Frankenstein By Chris Baldrick: Literary Analysis

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is interpreted differently by each reader. Underlying themes ranging from the author's own life story to criticism of the shortcomings of religion, each reader finds a different theme explored throughout the literary classic. In the essay "Assembling Frankenstein" by Chris Baldrick, several of these underlying themes are proposed, many of which Baldrick attributes inspiration derived from correlated writings that are proposed to have influenced the author. Baldrick focuses more on the external influences of the author's life, including sociological gender roles and the socialization of an outcast, as well as the Romantic Idealism literary movement of the time of the industrial revolution. Although both of these may …show more content…
A being "created" by an imperfect person in a misguided attempt to fulfill their own personal lack of fulfillment, even with the best of intentions and highest hopes of success, the reality can be quite different from the ideology at the time of creation. Although things may not turn out as planned, the situation need not be construed as a failure. Upon personalizing this theme to the author's personal life as Baldrick does, it is possible maybe Shelley is relating to the role of the creator more than the monster. The creation of the monster can be deemed negligent, and although many may claim it was an act to challenge the power of God and His creation, but maybe instead it was meant as more of a parental situation of creating a person having no control over the outcome. Even with the best intentions, Shelley may have fulfilled her societal expectations by becoming a mother, but instead of relishing the beauty of the creation she instead feels guilt over having bastard children since she was unwed at the time. Although the creature in itself is in a way miraculous, because things do not turn out as planned and the focus is placed more on the imperfections, the end result is classified as a failure. Although the monster was created to …show more content…
Frankenstein could serve well as an exploration of creation itself. A way of illustrating the disillusionment with religion could be through creating this being who was envisioned to be a perfect living specimen, instead the result being interpreted as the exact opposite, maybe Shelley is expressing a personal sense of failure to live up to the preconceived notion of perfection from which humans were created. In correlation to the previously discussed theme, perhaps the creator is portrayed as God, acting with the best of intentions but unable to control the final individual outcome. Maybe He created humans, but because each person is flawed and imperfect in their own way, maybe she is spiritually exploring her own feelings of disappointing the God that she believed created her. The monster never asked to be created, he never asked to exist, but because he was he is forced to endure the suffering that comes from the circumstances he was "born" into. Maybe this theme isn't in opposition to religious belief or God, but instead an interpretation of her existence in relation to her spiritual obligation to live up to impossible standards imposed by others interpretation of her as an individual, as well as exploring alternative possibilities and deeper nuances within the ideology of creationism and the belief in any "perfect" being, religious or