Monthly Classics ~ Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

 

It is time for another Monthly Classics post, in which, as the name suggests, I talk about a classic novel. This month, fitting to the spooky season, I read Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. A famous classic, that had been on my to-read list for the longest time. Now, I have finally read it and here are my thoughts!

Frankenstein is often seen as the first 'true' science fiction story and has had a great influence on the genre. Written at the age of 18 it is a fantastic story, which most of us are still familiar with today, despite being written over 200 years ago. After being challenged to write a horror story, Shelley came up with this novel after a dream. Like most people, I thought that Frankenstein was the name of the monster. Well, it is not. It is the name of the creator: Victor Frankenstein. 

The book starts with letters from a Caption of a ship: Robert Walton, he wants to explore the north pole. During his journey, they find Frankenstein on a sledge going after his monster. Frankenstein then, retells his entire story, from the creation of the monster, until his final moments. 

Frankenstein's entire story is told, as a reader you read what happened in his past and how he came here, chasing his monster. The novel is split into three parts, in the first, we get to know Frankenstein and his passion for knowledge. He eventually desires to reanimate the dead and he eventually succeeds. However, only moments after this famous resurrection, he is horrified of his creation. However, the monster disappears and we do not hear of him until Frankenstein is notified that his brother has been killed. He quits university to return to his hometown, Geneva. Here, he finds out that his monster has been the murderer of his brother. 

After retreating to the mountains to deal with his grief, the monster finds him and tells Frankenstein the story of his first years being alive. He shares his desire to have someone like him, to not be alone anymore. He threatens Frankenstein by saying if he refuses to make a female creature like him, he will go after his family and friends. Frankenstein, then, agrees.

The last part of the novel goes into the process of Frankenstein creating a second monster. Yet, eventually, he fears that this female creature will become eviler than his first creation, or that their offspring will become a plague for humanity. He then destroys his second monster before the eyes of his first. Who then, goes after his friend. Eventually, when returning home, Frankenstein has no one left, he in his rage decides to go after his monster until his final breath, and so he does. This is where Robert Walton finds him and tells the final moments of Frankenstein's life. 

I do not know why, but I expected the novel to be scarier. I found it well written, and the ending was heartbreaking and exciting to read. I thought that the most frightful moment was when the monster shaw Frankenstein destroying his creation. The novel was not as I expected it to be, but it was good. I liked the storyline of the monster, by including it, it became more human. I could sympathise with his feelings and understood his motivations. 

It is obviously very different from what I am used to reading, the entire story is told to the reader and not experienced. Nowadays, readers want to experience things themselves instead of only reading about it. But that is just a change within the way of storytelling. 

I still cannot get my head around the fact that Shelley was 18 when she wrote this. Of course, then the arrangement of life was different, but still, she was so young and is so well-known. 

I really liked this book and it may be one of my favourite classics I've read so far. It was good and interesting and I would definitely recommend this to readers interested in the history of this genre. Personally, I find it so fascinating to see genres and ways of writing evolve. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this post, see you in the next one!

Love,

Julia