Frankenstein

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to the Alps, to France, England and Scotland, as well as the iversity at Ingolstadt. However, the most important setting is the North Pole, where Walton and his shipmates are stuck by the ice and where Frankenstein is found following his creation. As a matter of fact, Capitan Walton meet Frankenstein who tells him the story about the creation of his creature. The influence of science. The influence of Percy Bysshe Shelley was really important. He and Mary were interested in science, and particularly in chemistry, so that by the time she wrote Frankenstein, she was aware of the latest scientific theories and experiments in the fields of chemistry, evolutionism and electricity. As a matter of fact, Dr. Frankenstein tries to create a human being through the use of electricity and chemistry without respecting the rules of nature as far as creation and life are concerned. He went against God's laws and principles: the laws of nature; and this could be considered as Dr Frankenstein's sin. Literary influences. The monster can be considered Rousseau's natural man, a man in a primitive state, not influenced by civilisation. However, it could be also seen the influence of the philosopher Locke. In particular, his influence can be seen in the description of the monster's self-awareness and his education by experience. The myth of Prometheus is also important. Prometheus was a giant who stole the fire e gods in order to give it to men. In so doing, he challenged the divine authority and freed men from god's power. As a matter of fact, we know that also Dr Frankenstein challenged the divine power of God and the principle and laws of nature when he created the creature. Narrative structure. The novel is told by different narrators: Walton, who informs his sister Margaret of his voyage; the, Frankenstein informs Walton; finally, the monster. So, the novel is composed of three different points of view. And the form of the novel is epistolary. Themes. The main themes of the novel are: the quest for forbidden knowledge, which is present throughout; the overreacher, in the character of Walton and Dr Frankenstein; the double: Dr Frankenstein and the monster are two aspects of the same being; also, Walton could be considered the double of Dr Frankenstein because both of them are punished for their ambition. The three most important characters of the novel are all linked to the theme of the double. Walton is the double of Frankenstein since he manifests the same ambition, the wish to overcome human limits in his travelling towards the unknown. While Frankenstein and his creature are complementary because they both suffer from a sense of alienation and isolation; the penetration of nature's secrets, which is related to the theme of the overreacher; the usurpation of the female role, since the creation of human beings becomes possible without the participation of women; social prejudices through the figure of the monster as an outcast; as a matter of fact, people at that time thought that beautiful creatures were good while horrifying creatures were evil and violent. As a consequence, the monster is considered evil because he is ugly. The creation of the monster. In this extract of the novel "Frankenstein" Dr Frankenstein, the main character of the novel, describes the creation of his first and new human being. In particular, we know that Dr Frankenstein's experiments comes to and end on a dreary and rainy night of November at one in the morning; after that he had worked hard for nearly two years, and due to his ambition he deprived himself of rest and health, in order to infuse life into an inanimate body to satisfy his desire to challenge death. He selected his parts of the body from some different, but beautiful, corpses. However, as soon as the creature opens his eye, the beauty of his dream disappears, he is horrified and disgusted by his creature: his creature is inhuman, it has a yellow skin through which one can see the muscles and arteries, horrid and watery eyes and thin black lips and his teeth are of a pearly white. He rushes out of the room and goes to his bedroom. He walks up and down, then he throws himself on the bed in his clothes. He sleeps, but he dreams about Elizabeth. He kisses her and she appears to die and change into his mother's corpse, whose body crawls with worms. However, he wakes up, horrified, to find his creature holding up the bed curtains. The creature tries to communicate with him, but Frankenstein escapes and rushes downstairs into the courtyard. Dr Frankenstein spends the night by walking up and down because of his great agitation. At the end, he compares his creature to a mummy before calling him a thing which even Dante could not have conceived.