Summary of Three Key Ideas from the Essay:
1) Creationism vs Evolution - One of the main ideas of this review is stating the points that suggest Mary Shelley's work displays creationism or a belief in evolution. For example, Butler states that people see a warning not to assume God's role as a Creator. However, it could also be interpreted that Mary Shelly attacks Christianity and connects to Lawrence's radical science theories.
2) Vitalism vs. materialism - There are two theories presented in this review, one is Abernethy's theory, vitalism, that besides the chemical and physical make-up of life, something made up for the soul, like "electricity" (Butler 306). Lawrence's theory, materialism, states that our mind is solely made up of chemical processes. Butler states that Frankenstein ". . . suggests the position of Abernethy, who proposes that superadded life-element is analoagous to electricity -- particularly when he uses a machine, reminiscent of a battery, to impart the spark of life" (Shelley 307). This is interesting to think about, although technically, the monster would still be sparked by material.
3) Incest - I'm not sure if this was a main idea (the two first subpoints were mostly the main ideas), but I thought that this was an interesting issue that was talked about. Lawrence negatively writes about incest in the Natural History of Man, and Mary Shelley also displays a negative attitude towards it. Butler demonstrates the marriage between Frankenstein and Elizabeth as "unhealthy" (Shelley 133).
This information greatly enhanced my understanding of the novel. I now almost see this as kind of a science-fiction novel, when before, I had not even thought about the novel portraying the dangers of science. Furthermore, this goes even deeper to say that Mary Shelly could have been portraying creationism, evolution, or both, when I never realized that religion also had a major role in the story. I also learned about theories that could have influenced her such as vitalism vs. materialism, which improves my understanding about how Shelley illustrates the creation of the monster itself. And lastly, I just thought that Shelley included an incestuous relationship because it was common at the time, not because she was commenting on human behavior and displaying negativity towards incest.
1) Creationism vs Evolution - One of the main ideas of this review is stating the points that suggest Mary Shelley's work displays creationism or a belief in evolution. For example, Butler states that people see a warning not to assume God's role as a Creator. However, it could also be interpreted that Mary Shelly attacks Christianity and connects to Lawrence's radical science theories.
2) Vitalism vs. materialism - There are two theories presented in this review, one is Abernethy's theory, vitalism, that besides the chemical and physical make-up of life, something made up for the soul, like "electricity" (Butler 306). Lawrence's theory, materialism, states that our mind is solely made up of chemical processes. Butler states that Frankenstein ". . . suggests the position of Abernethy, who proposes that superadded life-element is analoagous to electricity -- particularly when he uses a machine, reminiscent of a battery, to impart the spark of life" (Shelley 307). This is interesting to think about, although technically, the monster would still be sparked by material.
3) Incest - I'm not sure if this was a main idea (the two first subpoints were mostly the main ideas), but I thought that this was an interesting issue that was talked about. Lawrence negatively writes about incest in the Natural History of Man, and Mary Shelley also displays a negative attitude towards it. Butler demonstrates the marriage between Frankenstein and Elizabeth as "unhealthy" (Shelley 133).
This information greatly enhanced my understanding of the novel. I now almost see this as kind of a science-fiction novel, when before, I had not even thought about the novel portraying the dangers of science. Furthermore, this goes even deeper to say that Mary Shelly could have been portraying creationism, evolution, or both, when I never realized that religion also had a major role in the story. I also learned about theories that could have influenced her such as vitalism vs. materialism, which improves my understanding about how Shelley illustrates the creation of the monster itself. And lastly, I just thought that Shelley included an incestuous relationship because it was common at the time, not because she was commenting on human behavior and displaying negativity towards incest.
Nitya, you did a really good job picking out the main ideas. I didn't fully understand the comparison between vitalism and materialism when I first read Butler's essay so you did a fine job of explaining it and plucking out the significance. I also agree that although incest isn't heavily touched on in the essay, it remains a subtle issue that should be recognized.
ReplyDeleteIt had never occurred to me that Shelley could be attacking the foundational ideas of Christianity through Frankenstein. While i'm not sure if agree at this point, i would have liked for you to expand on this idea further! I think that your point made about people not accepting/fearing the idea that God might not be the sole creator is extremely valid and interesting to look into further. Good job!
ReplyDeleteInteresting way to describe the points as tensions aka one thing versus another. I wish to see your opinion a little more though.
ReplyDelete