Is There A Universal Truth In Frankenstein

In humanity’s understanding of the surrounding world, there are certain unalienable truths, or natural laws. Typically, these regard the essence of life and its intersection with humanity, with examples including the creation of new life, the permanence of death, and the inability of humans to defy physics and utilize magic. In literature, these laws offer a common topic of exploration, both in terms of what constitutes a universal truth and what happens when such a truth is rejected. Two examples of works that explore the latter theme are Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. Shelley tackles the subject of the origin of life, when Victor Frankenstein forms an amalgamate creature from inanimate parts. Similarly,

Faustus, on the other hand, summons Mephistopheles primarily due to his lust for power and an overwhelming need to feel superior to other humans. The imprudence of this act is immediately introduced to the audience, as the chorus states in the prologue, “[Faustus’s] waxen wings did mount above his reach/And melting heavens conspir’d his overthrow/For falling to a devilish exercise” (21-23). In these lines, the hubris of Faustus in attempting to delve into matters of the divine becomes evident; not only is he acting beyond his means, but heaven shuns him for his actions. This hubris is also introduced in the beginning of the first act, as Faustus lauds his own cleverness in the fields of logic, theology, and medicine, before dismissing each as not offering enough power to those who master them; of medicine, Faustus says, “Couldst thou make men to live eternally,/ Or being dead, raise them to life again,/Then this profession were to be esteem’d,” implying that the field as a whole is unworthy of respect for its inability to raise the dead (1.1 24-26). Compared to Victor, who circumvents the laws of nature in the name of discovery, Faustus believes that the only means of achieving importance is through the rebellion against universal truths like death’s permanence. It is because of these beliefs that Faustus summons Mephistopheles, and these beliefs contribute to his appearance as an objectionable and reprehensible

Shelley begins the life of Victor with the death of his mother, setting up his story as a tragic one through the loss of such an important figure. In addition to this initial loss, more and more of Victor’s friends and family die at the hands of his creature throughout the course of the novel. His younger brother, William, is killed due to the creature’s belief that it has been rejected. Following this, a family friend named Justine is unjustly convicted of William’s murder and executed. His friend Henry Clerval and wife Elizabeth face the same fate later in the narrative, once Victor refuses to create a wife for the creature, and Victor’s father dies from the resulting depression. Although Victor may be viewed as culpable for each death other than his mother’s, he also remains distinctly remorseful of his own culpability in a manner that consumes him. On page 142, Victor describes the despair of being inundated with so much death, stating, “I lost sensation, and chains and darkness were the only objects that pressed upon me.” Additionally, he resolves to capture the creature and rid its evil from the world. While standing at the gravestones of his beloved friends and family, Victor states that his grief “gave way to rage and despair” (145).