Frankenstein: More Than Just Fiction

What inspires seemingly a normal young woman to write a chilling horror story?  A young woman named Mary Shelley wrote one of the greatest horror stories in classic literature.  She was often questioned as to how she could come up with such a disturbing tale.  Often writers look to their own lives to find inspiration for their work.  Mary Shelly is no exception.  When writing Frankenstein, Mary drew from experiences and people in her own life.

            Mary Shelley found inspiration in her experiences with her children.  As Anthony Badalmenti states in his article “Why Mary Shelly Wrote Frankenstein,” “Mary was mothering her second child, William, while beginning work on her novel”(Badalmenti 425).  Therefore, it is interesting that the name of Victor’s younger brother is also William.  Evidence of this can be seen in the quote, “I must also say a few words to you, my dear cousin, of little darling William.  I wish you could see him; he is very tall of his age with sweet laughing blue eyes, dark eyelashes, and curling hair”(Shelly 68).  This picture of William could be a representation of what Mary believed her young child would look like in the years to come.  This young innocent William is surprisingly the first to die in the novel.  Victor tells of his brother’s death when he remarks, “Thus spoke my prophetic sole, as, torn by remorse, horror, and despair, I beheld those I loved spend vain sorrow upon the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts”(Shelly 90).  The fact that William is the first victim of the creature’s rage could be a way of Mary expressing her anxiety that William would die at a young age.  She had lost

her first child, and she must have feared that she would lose William as well.  She shares this fear with the reader through the death of poor William in the novel.

            In addition, the tragic loss of her first child is depicted in Frankenstein.  An example of this can be seen when Victor destroys the female creature he had promised to create.  Victor explains his reasoning for destroying this creature when he says, “I was now about to form another being, of whose dispositions I was ignorant; she might become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate, and delight, for it’s own sake, in murder and wretchedness”(Shelly 170).  Victor has no reason to think that the female creature will be more evil than the male, yet he destroys this creature and shows no remorse.  This is a direct parallel to the way Percy reacted when Mary’s child died.  To explain this parallel it is necessary to again turn to Badalamenti who writes, “Percy never responded with the support or sympathy needed to help her deal with her loss.  He wanted a boy and Mary dealt with this by getting pregnant again and hoping for a boy”(Badalamenti 432).  Much like Victor, Percy is disgusted with the fact that Mary would create a female and is not disappointed when it dies.  Obviously, Mary had this experience in mind when she was writing her novel.  Her own female creature died, and the very man that helped her create it, was not at all saddened by tragic event.

            As she wrote Frankenstein, Mary was also influenced by her family life.  Victor’s father seems to be a representation of Mary’s own father.  In “Mary Shelly’s Aftermaths; Biography and Invention,” the critic Patricia Ducker writes, “[…] her father disowned her, but followed that up with bullying letters demanding money”(Duncker 242).  Patricia asserts that Mary had an estranged relationship with her father because she had eloped with Percy Shelly.  Badalmenti reiterates this point when he says, “He condemned their relationship and forbade it to continue in separate messages to each of them”(Badalmenti 422).  The character of Victor also seems to have an estranged relationship with his father, and is constantly haunted by the thought that his

father would disapprove of his exploits.  As victor tells Captain Walton, “I knew well therefore what would be my father’s feelings; but I could not tear my thoughts away from my employment”(Shelly 56).  Just like Victor, Mary knew that her father would not approve of her elopement with Shelly, but she could not “tear” herself away from her lover.  She was forced to choose between her love for Victor and her father: a decision, which must have caused her great distress.  She illustrates how she feels through the character Victor.  Victor in this case, tells Mary’s story.

            Also, like Victor, Mary’s mother died.  Victor tells of his mother’s death when he says, “She died calmly; and her countenance expressed affection even in death”(Shelly 45).  Tragedy also struck Mary’s mother.  In her article, Duncker explains, “Her mother had died giving birth to her”(Duncker 242).  It is evident that Victor and Mary’s mothers share a common fate.  However, what is even more interesting, is the fact that both of these heroic mothers died in order to provide their children with life.  In Frankenstein, Victor’s mother is constantly at her adopted daughter’s sick bed, which in the end leads to her own death by the same illness.  Victor claims that, “[…] Elizabeth was saved, but consequences of this imprudence were fatal to her preserver”(Shelly 44).  Mary’s mother died during childbirth, which saved Mary’s life.  In the same way, Victor’s mother died as a result of preserving the life of Elizabeth.  The parallel between Victor’s mother and Mary’s mother is therefore quite clear.

It is also evident that Mary was inspired by her husband, Percy Shelly, when writing Frankenstein.  The critic Nathan Cervo, paints an excellent picture of Shelly in his Article, “Shelley’s Frankenstein” when he writes, “Shelly seemed to be all the men in Mary’s life rolled up into one, the drunkenness of the ne’er-do-well grandfather taking the from of intoxication a la physical and cerebral erethism, resulting in “lassitude and weakness””(Cervo 15).  Percy was an emotional drunk who put work before his family.  His “weakness” and lack of concern for his

Family is mirrored in the character of Victor.  Patricia Duncker explains that Percy “[…] put his own children at risk, then declared him self wretched when they died”(Duncker 241).  In comparison, Victor places his family in harms way and does nothing to prevent their deaths.  Yet when they die, he is filled with sorrow and finally begins to blame himself.  When telling his story, Victor recalls telling his father, “Justine poor Justine was as innocent as I, and she suffered the same charge; she died for it; and I am the cause of this- I murdered her.  William, Justine, and Henry – they all died by my hands”(Shelly 189).  This reaction by Victor, when he comes face to face with the deaths of his family members, mirrors the reaction of Shelly when his children died.  They both caused the death of loved one’s because of their own foolish exploits.  Even though they both had numerous chances to save their families from certain death, they both were intensely emotional when coming to terms with the fact that their loved ones were gone forever. 

The shared characteristics of Victor and Percy are uncanny.  Percy appears to be exactly like Victor in almost every way.  In fact, Badalamenti asserts that “It was precisely in 1802 that Percy began a 10-year sequence of experiments in electrochemistry, a decade before he met Mary” (Badalmenti 428).  When creating Frankenstein, Victor uses electrochemistry.  This can be seen when Victor tells Captain Walton, “With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I connected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet”(Shelly 58).  This demonstrates the way that Victor used electricity to build the creature.  Percy undoubtedly told Mary of his exploits in electro chemistry and Mary then found inspiration for Victor’s character in her husband’s stories.  Badelamenti also says in his article, “Percy Shelly’s favorite Pseudonym in early life was Victor”(Badelamenti 426).  This provides another example of the connection between Victor and Percy.  Mary found an endless source of inspiration in her husband Percy and even includes a passage from one of his poems in her novel: “Nought may endure but mutability!”(Shelly 101).  Mary uses her novel to speak her mind concerning her husband.  Victor is a true representation of Percy and his character.  By examining the novel Frankenstein, a disturbing image of the poet Percy Shelly is revealed; an image which was hidden from the public.  Creating and ignoring his family, Percy is the true mad scientist.

Evidently, Mary found a great deal of inspiration for her greatest work, Frankenstein in her own personal life.  She drew from her experiences related to her children in order to cope with her anxiety.  In addition, her complex and estranged relationship with her father inspired her when creating the character of Victor’s father. Victor’s father does not provide support or guidance to Victor; instead he only contributes to the guilt Victor feels.  This is exactly the way Mary’s father treated her.  She also shared a common tragedy with her main character because both had to suffer a mother’s death.  Finally, Mary based Victor’s character entirely on Percy Shelly.  Victor’s emotional, brutally and unrelenting character is also seen in Percy.  Mary’s often mentally abusive husband inspires everything from Victor’s attitude to his name.  It is easy to see that Frankenstein is a direct representation of Mary’s life.  In this novel, Mary reveals her deepest fears and darkest secrets.  Writing seems to be a therapeutic outlet for Mary. Without her writing to console her, Mary would have had to face the difficulties in life alone because she had no support from her husband or family. This may have been the only way she had to express herself in the oppressing and tragic world in which she lived.  This shows how important it is for women to take advantage of the therapeutic benefits of writing.

  Works Cited

Badalamenti, Anthony F. “Why did Mary Shelley Write Frankenstein.” Journal of Religion & Health 45 (2006): 419-439. ebscohost. El Camino College, Torrance. 28 Nov. 2008 <http://web.edsco.com/delivery?vid>.

Cervo, Nathan. “Shelley’s Frankenstein.” Explicator Jan. 88: 14-18. Ebscohost. El Camino College, Torrance. 28 Nov. 2008 <http://web.ebscohost.com>.

Duncker, Patricia. “Mary Shelley’s Afterlives: Biography and Invention.” Women Summer 2004: 230-249. Ebscohost. El Camino College, Torrance. 28 Nov. 2008 <http://web.ebscohost.com>.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. London: Penguin Classics, 1985.