"Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley was born in 1797, the daughter of unconventional thinkers and writers Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin. In 1816, she and her lover, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, were staying with friends near Geneva. During dramatic thunderstorms, the group held a contest to write a ghost story. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, Or The Modern Prometheus, which was then published anonymously in 1818. It is a Gothic tale about scientific progress and what it means to be human. 

OBSESSION

The protagonist of the story is Victor Frankenstein, a young, gifted scientist whose passion for the creation of life becomes an obsession. His secret experiments using body parts and galvanism finally succeed when the creature he builds comes to life. But Frankenstein quickly realises that he has created a monster: 

“I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.”

“Avevo lavorato duro per circa due anni, con il solo scopo di infondere vita in un corpo inanimato. Per questo avevo sacrificato riposo e salute. Lo avevo desiderato con un ardore che superava di molto la moderazione, ma terminata l’opera, la bellezza del sogno svanì, e l’orrore e un disgusto tale da togliere il fiato riempì il mio cuore.”

COMPLEX

The novel has a complex structure with multiple viewpoints. It opens and concludes with a series of letters from Captain Walton, who is leading an expedition to the North Pole. Walton rescues Frankenstein, who recognises that they share a passion for discovery. However, Frankenstein has a warning:

“You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been… you are pursuing the same course, exposing yourself to the same dangers which have rendered me what I am…”

“Voi cercate conoscenza e saggezza, come una volta facevo anch’io; e spero con tutto il cuore che la ricompensa ai vostri desideri non sia il morso di un serpente, come è stato per me. Non so se il racconto delle mie disgrazie vi sarà utile; tuttavia, quando penso che state seguendo lo stesso cammino, esponendovi agli stessi pericoli che mi hanno reso ciò che sono […].”

REVENGE

Rejected by its creator, feared and unloved by people everywhere, Frankenstein’s monster lives a lonely existence. Unable to forgive Frankenstein, the creature seeks revenge on those he loves. Travelling in the Alps, Frankenstein encounters the monster, which begs him to put right his mistake:

“‘But I will not set myself in opposition to thee. I am thy creature, and I will be even mild and docile to my natural lord and king, if thy wilt also perform thy part, the which thou owest me… I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.’”

“Ma io non sarò tentato di oppormi a te. Io sono la tua creatura, e sarò persino mite e docile verso il mio naturale signore e re, se anche tu farai la tua parte, che mi devi. […] Io ero benevolente e buono; la sventura mi ha reso un demonio. Fammi felice, ed io sarò di nuovo virtuoso. ”

TRAGEDY

The monster asks Frankenstein to create a female companion to make its exile more bearable. Frankenstein agrees, but later breaks his word, with terrible consequences. Following a trail of murder and tragedy, Frankenstein tracks the monster down to the frozen wastes of the Arctic. On board Captain Walton’s ship, an exhausted Frankenstein urges the crew to continue the dangerous search for the creature:

“Are you then so easily turned from your design? Did you not call this a glorious expedition? And wherefore was it glorious? Not because the way was smooth and placid as a southern sea, but because it was full of dangers and terror; because at every new incident, your fortitude was to be called forth, and your courage exhibited; because danger and death surrounded it, and these you were to brave and overcome.”

“È, dunque, così facile distogliervi dal vostro piano? Non avete definito questa una spedizione gloriosa? E perché era gloriosa? Non perché la via fosse facile e placida come una dei mari del sud, ma perché era piena di pericoli e terrori, perché ad ogni nuovo incidente dovevate mettere alla prova la vostra forza ed esibire il vostro coraggio, perché il pericolo e la morte la circondano, e questi dovevate affrontare e superare.”

TERRIFIED

Although reviews at the time were mixed, Frankenstein quickly became a bestseller. Mary Shelley continued to write until her death in 1851. A feminist and a radical thinker, her works include articles, short stories, novels, biography and travel. But she will always be remembered for Frankenstein, a novel in which, says the author, “what terrified me will terrify others.”

Traduzione di Paola Dondi, Tascabili La Spiga, Milano, 2000.