Frankenstein as a Science Fiction

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein can be read from two main levels; as a science fiction and as human nature. The whole novel moves around the invention of a scientist and the result of it. Dangerous aspect of experience in the scientific field is the subject matter of the novel.

The monster, Victor's reaction itself is a kind of scientific achievement around which the whole plot structure is designed. The protagonist Victor Frankenstein is a scientist and driven by ambition of scientific curiosity. His quest for absolute knowledge and power has ended in his own destruction. So the novel shows that thoughtlessness causes destruction to themselves. Shelley shows the dangerous aspects of modern scientific world. How the scientific investigation goes beyond human control due to the excess focus on it without proper attention has well been presented in the novel.

The novel was written in 1880. At that time society was over hopeful of science. The quest of knowledge was one of the most essential aspects of that time. So does the protagonist too in the novel. Frankenstein's focus is from past to the future. But the success is rewarded as a horrible situation. It is Mary's question to the thoughtless development of modern science.

The monster is itself a scientific investigation of the protagonist. It is eight feet tall, ugly and attempts to integrate himself into human social patterns but all who see him dislikes him. The feeling of abandonment compels him to seek revenge against his own creator. Also at this point it becomes clear that Mary Shelley is very critical about the scientific invention and intention of contemporary people in regard to its further coming results.

Thus the whole novel is about scientific ambition of the protagonist. It is said that one of the most important quest of scientific aspect is the quest of a new kind of creation. But most of the scientists are unknown about how their invention will be resulted at last. They are thoughtless about the further coming danger and destructions of science. Victor Frankenstein is one of the representative figures of modern scientists who created monster due to his excess focus in the quest of scientific knowledge but at last he lost the control over his own creation. Rather Victor Frankenstein compelled to lose his own family members and his own creation became the very cause of his own destruction. He was over curious man to learn the hidden law of nature due to his fervent love for science, this event of the novel is very symbolic for the development of modern science. It allows to have the deep thought in the field of science. In this way as the protagonist and all his activities in the holistic plot structure of the novel moves around the scientific subject matter together with its consequences. So the novel can be analyzed as a science fiction.