To be Frank(enstein): a rant about Mary Shelley’s gothic novel

In 1816, Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron challenged each other one evening to come up with an idea for the most horrifying story they could think of. Mary Shelley certainly achieved this in more ways than one with Frankenstein. However, Shelley’s gothic plot is not the only horrifying thing about the novel: the repetitive scenes, the dull, unlikeable characters and an ending that gives readers absolutely no solace or resolution are equally as terrifying. 

First we should address the man who is meant to make the novel: our beloved protagonist Victor Frankenstein. The protagonist is one of the most important parts of a book but for one to be successful it does not mean we have to like them in any way. Some of the best protagonists are the ones we know we should hate, yet we find ourselves drawn to them and actually caring what happens to them regardless. Take Satan in Paradise Lost as an example; he is literally the Devil, yet still the Romantics idolised Milton’s portrayal and even I found myself caring more about him than I do about Victor.

We see the creature and Victor traverse vast icy landscapes, travel hundreds of miles and journey across countries, but it is the journey of the self and the development of characters that I really look for in a novel

In fact, for someone so central to the story, Shelley does not do well in developing Victor as a character at all. He is one-dimensional and completely lacking in depth. He begins the story as someone selfish, ungrateful, and more than a little bit obsessive and then we do not see him change at all. Even on his deathbed, he remains fixated on murdering the creature. He begs Walton to enact his unfinished business before his death, showing a complete incapability for reason because these actions seem completely unjustified. 

Arguably, Shelley does this for the whole debate of ‘who the real monster is’ in the text, yet she could have still achieved the same effect by following Victor’s descent throughout the novel rather than beginning with an already corrupt character. We see the creature and Victor traverse vast icy landscapes, travel hundreds of miles and journey across countries, but it is the journey of the self and the development of characters that I really look for in a novel, and Shelley just does not deliver.

The only saving grace the novel really has is the creature. We actually see him learn, develop and change throughout the chapters. His last words even show him forgiving his creator and finally admitting his actions were wrong, something we really needed to hear from Victor instead. He becomes more human than the actual human the novel is named after. I would even go as far to say that if you removed Victor’s narrative, placing him as a minor character and followed only the creature’s story, Frankenstein would actually be a half decent novel.

I am not sure how many times Victor can pretend to have seen the monster and fainted before it becomes too cliché

Instead, you would have a creature on the loose which looks slightly human, and maybe his back story could be gradually released as the novel goes on. There would certainly be a better sense of mystery and horror in the story, something I am sure Shelley tried to generate but did not do too well with. 

At some points Frankenstein seems like the workings of murder mystery – you find yourself thinking “another one of Victor’s family members have been killed, I wonder who that could be…” but this undoubtedly falls flat with Shelley’s predictable plotline. Victor’s only solution to any problems in the novel appears to be either fainting, running away or sudden illness. 

We see these scenes constantly repeated, and at some points it seems like Shelley is just trying to drag out her storyline. I am not sure how many times Victor can pretend to have seen the monster and fainted before it becomes too cliché. You would have thought Shelley was being paid by the word like Charles Dickens was rumoured to be. 

Mary Shelley’s novel idea apparently came to her in a dream, and unfortunately my A Level experience certainly would have been improved if she had just forgotten it when she woke up like most people do.