brentano.htm
In her introduction to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein,
Mary Shelley refers to the machinery of a story. The 1818
preface to Frankenstein identifies several purposes the author
has in mind and suggests that readers may have some difficulty
with the novel as a result. If we examine the novel as though it
were a machine and the preface as though it were an owner's
manual, many odd features of the novel make sense. Some parts
of the novel we hardly notice or that didn't make sense on the
first reading are vital and, when set in motion, transform the
book entirely.
In a way, Frankenstein is rather like the Trojan Horse. It is
impressive, entertaining, fascinating, yet it is designed to do
more than that. There is a surprise inside and a hint in the
author's dedication as to what the surprise is. Mary Shelley
dedicated Frankenstein to her father, William Godwin,
who believed that the object of education is properly to
prepare a generation capable of saving the human race.
Godwin's Enquiry Concerning Political Justice describes
dangers we humans pose to ourselves and method he
sees as necessary to successfully addressing those dangers.
The problem, of course, is that a system for salvation already
exists, one that is not welcoming of the kind of examination
in which Godwin engages. By the time Mary Shelley wrote
Frankenstein, her father's ideas, which had for a time been
widely discussed, were being tried by only a few, such as
Robert Owen. More recently they have been used by people
such as Gandhi.
What is concealed inside Frankenstein is her father's system
for finding the defects of society and remedying them.
Some of the defects of society Godwin identifies are not
seen as defects at all by institutions of society, such as
churches and governments. It is to be expected that the
operation of the machinery of Frankenstein, as it exposes
defects in such institutions, will irritate, dismay, and even
shock those who have depended upon them.
It is too late to stop what Mary Shelley began. Her
Frankenstein was brought inside the walls of society
long ago and became a source of entertainment and,
as a metaphor, useful to discussions of all kinds. Furthermore,
there is evidence that the machinery within the novel has
been discovered and is being operated. The book that
much of this site draws from, To a Candid World,
includes some of the results of the Godwin method
that Mary Shelley put inside Frankenstein. Among
the features mentioned in To a Candid World is what
appears to be a clock which appears to have predicted
the progress of Frankenstein as has been suggested
here.
The Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus Preface
The event on which this fiction is founded has been supposed,
by Dr. Darwin, and some of the physiological writers of Germany,
as not of impossible occurrence. I shall not be supposed as
according the remotest degree of serious faith to such an
imagination; yet, in assuming it as the basis of a work of fancy, I
have not considered myself as merely weaving a series of
supernatural terrors. The event on which the interest of the story
depends is exempt from the disadvantages of a mere tale of spectres
or enchantment. It was recommended by the novelty of the
situations which it developes; and, however impossible as a physical
fact, affords a point of view to the imagination for the delineating of
human passions more comprehensive and commanding than any
which the ordinary relations of existing events can yield.
I have thus endeavoured to preserve the truth of the elementary
principles of human nature, while I have not scrupled to innovate
upon their combinations. The Iliad, the tragic poetry of
Greece,--Shakespeare, in the Tempest and Midsummer Night’s
Dream,-- and most especially Milton, in Paradise Lost, conform to
this rule; and the most humble novelist, who seeks to confer or
receive amusement from his labours, may, without presumption,
apply to prose fiction a license, or rather a rule, from the adoption
of which so many exquisite combinations of human feeling have
resulted in the highest specimens of poetry.
The circumstance on which my story rests was suggested in
casual conversation. It was commenced, partly as a source of
amusement, and partly as an expedient for exercising any untried
resources of mind. Other motives were mingled with these, as the
work proceeded. I am by no means indifferent to the manner in
which whatever moral tendencies exist in the sentiments or
characters it contains shall affect the reader; yet my chief concern in
this respect has been limited to the avoiding the enervating effects
of the novels of the present day, and to the exhibition of the
amiableness of domestic affection, and the excellence of universal
virtue. The opinions which naturally spring from the character and
situation of the hero are by no means to be conceived as existing
always in my own conviction, nor is any inference justly to be
drawn from the following pages as prejudicing any philosophical
doctrine of whatever kind.
It is a subject also of additional interest to the author, that this
story was begun in the majestic region where the scene is
principally laid, and in society which cannot cease to be regretted. I
passed the summer of 1816 in the environs of Geneva. The season
was cold and rainy, and in the evenings we crowded around a
blazing wood fire, and occasionally amused ourselves with some
German stories of ghosts, which happened to fall into our hands.
These tales excited in us a playful desire of imitation. Two other
friends (a tale from the pen of one of whom would be far more
acceptable to the public than any thing I can ever hope to produce)
and myself agreed to write each a story, founded on some
supernatural occurrence.
The weather, however, suddenly became serene; and my two
friends left me on a journey among the Alps, and lost, in the
magnificent scenes which they present, all memory of their ghostly
visions. The following tale is the only one which has been
completed.Parable of the Ship’s Master, Letter II of Frankenstein
A d v e r t i s e m e n tSome years ago he loved a young Russian lady, of moderate
fortune; and having amassed a considerable sum in prize-money, the
father of the girl consented to the match. He saw his mistress once
before the destined ceremony; but she was bathed in tears, and
throwing herself at his feet, entreated him to spare her, confessing
at the same time that she loved another, but that he was poor, and
that her father would never consent to the union. My generous
friend reassured the suppliant, and on being informed of the name
of her lover instantly abandoned his pursuit. He had already bought
a farm with his money, on which he had designed to pass the
remainder of his life; but he bestowed the whole on his rival,
together with the remains of his prize-money to purchase stock, and
then himself solicited the young woman’s father to consent to her
marriage with her lover. But the old man decidedly refused,
thinking himself bound in honour to my friend; who, when he found
the father inexorable, quitted his country, nor returned until he
heard that his former mistress was married according to her
inclinations.
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