Comparing the "Birth" of Frankenstein's Monster to the Birth of Christ
M: "Born" from a man, no woman
JC: Born from a woman, no man
M: "Born" at a November night, during a thunderstorm
JC: Arguably, born a December night, under clear skies
M: Takes lives.
JC: Gives back life, from resurrection.
While the birth of Christ is arguably feminist based, having occured with no natural man, the creation of the monster occurs completely by a man. It was Victor who, "infused the spark of life into the lifeless body at his feet." What makes Christ's birth sacred and free of sin is the absence of a man. The monster's creation leads to the destruction of lives and proves problematic to the his creator, while Christ's life leads to the creation of a religion.
Consider the "sex" of it all:
Frankenstein:
1. Infuse the spark of life in a ... form.
2. Victor's candle nearly burnt out
3. Monster's eye opens
4. Hard breath, followed by convulsion that agitated the limbs.
Christ (from the Bible)
1. And the angel answered and said to her [Mary], "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you .." -Luke 1:35
Pas Deux
ReplyDeleteAfter more thought and reading, I've drawn another conclusion about the arguable "perfection" of the birth of Christ to the "sinful" creation of the Monster. Perhaps, the reason for the monster's creation was much more "demonic" than Christ is because of the Christ was born without the use of any man.
-->Could the Creationism theory be considered similar to Victor's creation? Would that mean, in fact, that Christ was created by one "man," while Mary was simply the vessel? Consider that Mary could be the Lab for the creation of Holy Spirit's monster. This would make the two much more similar than different. If this is in fact the case, then why was Christ able to create more positive than negative in the world around him? Maybe because God was with him, while Victor rejected what he created.
--> Honestly, I've slightly confused myself .. ugh.
This is actually kind of interesting. If you give it enough thought, it can be seen that Victor and his Monster do seem to parallel with God and Jesus (Albeit a strange and opposite parallel). This brings up a lot of questions, most of which are unanswerable without evidence (sadly) but the discussion and the ideas that would come from it would be interesting enough.
ReplyDeletei had read this post on tuesday and i couldn't help but get excited haha. i enjoy relating certain events or literature from different times. the argument itsself could, im sure, drag on for a while with our class particularly.
ReplyDeleteAfter I heard about this post in class, I came to read it and it is so interesting! Definitely something I would not have thought about on my own! I also think there is a Judas element because Frankenstein is almost the betrayer of the Christ figure, which I would say is nature. Nature is the savior of all I feel (especially it seems in Romantic literature) and Frankenstein betrays that by creating out of the scope of creation. Judas and Frankenstein both wanted fame and glory, for all the wrong reasons. While Christ turned out to be the not only the King of the Jews but the Savior of mankind, the monster rose just like Jesus and turned out to be a sort of savior for us all. He saves us by showing that taking things into our own hands and betraying nature can have serious consequences and things have an order in this world. Judas and Frankenstein both have tragic ends because of their greed as well.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting! You have given me so many other thoughts!
Your post is really interesting. I like how you compared Jesus' birth to the monster's creation. Also, the vessels through which both were created, Jesus through Mary, and the monster in the lab by Victor, are two completely different ideas. While Jesus is born without original sin, in theory, the monster isn't either (or perhaps it is it just hasn't been viewed at the time of creation. However, through various forces, the monster's sins are awakened and it resembles more of Satan them of Jesus. I think the monster resembles more of Victor. Who knows Victor could be part Satan.
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking not only Christ and devil, but yin and yang. I really like this comparison, and wonder if Shelley meant to imply it.
ReplyDelete