Throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, several concepts and objects are used as symbols to greater themes Shelley is trying to convey. There is the use of fire and light, which represent intelligence and discovery (such as how the Monster is drawn to the light of the small cottage, in which he learned of how humans behave by observing the family inside), and there is the use of Adam and other biblical figures as symbolic descriptions for the Monster (who refers to themself as Adam but is called a Devil or “Daemon” by Victor). However, I want to focus on the symbolic use of lightning, as it is quite possibly the most misrepresented symbol in all of Frankenstein.

Many people who haven’t read Mary Shelley’s original Frankenstein likely connect the use of lightning to the creation of the monster, but the novel doesn’t inherently mention electricity in the monster’s creation. While this may be a mistaken interpretation of Shelley’s use of the phrase “I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet.” (pg 83, Volume 1) However, use of lightning is more likely attributed to James Whale’s 1931 film adaptation to the novel, which established many of the tropes we associate with Frankenstein in the modern day. This isn’t to say that Shelley didn’t know the electrifying properties of lightning, as that information had become widespread by the point she had written her novel. But the use of lightning as a way of powering a machine, let alone a corpse, was beyond the thoughts of science fiction. 

The original symbolic meaning of lightning was to represent, and often foreshadow, death and destruction. This symbolic connection can be seen very early on in the novel, as Victor watches a bolt of lightning destroy a tree. This event sparks Victor’s interest in the philosophies of life and death but it also serves as a warning to the destructive and dangerous qualities of lightning. 

This destructive quality is used to describe the Monster as well, and lightning is used to foreshadow the arrival of the Monster with malicious intent. For example, after Victor returns to Geneva he sees the Monster silhouetted in the light created by a storm’s lightning. This event is preceded by the death of William, Victor’s brother, and alludes to the idea that the Monster killed William by using lightning to suggest the monster’s destructive capabilities. Lightning is also present at Victor’s wedding, specifically after it is revealed that the Monster killed Elizabeth. Both of these cases use lightning as a symbol of the Monster’s violent actions, but it’s also used to show the destruction caused by others. The most notable example of this is when Victor is attempting to create a partner for the Monster, he destroys his new creation in a thunderstorm. While destroying the body, Victor spots the Monster as he is illuminated by the light from the storm’s lightning. The use of lightning in this scene represents both the malicious intent by the Monster as well as the destructive actions of Victor Frankenstein. The use of lightning as a symbol in Frankenstein is often misunderstood. Most people see lightning as a symbol of life and creation when in actuality it is quite the opposite: a symbol of death and malicious destruction. It is important to understand the use of lightning in this book, as to understand the themes present and the author’s original intent.

The very start of the novel begins with a letter from Captain Robert Walton, remarking on his passage and expedition to the North Pole. The novel also ends with Walton confronting the creature and eventually turning back from his expedition. Initially, he describes it as a place of “beauty and delight”, even though he attempts to persuade himself of its dangers.  I took interest in Shelly’s use of the North pole as a framing device, and I find that the location fits well with the themes of the book. The mystery, the sense of the unknown, and the sense of danger that the North pole presents lends itself well to the narrative and there are clear connections that can be drawn between the setting, and the tone of the book.

In Shelly’s time, the nature of the poles was still largely unknown. Frankenstein is set in the late 1700s, a time when polar exploration was not widespread. Its writing and publication, however, was in the early 1800s, a time when exploration of the poles was really starting to take off; there was clear interest related to the discovery of its nature and of course, economic gain. Some of the very first expeditions were conducted with the hope of finding a “northern passage”, a theoretical trade route that would be able to act as a shortcut for merchant ships (Connors). However, the largest source of expeditions would actually be done in the post-Napoleonic age, through military expeditions (Beck, 1). 

There had been a few expeditions before the turn of the century, notably the voyage of Captain Cook, who in 1778 managed to “Penetrate the arctic circle” and sail through the Bering strait (Beck,2). Many of the following expeditions mainly charted islands that were found north of Siberia, as well as regions of Alaska. David Buchanan is a notable explorer, whose story seems to have some similarities with that of Walton. Buchanan was a Scottish naval officer who set off with fellow officer John Franklin in 1818 due to new reports of the Arctic ice having cleared up. Unfortunately, by the time they had reached the Arctic circle the ice had returned. They were trapped in the ice for a few weeks but eventually managed to escape. Buchanan wished to continue exploring, but Franklin overruled him, and they eventually returned home (Hayes). This story seems somewhat reminiscent of Walton’s journey, though it is likely unrelated as Shelly published Frankenstein in 1818.

The frigid setting of Walton’s journey, and Walton himself to an extent, seem to tie very clearly to Victor Frankenstein’s own characteristics and motives. Walton remarks at the emptiness of the land, a clear parallel to the isolation that Victor forces on himself. Walton desperately seeks friendship, yet he has willingly brought himself to one of the most isolated places on earth. Victor created the monster in a place of isolation, and the creature remarks that he “shall seek the most northern extremity of the globe; I shall collect my funeral pile, and consume to ashes this miserable frame, that its remains may afford no light to any curious and unhallowed wretch, who would create such another as I have been” (Shelly,158), dying in a place of isolation.

The pursuit of forbidden knowledge is another theme that is mirrored in this setting. Victor hopes to unravel the secrets of life, something that is taboo in and of itself, and Milton seeks to reveal the secrets of the North pole and magnetism, another great mystery of the natural world; in the case of Walton, he sacrifices his well being and the safety of his crew for the sake of knowledge. 

Sources:

Connors, Tiffany. “How North Pole Expeditions Work.” HowStuffWorks, HowStuffWorks, 1 Apr. 2008, https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/snow-sports/north-pole-expedition.htm#pt3. 

Beck, Rudolf. “‘The Region of Beauty and Delight’: Walton’s Polar Fantasies in Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein.’” Keats-Shelley Journal, vol. 49, Keats-Shelley Association of America, Inc., 2000, pp. 24–29, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30213044.

Hayes, Isaac Israel. The Open Polar Sea: a Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery Towards the North Pole: In the Schooner” United States”. London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, 1867.

http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/buchan_david_7E.html

Atheism/Religion in the creation of man/it’s own existence

“The other argument which is founded upon a man’s knowledge of his own existence, stands thus. — A man knows not only that he now is, but that there was a time when he did not exist; consequently there must have been a cause. But what does this prove? We can only infer from effects causes exactly adequate to those effects; — But there certainly is a generative power which is effected by certain instruments; we cannot prove that it is inherent in these instruments, nor is the contrary hypothesis capable of demonstration: we admit that the generative power is incomprehensible, but to suppose that the same effect is produced by an eternal, omniscient, Almighty Being, leaves the cause in the [same] obscurity, but renders it more incomprehensible.”

http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/PShelley/atheism.html

If anyone is interested in reading “Paradise Lost,” here is a PDF of the full text.