When Frankenstein was first published in 1818, critics were divided. Some were appalled by the lurid details of the writer’s life as well as the melodramatic tone of her novel. Others identified the originality in its cautionary tale. As the daughter of literary radicals and friends with well-known Romantic poets there are some obvious influences on her famous work. However, the creation of Shelley’s novel could also be attributed to a wide variety of inspirations that culminated in this astonishing book.
How Did Personal Connections & Loss Shape Mary Shelley’s Work?
Mary Godwin (later Shelley) was born in 1797 to two radical, literary figures. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women. The text is viewed as a seminal piece of feminist discourse. Tragically, Mary Wollstonecraft died in childbirth. This left the baby, Mary, in the care of her father William Godwin. William Godwin was part of a circle of radical thinkers that included William Blake and Thomas Paine. These connections paved the way for Mary Godwin to develop her own radical political and philosophical outlook, rare for women at the time.
When still a teenager, Mary Godwin met Percy Shelley. Despite his marriage, the pair traveled extensively together and eventually married a week after the suicide of Percy Shelley’s pregnant first wife. Percy and Mary Shelley also experienced many losses with their own children dying at birth or shortly after. It could be argued that this frequent reminder of death and the desire to bring life into the world directly inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein.
How Was Mary Shelley Influenced by Travel?
Get the latest articles delivered to your inbox
Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterThe setting of Mary and Percy Shelley’s tumultuous relationship was predominantly across mainland Europe: France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. All of these countries feature in the novel with the fictional Frankenstein’s home on the banks of Lake Geneva; Victor studying at Ingolstadt University; and the creature taking refuge with an exiled French family in a German forest, all brought vividly to life from Mary’s travels. One of the most iconic moments of the novel takes place in an ice cave in the shadow of Mont Blanc. In addition, Mary Shelley’s teenage visits to Scotland provide the location for the hellish scene where Victor Frankenstein attempts to create a mate for his ‘creature’.
Perhaps most remarkably, the novel is bookended with chapters set in the Arctic. In these chapters, Victor Frankenstein and his creation are discovered by the Arctic explorer Robert Walton. The encounter with Frankenstein leads Walton to reflect on his foolhardy and perilous attempt to find the northern passage through the ice. There is speculation about who the real life inspiration for Walton may be. A frontrunner for many scholars being John Barrow, the organizer of the British Admiralty’s Arctic expeditions. Others suggest William Scoresby, a whaler who gave lectures and laid out plans for an Arctic expedition in 1815, the news reports of which were almost certainly read by Mary Shelley.
Was Frankenstein Born Out of a Ghost Writing Competition?
1816 was known as the year without a summer. The cool, stormy weather (the result of an Indonesian volcanic eruption) spread worldwide. In Geneva, that meant that Mary Godwin, Percy Shelley and friends were confined to the lakeside villa of their friend Lord Byron. Along with plenty of alcohol and laudanum, the group consumed volumes of ghost stories and poetry. This eventually led to the suggestion of a competition to write a ghost story.
It is surprising that the two most renowned writers in the group, Shelley and Byron, abandoned the project almost immediately. Byron’s doctor, John Polidori, created The Vampyre (an influential predecessor to Bram Stoker’s Dracula). Mary Godwin reported having a vision of a pale student intent on giving a spark of life to a hideous creature. This, of course, grew into the story of Frankenstein. Encouraged by her companions, she worked feverishly to complete the first draft while sheltering from the thunderstorms that summer.
Did Greek Mythology & Christian Teachings Shape the Story of Frankenstein?
When first released in 1818, the novel was subtitled ‘The Modern Prometheus’. This signals to readers that Mary Shelley was mindful of the lessons of Greek mythology and aimed for her novel to be read similarly as a cautionary tale. In Greek myth, Prometheus was a titan who stole fire from the gods to give to humankind and was eternally tortured for the transgression. In her novel, Shelley warns of the dangers of mankind’s hubris and ambition when ‘acting as god’ and describes the torture Victor suffers as a result of his experiment.
Furthermore, Mary Shelley also references Christian theology throughout her work. In the central part of the novel, the creature laments that he should be treated as Adam (by Victor, his creator). He bitterly complains that instead he is cast out of ‘God’s’ love, comparing himself to Satan. It is partly this mirroring of the story of creation that leads the creature to desire a mate. A mate that he demands his ‘Creator’ make just for him…with disastrous consequences.
What Was the Impact of Scientific Developments on Mary Shelley’s Work?
In the novel, Victor Frankenstein describes his childhood fascination with electricity. This was undoubtedly inspired by Mary Shelley’s own interest in the exciting new field of studies based on electricity. Indeed, electrical currents are an essential part of Frankenstein’s process in bringing his creation to life. Part of the success of the novel is its rational, scientific tone at these moments.
Mary Shelley was familiar with experiments in Galvanism where scientists had demonstrated the muscles contracting in dead frogs when connected to an electrical current. However, it is important to remember that the term ‘scientist’ didn’t exist at the time Mary Shelley was writing. Instead ‘natural philosophers’ brought together what we would now deem scientific with other spiritual, philosophical and even superstitions interests.
Medical Breakthroughs
Although clearly impressed with advances in all branches of science. Mary Shelley added a layer of commentary to the rapid progress being seen as she posed moral questions about not just what man could achieve but also what we should strive for. Her fiction reminds readers of the responsibility mankind has when ‘playing’ with life and death. Scotland (for some years Mary Shelley’s home town) was the center for innovation in anatomical studies at the time. This field brought with it the macabre practice of ‘body snatching’ in order to provide medical students with fresh cadavers.
Body snatchers were also (ironically) known as ‘resurrectionists’. Many of Mary Shelley’s contemporaries wrote about the ethics of acquiring bodies in such a way. In Frankenstein, Victor also debates the origins of the raw materials he needs to create his monster. The novel has also been used as a touchstone when debating ethics around artificial insemination, cloning and the pursuit of bringing back extinct species.
