preview

Frankenstein In The 18th Century Essay

Decent Essays

“Satan has his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and detested” (Mary Shelley). In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein creates a monster who refers to himself as “Adam of your labours” which also happens to be the first man created in the Bible. The monster was abandoned by Victor and was left to teach himself and slowly discover what he is, which slowly drives him to insanity. Gothic novelists such as Mary Shelley targeted to epitomize the melancholy of the early 18th century throughout their writing. When the “first wave” of gothic literature was started it was created as a refined joke. The “second wave” of gothic novelists, along with Mary Shelley, founded innovative conventions. …show more content…

Frankenstein changed the direction of medical science and inspired something that might not have happened without her genius writings. In the 18th century, electricity inspired many scientists, and at that time very little was understood about electricity. A scientist by the name of Galvani performed a similar experiment on a frog and discovered that whenever you touch the frog with an electric machine, his leg twitched. Frankenstein influenced the hypothesis that if you could produce an electrical current strong enough to revive a lifeless …show more content…

Shelley influenced science, medical exploration and experimentation through her novel by pressing boundaries and rectifying the journey of modern science. Without Shelley’s innovative philosophies concerning science, medical science would not be where it currently is in medical evaluations. However, Frankenstein wasn’t only an inspiration to modern scientists at the time, it was also an inspiration to grotesque novelists and set a new level for gothic writers of the 18th century. Through a religious standpoint, we have received our bodies as a gift from God, and to create another individual would be morally wrong in God’s

Get Access