Someone told me that this Gothic horror novel was actually an allegory for a girl going through adolescence.
I don't know about that, but both the characters of Victor Frankenstein and the creature he assembled (basically in his college dorm) are deep, troubled, and tortured much like ANY teenager, male or female.
The back story is that she was snowbound with her husband Percy Shelley and his friend Lord Byron and they entertained each other by making up ghost stories. The men bet that a girl couldn't write a decent horror novel and she penned this to prove them wrong. Incidentally, she only about 19 or 20 when she did it!
I can see how parents, artists, and scientist can all identify with either character. Shelley wrote in 1817 that some of it was inspired by Darwin's writing. There are plenty of ways in which this book is still poignant in our times between the rapid advances in technology and bio-sciences and the regression we seem to make in our ethical and societal interactions. Abortion, homosexuality, Islam, racism, intolerance, immigration, economic class, prejudice, and society's concept of beauty... this is a book that struggles with 20th and 21st century struggles, And yes, I can easily see how many of the burdens of both Victor and the creature could be similar to the struggles that teenage girls go through.
Identity, depression, belonging, anger, learning, obsession, relationships, self-image... God... you name it.
It's not all that scary. Brahm Stoker's Dracula is just meant to scare you. Frankenstein is something you can relate to. Hopefully cathartic, definitely deeper, intensely personal. Just as I began to stop empathizing with Victor and started to lose patience with him like some attention seeking, self loathing Emo kid, you finally meet the creature and wow. Nothing like the 1930's green horror movie icon or Mel Brook's 1980 spoof. This creature is smart, articulate, reflective, and someone you can identify with and care about.
I highly recommend this book to everyone, but especially to the young women I know. It may not be as sexy and romantic as the 'Twilight' vampire series many of you are reading, but I can see why this novel is considered a classic.
Has anybody else read it and feel the same way? Has anyone read it and now think that the 30's movie was a travesty? Has anyone seen the movie with Sting and Robert Denero? Is it closer to Mary Shelley's version?
Anybody got a different book you'd recommend that deals with identity like this?
I don't know about that, but both the characters of Victor Frankenstein and the creature he assembled (basically in his college dorm) are deep, troubled, and tortured much like ANY teenager, male or female.
The back story is that she was snowbound with her husband Percy Shelley and his friend Lord Byron and they entertained each other by making up ghost stories. The men bet that a girl couldn't write a decent horror novel and she penned this to prove them wrong. Incidentally, she only about 19 or 20 when she did it!
I can see how parents, artists, and scientist can all identify with either character. Shelley wrote in 1817 that some of it was inspired by Darwin's writing. There are plenty of ways in which this book is still poignant in our times between the rapid advances in technology and bio-sciences and the regression we seem to make in our ethical and societal interactions. Abortion, homosexuality, Islam, racism, intolerance, immigration, economic class, prejudice, and society's concept of beauty... this is a book that struggles with 20th and 21st century struggles, And yes, I can easily see how many of the burdens of both Victor and the creature could be similar to the struggles that teenage girls go through.
Identity, depression, belonging, anger, learning, obsession, relationships, self-image... God... you name it.
It's not all that scary. Brahm Stoker's Dracula is just meant to scare you. Frankenstein is something you can relate to. Hopefully cathartic, definitely deeper, intensely personal. Just as I began to stop empathizing with Victor and started to lose patience with him like some attention seeking, self loathing Emo kid, you finally meet the creature and wow. Nothing like the 1930's green horror movie icon or Mel Brook's 1980 spoof. This creature is smart, articulate, reflective, and someone you can identify with and care about.
I highly recommend this book to everyone, but especially to the young women I know. It may not be as sexy and romantic as the 'Twilight' vampire series many of you are reading, but I can see why this novel is considered a classic.
Has anybody else read it and feel the same way? Has anyone read it and now think that the 30's movie was a travesty? Has anyone seen the movie with Sting and Robert Denero? Is it closer to Mary Shelley's version?
Anybody got a different book you'd recommend that deals with identity like this?
Theodore Von Holst's original frontpiece for Mary Shelley's, 'Frankenstein' published by Colburn and Bentley, London 1831, Steel engraving in book 93 x 71 mm
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