To start, we need background. Mary Wolstonecraft Shelley was raised under the help of her father, William Godwin. However, Mary's mother died after the birth. It should be mentioned that Mary's father was a philosopher, novelist and journalist. Mary's father held several philosophical meetings during the evenings as well, working with the ideas of Galvanism and the stimulation of nerve cells due to electromagnetic stimulation. With this, ushers in a novel that shaped how the European public saw the Modern Day Prometheus.

Victor begins his youthful days nearest to his oldest cousin, Elizabeth. And from that relationship, we see Victor's closeness with his cousin. (One version of the movie even romanticizes Victor and his relationship to his cousin). Anyways, Victor eventually makes his way as a scientist at a local University and from there here begins to obsess over mysticism and how mysticism in his view leads to a better and well-informed view of science. And after having long conversations with his colleagues and professors, he decides to create Prometheus.

After several failed attempts to re-animate life, Victor finally succeeds and is able to reanimate life but when this happens, Victor is filled with an alarming terror, to a degree of decreped paranoia. Through this creation, Victor succeeds in every scientist's worst nightmare, creating something that is ultimately greater than yourself.

 

Victor takes upon a journey across all of Switzerland where the novel is set and begins to plot revenge over his monster counterpart, Frankenstein. Once there, Victor laments, "When I reflected on his crimes and malice, my hatred and revenge burst all bounds of moderation. I would have made a pilgrimage to the highest peak of the Andes, could I when there have precipitated him to their base." (9.6) Which leaves us to question the extent to which Victor is truly a hero or simply a sociopath.

Ultimately, Frankenstein follows Victor across Switzerland. Victor later attends college near Scotland and through that begins to create a bride for Frankenstein. Once this occurs, Frankenstein appears again with Victor to create essentially demand for a bride. Upon this, Victor destroys the bride of Frankenstein and the the monster rampages on a pursuit to Kill Elizabeth, Victor's bride-cousin.

Ending like the tragedies of Sophocles and Shakespeare, Frankenstein succeeds in Killing Elizabeth, where upon later Victor's father dies of sudden grief.

Ultimately, Frankenstein for me is not let's make science a monster but moreover, what can science really do? As scientists or mysticists, we must ask ourselves, " Why are we doing all of this?" And in the case of the book Frankenstein, we study so that we can learn in an attempt to (hopefully) not create anything above our heads whether it be science, literature, art or music. The lesson is the same.