Frankenstein — Science Fiction

Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Though Frankenstein is infused with elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement, Brian Aldiss has argued that it should be considered the first true science fiction story. However, the novel can be read from two main levels; as a science fiction and as human nature. The entire novel moves around the invention of a scientist and the result of it. Dangerous aspect of experience in the scientific field is the subject-matter of the novel.

The monster, Victor's creation itself is a kind of scientific achievement around which the whole plot structure is designed. The protagonist Victor Frankenstein is a scientist and driven by ambition of scientific curiosity. His quest for absolute knowledge and power has ended in his own destruction. Shelley shows the dangerous aspects of modern scientific world, and how the scientific investigation goes beyond human control due to the excess focus on it without proper attention has well been presented in the novel. The quest for knowledge was one of the most essential aspects of that time. The monster is a scientific investigation of the protagonist. It is eight feet tall, ugly and attempts to integrate himself into human social patterns but all who see him dislike him. The feeling of abandonment compels him to seek revenge against his own creator. Also at this point it becomes clear that Mary Shelley is very critical about the scientific invention and intention of contemporary people in regard to its further coming results. It is said that one of the most important quests of scientific aspect is the quest of a new kind of creation. But most of the scientists are unknown about how their invention will be resulted at last. They are thoughtless about the further coming danger and destructions of science. Victor Frankenstein is one of the representative figures of modern scientists who created monster due to his excess focus on scientific knowledge. At last he lost control over his own creation. In fact, Victor Frankenstein was compelled to lose his own family members and his own creation became the very cause of his own destruction. He was over curious man to learn the hidden law of nature due to his fervent love for science. This event of the novel is very symbolic for the development of modern science. It allows to have the deep thought in the field of science. In this way as the protagonist and all his activities in the holistic plot structure of the novel moves around the scientific subject matter together with its consequences. To sum up, considering above discussion, you can safely consider Frankenstein to be a novel based on science fiction.