in order to vilify Victor for his recklessness) or to make clear that humans cannot create humans. Either way, we are meant to consider him human-like enough to see the comparisons and contrasts to Biblical creation. Students will recognize Victor as creator and see how he contrasts to God as Creator. And whether or not the monster is the perfect parallel, they will view the monster as the created (human). This, then, offers a great theological point of discussion. Scripture tells us that no man seeks God. Unlike the monster who initially longs to be cared for and to have relationship with his creator, natural man does not cry out for God. Unregenerate humans are fleeing God’s authority, not seeking relationship with their Creator. It is God who seeks out/calls/chooses/stirs the longing in our hearts. In response to God’s stirring within us, Christians then pursue their Father and develop that relationship over the years and through the process of sanctification with help, teaching, and guidance from the Holy Spirit. The fact that this monster pursues his creator, while not a biblical parallel to humans, does certainly emphasize the destruction caused by abandonment, rejection, isolation, and loneliness. Humans were created for relationship and community, and this novel is a sobering reminder not only of our individual needs to receive companionship, care, and compassion, but also our responsibility to provide companionship, care, and compassion.   

Two other significant, related ideas worth noting in this novel are personal responsibility and repentance. Students typically become increasingly frustrated by Victor as he spends much of the novel feeling sorry for himself when he is, himself, a large contributor to his own misery and the murders of friends and family. Victor’s passion to dabble in the dark sciences turns into a passion to deny his wrongdoing or to take responsibility for it. Students will debate whether or not he should have or could have ended the violence by creating the helpmate the monster created--after all, they will point out, God knew Adam needed Eve. (Another check mark for Victor’s cluelessness as a creator). Other students will debate that two wrongs don’t make a right, and the monster might have been lying anyway. Either way, it is clear that Victor never changes courses. His fear quickly turns to cowardice, and there are multiple times when he could choose to own his mistake, seek forgiveness, and offer reconciliation--yet he stubbornly never does.

The same can be said of the monster. He expresses regret when he sees Victor’s dead body, but posthumous guilt and remorse are by no means repentance. He remains on his course of revenge seemingly unmoved by his crimes until the end. Arguably, he ultimately confesses responsibility (which Victor only hints at), but never in time to change the trajectory of death and destruction.

Repentance is a biblical concept that students commonly misunderstand--they tend to think of it as just “saying sorry.” But how many times do we apologize for something and then do the exact same thing again and again? Repentance is something much deeper as explained by Scripture--in fact, it is how we respond to God initially at salvation. We see our deep failure and inability. When we repent before God, which we are called to do routinely as Christians, we experience a heartfelt sorrow for trying to do something on our own--for taking matters into our own hands and serving our own selfish interests (the very definition of sin). Through the process of repentance, we ask God to forgive us for placing ourselves above His authority, and we cry out for mercy and help to overcome and turn away from this sin. He is faithful to teach us and mature us through these hard moments. Repenting is turning away from sin and turning toward God for restoration, so repenting of our sins to other people will produce change and progress and break the “sorry” cycle of repeat offense.  Both main characters in this novel stubbornly pursue their own interests and refuse repentance to the destruction of themselves and others.