Frankenstein, Just In Time For Halloween

CNN.com offers this look at the history of Burg Frankenstein (Castle Frankenstein) from which Mary Shelley is supposed to have derived part of her inspiration for the story of her novel Frankenstein, named for her character Victor von Frankenstein, who creates a monster out of body parts, gives it life and then discovers that oops, that was maybe not such a great idea.

Frankenstein, as a novel, combines a number of themes, including that of graverobbing and that of the scientist who wants to discover not just the secret of life, but the secret of creating life. If human beings can create life from nothingness, do they then become superbeings, that is, gods? Do they learn the secrets of magic? Should such experimentation be banned? We are wrestling with these questions today, with our considerations of whether we should allow stem cell research and cloning. The novel's subtitle is, after all, The Modern Prometheus. The law banned graverobbing in many countries, and allowed the use of only the bodies of executed criminals for anatomical study by medical students and physicians, so that some doctors like Dr. Frankenstein who wanted to study the human body might would turn to people who didn't have quite so much trouble with legal niceties and would willingly provide medical students and physicians with newly dead folks, or with newly buried bodies. Prime examples were people like William Burke and William Hare, who made quite a career out of the practice, until they got caught.

The author, Mary Shelley, is generally credited with having created the first modern science fiction novel; she probably also created the first "mad scientist" novel, although whether Dr. Frankenstein goes mad as a result of seeing his creature commit one murder after another, and why the creature does so, or whether the doctor is mad all along is a question for debate.

Here's a Frankensteinian web exhibit prepared by the National Library of Medicine.

Comments

[Kudzu Fire]

Frankenstein Redux. Interesting points. I was not familiar with some of your observations. When is it okay to trouble the dead? Some would say: never.