Mary Shelley has always been influenced by great stories depicting ghosts and the supernatural. Her great work “Frankenstein” was written under a rather extraordinary situation, she wrote it after accepting a dare which was to see who could write the best horror story in her group of friends. We all know the horror aspects that “Frankenstein” has are great, but without taking any authenticity from them, we have to acknowledge the fact that they were all influenced by horror stories, more specifically a collection of German horror stories under the title “Fantasmagoriana”. Mary Shelley references 2 stories from the “Fantasmagoriana” the first is called “The History of The Inconstant Lover” and the second was “The Tale of The Single founder of his Race”. If that does not facilitate that horror stories influenced Mary Shelley than her own essay titled “On Ghost” should do it.

The essay “On Ghost” was printed in the London Magazine in March of 1824. In this essay, Mary Shelley laments with a great feeling of melancholy the lack of mystery, wonder, and supernatural in modern literature and culture. She explains how the strange tails believed and feared by past generations are no longer seen to be part of reality or have an effect during this wiser age.

“What has become of enchantresses with their palaces of crystal and dungeons of palpable darkness? What of fairies and their wands? What of witches and their familiars? and, last, what of ghosts, with beckoning hands and fleeting shapes, which quelled the soldier’s brave heart, and made the murderer disclose to the astonished noon the veiled work of Midnight?”

Mary then goes on to question whether modern human society has really stopped believing in ghost and the supernatural entirely. With that in her mind, she explains the notion that it is easy to dismiss the possibility of the supernatural in the light of noon-day; but a midnight everything seems to change, when we find ourselves inside a lonely house with flapping curtains, eerie hallways, cold night wind blowing, reading the Bleeding nun, we’re not so certain and fear begins to overwhelm us. While Mary explains that she has never seen a real ghost herself, she relates the tales of Thomas Jefferson Hogg, who claimed to have seen the lost ghost of a recently-deceased friend, and Angelo Mengaldo, who saw the headless ghost of a war comrade who had killed himself after falling in love with a woman who did not return his passion.

These tales may come across as rather far-fetched, but both men are presented as being reliable and of sound mind; Hogg is described as a person of ‘strong and virile intellect’, and Mengaldo is said to be ‘by no means addicted to superstition’. During this time Mary Shelley also plays with the idea that the nature of the supernatural meaning the good and evil depends on the circumstances of the individuals death, we see how Hogg’s friend came back to visit him while he slept and caressed his cheek and as soon a Hogg moved out of the house, the ghost of his friend stopped appearing. While on the other hand, Mangaldo’s experience is far more sinister, perhaps due to the fact that his companion died by suicide, he committed a sin and now his soul is distorted. The essay closes with a final account that Mary describes as not so authentic but none the less amusing. The story, Mary explains, was told by M. G. Lewis, the famous author of The Monk. It is certainly a strange supernatural tale, but is it true? I’ll leave you to make up your own mind.

Discussion Questions

1. Why has our society moved away from stories regarding the supernatural?
2. What do you think made Mary Shelley fascinate about horror stories?
3. What aspects of the supernatural do you see in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”?
4. What’s your opinion on ghosts?

Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is a novel that was written during the romantic era, and is regarded to as one of the first science fiction stories. Mary Shelley tells a story about a scientist by the name of Victor Frankenstein, who managed to create a ridiculous creature during a scientific experiment. The creature exhibits absurd behavior throughout the novel which may be attributed to the neglect that it received by its creator and society altogether. The text incorporates various literary elements and has been studied for many years. One unique attribute that the literature contains is the idea of ecocriticism, which was analyzed by Siobhan Carroll in her paper “Crusades Against Frost: Frankenstein, Polar Ice, and Climate Change in 1818.” The text also shares certain similarities to Lord Byron’s poem “Darkness.” The novel incorporates a total of 3 volumes, and this blog post will focus specifically on the 3^rd volume.

Volume 3 of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” begins with Victor and Henry Creval traveling in London. Victor later decides to part ways with Henry in Scotland, fearing that the monster will kill Henry. In a quiet and uninhabited area in Orkney Islands, Victor continues with his plan to create a mate for the monster. In the process, Victor becomes ashamed with himself and fears a threat to civilization that this new creature may bring. At this time, the monster appears near the window of Victor’s workshops to see his soon to be mate. Feeling very dissatisfied and angry with himself, Victor destroys the half-finished creation, and tells the monster that he refuses to continue. Evidently, the monster becomes very displeased and begins to question Victors intentions, and states “I shall be with you on your wedding night.” The monster then disappears, and Victor assumes that the threat was toward himself.

Victor dismantles the workshop and travels off on a boat to dispose the remaining body parts. He dumps the remains in to the deep water and becomes carried away in his boat on a quest to England as requested by Henry. On his journey, Victor is taken into magistrate on accusation of murdering Henry whose remains were found on that very shore. Victor notices the black finger marks on the neck of Henry, and is certain that the monster is responsible of this wrong-doing. Victor is later taken to court and is imprisoned. In prison, Victor becomes extremely ill and Kirwin, the magistrate sends a doctor to return victor to good health. Victor is later released on proof that he was on the Orkney Islands at the time of the murder, and is set free to travel home with his father, Alphonse.

Victor becomes very determined to marry Elizabeth as quickly as possible to encounter the monster once more and to end the battle. When the wedding night finally arrives, Victor becomes nervous and Elizabeth notices his odd behavior. He assures her that he will explain his behavior the next day and sends her off to bed. While awaiting the monster in the outer chambers, he hears a scream from his bedroom. Victor quickly rushes in to the bedroom and finds his wife dead, laying across the bed. The monster remained outside the room waiting for Victor and grinned at him through the window. In attempt to kill the monster, Victor pulled out a pistol and shoots at the monster, however the monster escapes woundless. When Alphonse learns of the death, he dies in grief.

A crowd of local authorities soon begin a quest to capture the monster but fail to do so. As Victor vows for vengeance at the grave of his loved ones he hears the voice of the monster: “I am satisfied, miserable wretch! You have determined to live, and I am satisfied.” Victor leaves his home and chases for the monster through Europe and Russia and to the North Pole. The weather progressively becomes worse, and food becomes very scarce. The monster is seen by villagers with a dog sled team and fear is scattered throughout the village. Victor eventually gets very close to the monster, however the two are separated due to a breakage in the ice. Victor floats away on a piece of ice to the side of Walton’s ship. Here, Victor confesses of what he has done and urges Walton to search for and kill the monster. Shortly after, Victor passes away.

Towards the end of the book, Walton enters a cabin where the body of victor lies and witnesses the monster hovering over Victors dead body expressing his grief. The monster reveals the misery and struggles that he has been facing to Walton. He mentions that in the early stages of his life he was a happy being and was filled with affection and love. He goes on to say that he was rejected by humans: “Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all humankind sinned against me?” The story ends on a very gloomy note.

In “Crusades Against Frost: Frankenstein, Polar Ice, and Climate Change in 1818,” Siobhan Carroll focus on the idea of ecocriticism. This idea suggests that literature if affected by the natural environment on earth during the period that a certain piece of literature was composed. As proposed by Siobhan Carroll, 1818 was a period of climate change. Specifically, Romantic climatic fears regarding polar ice was a major concern at the time, and Siobhan Carroll believed that poets expressed their concern through poetic schemes. Mary Shelly portrays her concern through the characters of Walton and Victor in their desire to tame nature. When conversing with Walton’s crew, Victor insists that the human race can and will overcome the empire of ice because it is mutable.  Here, Siobhan Carroll is attempting to provide a reference toward the desire for ecological change. Siobhan Carrol also believed that Mary Shelly depicted this idea of climate change metaphorically through the monster. The monster’s rejection by society suggests that Europeans are similar in that they are not willing to embrace and render cosmopolitan responses to ecological crisis’s.

Although it is not evident whether Mary Shelly is in fact providing a reference toward ecocriticism, I certainty believe that it is highly likely. The year 1816, just a couple years prior to the release of Frankenstein, was dubbed “the year without a summer.” For the next several years, Britain was concerned with climate change. There were references in the text eluding to the cold winter and scarcity in food products which made the chase after the monster a highly difficult task. When first reading “Frankenstein,” I did not sense this idea of ecocriticism, but after reading Siobhan Carroll and analyzing the text, it seems reasonable to believe that Mary Shelly along with other poets of the period were illustrating a need for climate change.

I found Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” very similar in certain aspects to Lord Byron’s poem “Darkness.” Although the two texts vary drastically in format and plot, they both portray a very gloomy story. “Darkness” was written in 1816, just two years prior to “Frankenstein” and as illustrated by Siobhan Carroll, the two may share a similarity in reference to the climate. In his poem, Lord Byron presented graphical imagery on his prediction of earth’s future. He and many others during the time believed that the world was going to end. The gloomy and cold world depicted in the “darkness” made men forget about their passions and only want to survive. Animals were not able to sustain their lives and died. People began to turn on one another and began resort to cannibalism in order to survive. Darkness conquered all. It is noteworthy to mention that the behavior portrayed by the animals, in a sense demonstrate the distinction between human and inhuman responses to the apocalyptic climate change seen in the poem. In “Frankenstein,” Mary Shelly created a monster character that received no nurture, love, and was neglected by its creator along with society. Dissimilar to the animals in Lord Byron’s poem, the monster behavior display’s no distinction between the idea of the human and inhuman. The variation between the human an inhuman can we thought of on the basis of ecocriticism as proposed by Siobhan Carroll. The two authors differed in views on the climate, hence their characters portrayed a variation in behavior. The monster was capable of good, as is the earth, but both resulted in a catastrophe. The two texts share a very gloomy plot of aspects that are capable of good, but ultimately result in the worst.

1. Do you believe that Mary Shelly was eluding to climate change in her text?
2. Do you believe that it was the right decision not to create a mate for the monster?
3. How would you describe the monsters character? Was he a good creature or an evil one?