Explore the ways in which Shelley presents the impact of scientific research in Volume 1 of ‘Frankenstein’ – Ella Mackenzie

Throughout volume 1 of Frankenstein, Shelley presents one of the major themes in the novel, scientific experimentation. She achieves this through another main generic theme of death. Through exploring the fatal destinies of different characters that stem from Victor’s craving of creating a new race with him as the creator and by using the characterisation of the monster, Shelley is able to explicitly demonstrate the direct affect that scientific experimentation has on an individual. There is no doubt that what Frankenstein has achieved is a magnificent achievement, however the isolation and sadness that surrounds him does well to challenge the positive and noble interpretation that some may feel is presented in Volume 1. We also learn that scientific research and experimentation is dangerous to the creator. This contrasts with how Victor feels about his endeavour at the beginning of the chapter when he sees it as an entity that can be used for good and nobility. Ultimately it can be said that the impact of scientific research is presented by Shelley as having the potential to do great things but when placed in the hands of a twisted, megalomaniac like Victor, it is dangerous and destructive.

One of the means in which Shelley conveys science as potentially brilliant yet dangerous is through the theme of death which runs through volume 1. There are a number of examples of death throughout the text Shelley introduces two major deaths that come about because of the creation of Frankenstein (due to Victor’s research). The brutality is descried when Victor receives a letter from his father, “the print of the murderer’s finger was on his neck” and when “on the morrow Justine died”. The use of first person narrative for this section of the novel allows us to understand that Victor feels guilty and that he does understand that he is responsible because of his own greed and that he wanted the power of being the creator of a new species, “William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts”, of which the adjective  ‘unhallowed’ hints that Victor understands it is down to his scientific research and that what he has done is bad, unholy and creates ‘victims’. The vocabulary used in chapter 5 is typical of the gothic genre and allows one to see the horror that has been brought about because of Victor’s scientific experimentation. His dream is laden with lexical choices such as “corpse of my dead mother” and “livid with the hue of death”. Even though this shows how science has brought about destruction, in the same chapter there are descriptions of beauty, especially when Victor describes his creation, “his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of pearly whiteness” – demonstrating how scientific research has the potential to create brilliance. Nonetheless, there is still great focus on how Victor’s scientific research has led to the deaths of two innocent people – provoking sympathy from the audience thus presenting the impact of science as having great potential for both good and destruction, yet ultimately brings about bad in the hands of Victor.

Another way that scientific research can be considered to have potential yet be detrimental in the hands of Victor who abuses his power, is through the characterisation of Frankenstein’s creature. His description when he is first created is one of mixed messages. Victor is both in awe and in terror of what he has made and introduces the creature with the use of a negative epithet. The first impression the reader gets of the monster from Victor is that he is a “wretch”, implying despicable qualities that have arisen from Victor’s scientific research. We are also provided with the knowledge that the creature killed William, an act that comes from this endeavour to create something that no one has before. This reinforces the negative connotations the reader has of the monster as a brutal, terrifying murderer because the narrative voice has only been from Robert Walton and Frankenstein’s points of view, the monster is not given a voice until Volume 2. The monster is also isolated and bullied by Victor despite never being asked to be created. He escapes from Victor, who is overjoyed that he no longer has to worry about the creature, “I could hardly believe that so great a good fortune could have befallen me”. This clear hatred of his scientific experiment provoked the audience to feel melancholy for the creature, especially those who believe that issues such as genetic screening in foetuses for deformities and disabilities should take place because the baby would have a low quality of life (as the creature does). This is yet more evidence that Shelley wants the impact of science to show that in the wrong hands, it can have negative consequences for those affected by it, even if there were good intentions.

A further means in which Shelley presents the impact of scientific research in Frankenstein is through the dialogue and narrative of Victor. She demonstrates his megalomaniac tendencies through fantasies about fame and recognition that he wants great fame and recognition for his work. This is typical of the time period that Shelley was writing in. It was not a great length of time after the Renaissance and there was still a lot of curiosity about science and how it could be used to progress in the world of medicine. The Royal Society was formed and ‘fellows’ were still contributing great achievements to scientific research and discovery. Similarly, the fact that Victor is able to make the creature come to life is no doubt a great achievement. The idea of Galvanism was a major excitement in the time that Shelley wrote the novel with Giovanni Aldini (an Italian physicist) had recently in 1803, publically stimulated the body of an executed criminal using electricity – in the same way as Victor does in Frankenstein. Victor (like Aldini) uses great skill that has come about from scientific research to preserve and Shelley initiates the idea that Victor may be taking part in this mission for noble reasoning, for example when he states “what a glory would attend the discovery, if I could banish disease from the human frame”. Victor seems to want to create the monster as a way of experimenting of how to rid people of disease that took his dear mother from him. But in mentioning the ‘glory’ he would get from it and how he wants “a new species [to] bless [him] as its creator” gives the impression that he thinks more of the recognition he would get for doing this rather than the humble act of saving lives. Thus Shelley suggests here that scientific research has great potential yet a very negative impact in this particular context.

Ultimately there are grounds to believe that whilst Shelley recognises that scientific research has the potential to achieve great things and embellish the growing knowledge surround natural philosophy, above all else, it seems that she shows science is a negative light in Volume 1 of Frankenstein. When Victor is inspired by the writings of Agrippa and Magnus, he wants to become a God-like figure and create his Adam. He abuses the gift of intelligence in order to satisfy a masculine objective of control over others, which ends in destruction and danger.