Percy Shelley on "Frankenstein"

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             In studying Frankenstein, I have read a most interesting and informative review. It is an article appropriately titled “On Frankenstein” by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley’s husband. It was written in 1817, but was not published until after Percy’s death. (Shelley, 185) I find it not only informative, but I consider it to very reliable. After all, who would better understand the writings, thoughts and feelings of an author but the spouse? He also gives us an insight into the thinking of Mary Shelley. He points out that Mary wanted us to see the deepest and least accessible human feelings, those of love, hate, and loneliness. He writes concerning the novel, “The elementary feelings of the human mind are exposed to view…there is perhaps no reader, who can endure anything beside a new love story, who will not feel a responsive string touched in his inmost soul.” (Shelley, 185) He points out that Mary has not merely focused on the horror and hideousness of unethical scientific research, but that she has also created a much more terrifying reality, that of rejection which is far worse because it is a reality. This he says is the point of the novel, the real meaning behind the monster novel that Mary wrote.

In my reading of “Frankenstein”, I must say that I agree with Percy Shelley on the meaning of the tale. The emotions and feelings of the characters are poignantly displayed, making the reader feel with the characters, even the monster. Percy only confirms for me that I did not miss the point of the book. Mary wants us to know what life without friendship, without love would be like. In his desperation, the monster turns to violence. This is the unfortunate result of negelect and osctracization. Percy percieves this and writes, “It is thus that too often in society, those who are best qualified to be its benefactors and its ornaments,are branded by some accident with scorn, and changed, by neglect and solitude of heart, into a scourge and a curse.” (Shelley, 186) As holloween approaches, that day of which the monster of Frankenstein is a mascot, let’s not forget the true meaning of the classic work “Frankenstein”. Remember those around us who are cast out, left behind, or feel unwanted. It is time to take some advice from Mary Shelley and avoid “Frankenstein” from becoming a reality.

Link to a biography of Percy Shelley: http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/shelley/bio.html

Works Cited

Norton Critical Edition. Frankenstein. New York: Norton and Company Inc., 1996.