In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, one of Victor’s greatest sources of inspiration in his journey of scientific inquiry is German alchemist Cornelius Agrippa. In chapter two of the novel, when recalling his studies of natural science, Victor states: “When I was thirteen years of age… I chanced to find a volume of the works of Cornelius Agrippa. I opened it with apathy; the theory which he attempts to demonstrate, and the wonderful facts he relates, soon changes this feeling into enthusiasm. A new light seemed to dawn upon my mind…”. Victor is immediately drawn to Agrippa’s works, and is so overjoyed by this newfound wisdom, that he shows it to his father. Upon reading Agrippa’s works, William Frankenstein tells his son “do not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash” (68). After his father shows him simple experiments with electricity, Victor abandons his devotion to Agrippa’s work, stating ” “This last stroke completed the overthrow of Cornelius Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, and Paracelsus, who had long reigned the lords of my imagination.” (70), After his father demonstrates to him the natural principles of electricity, Agrippa’s wisdom is nothing but fiction to Victor. However, it may be possible that Shelley purposefully chose to mention Cornelius Agrippa as one of Victor’s first mentors in his passion for scientific knowledge, despite his ultimately small role in the novel.
Mary Shelley was known to have radical political beliefs for her time, and she was inspired by her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft’s beliefs, which, by today’s standards would be considered feminist ideas. Mary Wollstonecraft was the author of The Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which defended the concept of natural rights, especially those of women. Coincidentally, Cornelius Agrippa had published his own proto-feminist book in 1529, titled, Declamation on the Nobility and Preeminence of the Female Sex. In this book, Agrippa argues that woman are superior to men, and combats discriminatory portrayals of the female body in the Bible, Greek medicine, and other sources considered canon at the time. Agrippa states: “Woman was created as much superior to man as the name she has received is superior to his. For Adam means Earth, but Eve is translated as life. And as far as life is to be ranked above earth, so far is woman to be ranked above man”. He also defends Eve, and condemns men for being the source of evil and sin in all of us. He states, “it was therefore the man who committed the sin in eating, not the woman, the man who brought death, not the woman. And all of us have sinned in Adam not in Eve, and we are infected with original sin not from our mother, who is a woman, but from our father, a man” (Agrippa). As an early feminist, Shelley’s beliefs had an impact on her novel Frankenstein, and her ideas were shaped by earlier influences such as Agrippa, and her mother.
Despite the lack of prominent female characters in the novel, Frankenstein can be seen as an empowering work, through Victor’s contemplation of the creation of a female companion for the creature. Victor ponders, “She who, in all probability, was to become a thinking and reasoning animal, might refuse to comply with a compact made before her creation. They might even hate each other…and might he not conceive a greater abhorrence for it when it came before his eyes in the female form? She also might turn with disgust from him to the superior beauty of man; she might quit him, and he be again alone, exasperated by the fresh provocation by being deserted by one of his own species”. Victor is not concerned about there being two of the monster, he is worried that the female will develop autonomy, and have the rationality to make her own decisions. He is anxious that the female creature may not want to submit herself to the will of the original creature, which is what men at this time assumed was natural for women. Without this feminine influence, the creature grows hateful towards its creator, and this is what ultimately causes it to take its revenge on Victor. Despite the fact that he is only briefly mentioned in the beginning of the novel, mentioning Agrippa was a deliberate choice made by Shelley to reflect her radical beliefs, and alludes to the fact that the absence of a female mate is what causes the creature to cause Victor so much grief.
Works Cited:
Agrippa, Cornelius. “Declamation On The Nobility And Preeminence Of The Female Sex (1529)”. Mrdivis.Yolasite.Com, 2021, http://mrdivis.yolasite.com/resources/Agrippa’s%20feminism.pdf.
“A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY: EXPLORING THE FRENCH REVOUTION, accessed November 18, 2021, https://revolution.chnm.org/d/579.
O’Shea, Ayla. “The Fear Of Femaleness: How “Frankenstein” Acts As A Feminist Platform”. Medium, 2016, https://medium.com/@aylaoshea/the-fear-of-femaleness-how-frankenstein-acts-as-a-feminist-platform-bfd3dfdf5b02.
The Materials of History, Thought, and Art 
This is such an interesting object for the book to study! I think the early mentions of Cornelius Agrippa foreshadow a lot about how Victor will be as an adult. Even though his father tells him the works of Agrippa are worthless, he still wants to read them. This shows that he is stubborn, and also that he craves knowledge, even against the advice of someone he trusts. I also think the goals of alchemy relate a lot to Victor’s vision in his scientific experiments. Alchemists sought out the elixir of life, and tried to turn lead to gold. Vitor had similar lofty goals, which might come from his original interest in alchemy. I think the feminist take you have on the inclusion of Agrippa’s works is very cool! I would never have guessed that he had these views, but it makes a lot of sense that Shelley would include him in her book.