Frankenstein And Patrick Steptoe Similarities

In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein is the main character and very interested in, “natural philosophy, and particularly chemistry”(Shelley 41). Like Frankenstein, a scientist by the name of Patrick Steptoe is also intrigued with life and the process of in vitro fertilization. They both were successful in creating life but in very different ways. Victor Frankenstein and Patrick Steptoe, the scientist studied, are similar in many ways. Victor Frankenstein created a living creature that had a large stature but resembled a human in many ways. The monsters, “... yellow skin scarcely covered the works of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these

luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips”(Shelley 47). The creature was a terrifying sight to the human eye. On the other hand Patrick Steptoe was involved in what is called in vitro fertilization. Both received negative feedback, especially Frankenstein’s monster, some appreciated Steptoe’s discovery and others saw it as playing God, which was frowned upon by many.
Victor Frankenstein began to study life. He invested all of his time to learning about it so that he could accomplish his ultimate goal. Victor wanted to create a being out of dead human body parts. He did not think about the consequences of what could happen long term. He successfully created this living creature but it did not turn out the way he had imagined. It was very large in stature and scared the daylights out of anybody who saw him. Victor abandoned his creature out of pure disgust. The creature was all alone out in the world and has, “sworn eternal revenge” (Shelley 122) on Frankenstein and his family. The creature’s first victim was Victor’s little brother. The family was devastated at his death and a woman by the name of Justine was being accused of the boy’s murder. She is absolutely shocked and confused at how she could be mistaken for a murderer. Nonetheless, she is sentenced to death and is killed a few days later. Victor can not bare the pain of knowing he is responsible for the death of two people. His hands made the creature that killed his brother and has now taken the life of a good friend of his family. Victor’s creature has made an impression on the world and it has not been a good one. Victor’s life and many others lives have been mangled by the hatred in this creature’s heart.
Patrick Steptoe, although interested in life, did not take the same approach as Frankenstein did to creating life.

He stuck with the basic principles of how life is created, he just made it possible for women who cannot have babies properly to be able to still have them. He created what is called in vitro fertilization. This was the process of extracting eggs from a woman, fertilizing that egg and planting it back in the woman. Their reactions after their works had been complete were very different. Victor was horrified at what he had done and did not want to take responsibility for it. Mr. Steptoe was very pleased with his accomplishments and thought that it was a great find in the scientific world. He soon found out that not everyone was fond of his discoveries. The religious community was the group that disapproved in vitro fertilization the most. They envisioned baby breeding farms and along with that saw it as Mr. Steptoe “playing God” (Danielson). There were many positives that came out of this as well. It can be very devastating to be told that you cannot have babies. That is something most people look forward to for much of their life. Patrick Steptoe and in vitro fertilization make it possible for these people to have babies. If used morally this process is fantastic and could be very useful. If IVF is abused and used for the wrong reasons then it should be abandoned and never used

again.
Victor Frankenstein and Patrick Steptoe are similar in that they have the same general goal of creating life. That being said, their process, result, and satisfaction are very different. Victor created an unrealistic monster that does not fit in and wants to destroy humans. Patrick Steptoe came up with a good idea to help out people with reproductive issues. Unfortunately, people did not all accept the fact that this was his intention and his only intention. The moment Frankenstein’s creature was introduced to the world there was immediate tension between it and the human race. Patrick Steptoe had some people supporting him and also had some trying to tear him down. Both men were successful in achieving their goal but one regretted it and the other cherished his discovery. Frankenstein created a killer and Steptoe created an artificial baby maker.