《弗兰肯斯坦》之人性分析研究 英语学专业

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1、 摘 要 英国著名浪漫主义作家玛丽·雪莱(1797-1851)是英国著名思想家、社会活动家葛德文和著名女性主义运动先驱沃斯通克拉夫特的独生女,同时还是十九世纪英国著名诗人珀斯·雪莱的第二位妻子。《弗兰肯斯坦》是玛丽·雪莱在1818年创作的小说，被认为是世界上第一部真正意义上的科幻小说。对《弗兰肯斯坦》的解读有很多,从早期传记研究,女权主义分析,到马克思主义分析和弗洛伊德的精神分析解读等等,不一而足。而本文将分析其复杂的人性描写来进一步了解及欣赏其深刻的主题—人不能违背自然，充当造物主的角色，科学应当为人类带来福音而非灾难。 本文首先从作者的生活经历，浪漫主义思想及歌特小说对她的影响来

2、探讨玛丽·雪莱人性观的根源，更将结合《弗兰肯斯坦》中的人性描写来分析人类的造物主情结，俄狄浦斯情结及人的社会性。 论文最后认为《弗兰肯斯坦》的悲剧和不幸不仅是寓言式的，而且是预言式的。本论文分析的现实意义在于在人类已掌握克隆技术的今天，不能盲目的追求科学，而需在人文精神指导下，合理的应用科学，使人性发展得到更大空间，使人与自然更加亲近和谐。 关键词：玛丽·雪莱；《弗兰肯斯坦》；人性； Abstract Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley was an important writ

3、er during the age of Romanticism in English literature. She was the only daughter of two literary celebrities. Her father William Godwin was a revolutionary philosopher and novelist. Her mother Mary Wellstone Craft was in the vanguard of feminism. At the age of sixteen, she met the famous British po

4、et, Percy Bysshe Shelley, whom she later married. By the time she was nineteen, Mary Shelley had written one of the most famous novels published in 1818— Frankenstein, which was known as the first science fiction in the world. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has attracted a wide variety of interpretatio

5、ns, ranging from earlier biographical study, the feminist, to the Marxist, the psychoanalytic and Freudian reading. This thesis will focus on the analysis of the complicated description of human nature in the novel to further understand the profound theme—human beings should not rebel against n

6、ature and science should promote the well-being of mankind but not bring people disasters. The thesis will firstly expound on the origin of Mary Shelley’s views on human nature according to the influences from Gothic novels, Romanticism and her life experience. Then the analysis will focus on human

7、’s God Complex, Oedipus Complex and human’s sociality embodied in the complicated description in Frankenstein. The last part of the thesis advocates that the tragedy in Frankenstein is not a fable but a prediction. With the cloning of life forms and genetic engineering now common place, human being

8、s should make rational use of the science technology and live in harmony with nature. Key words: Mary Shelley; Frankenstein; human nature; Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Origin of Mary Shelley’s Views on Human Nature 2 2.1 Influence from Gothic Novels 2 2.2 Influence from Romanticism 3 2.

9、3 Influence from Life Experiences 3 3 Analysis of Human nature in Frankenstein 4 3.1 Human’s God Complex 4 3.2 Human’s Oedipus Complex ....6 3.3 Human’s Sociality 8 4 Realistic meaning of the analysis 10 5 Conclusion 12 Bibliography 13 Acknowledgements 15 Analysis of H

10、uman Nature in Frankenstein 1 Introduction Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797 - 1851) was born in London, England. She was the only daughter of two literary celebrities. Her father William Godwin (1756 - 1836) was a revolutionary philosopher and novelist. Her mother Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 -179

11、7), the author of the Rights of Woman , was in the vanguard of feminism. Unfortunately, Mary Wollstonecraft died giving birth to Mary, leaving her daughter in the care of his husband. Mary spent her childhood in a very miserable situation. She could not expect any love from her stepmother. At the ag

12、e of sixteen, she met the famous British poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822) whom she later married. Shelley helped her not only in her life but also in her literary success. She always has conversations with Shelley about life and literature. Most of their conversations aroused her inspiration

13、 for her novels. In the summer of 1816, Mary Shelley and her husband visited Switzerland. While they stayed at the Chapuis in Geneva, they had to spend the night at the Villa Diodati due to an incredible storm. They agreed that each one write a story founded on some supernatural occurrence. Howeve

14、r, Mary’s Frankenstein was the only one that completed. “It proved a wet, ungenial summer,” Mary Shelley remembered in 1831, “and incessant rain often confined us for days to the house.” (Shelley, 1980: 21) Amongst other subjects, the conversation turned to the experiments of the 18th century natu

15、ral philosopher and poet Erasmus Darwin, who was said to bring a corpse or assembled body parts to life. Sitting around a log fire at Byron’s villa, the company also amused themselves by reading German ghost stories, prompting Byron to suggest they each write their own supernatural tale. Shortly aft

16、erwards, in a waking dream, Mary Godwin conceived the idea for Frankenstein: I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir wit

17、h an uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavor to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world. ( 刘玉红, 1997:83) She began writing what she assumed would be a short story. With Percy Shelley’s encouragement, she ex

18、panded this tale into her first novel, Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus, published in 1818, which made Mary Shelley known as mother of the science fictions. The tale relates the tragic experiences of Frankenstein, a Geneva student of natural philosophy, who discovers the secret of life and s

19、ucceeds in imparting life to an artificial human being. The “thing” Frankenstein has created and abandoned later takes its revenge against its creator. In order to catch this vicious monster and kill it for human betterment, Frankenstein pursues the monster to the Arctic and dies there. (Johnson, 19

20、82) The monster makes a decision to destroy itself, too. Many people show their interest in this novel not only because it is one of the earliest written science fictions in the English literature but also because it had eccentric and unconstrained plots. It also had very complex and complicated des

21、cription about human nature and this thesis seeks to analyze Mary Shelley’s views on human nature and finds the significant meaning for today’s human and science development. 2 Origin of Mary Shelley’s Views on Human Nature 2.1 Influence from Gothic Novels “Gothic novel, tales of the macabre, fan

22、tastic, and supernatural, usually set amid haunted castles, graveyards, ruins, and wild picturesque landscapes.” (Frederick, 1997: 23) The Gothic novel was very popular in the late 18th century and the early 19th century, especially among female readers, who indulged themselves in these terrifying r

23、omantic stories. “They took delight in talking about the ghastly and bloodcurdling castles, the deep and remote wilderness, the bloody murder, and the mysterious supernatural phenomena.” Although Mary did not write any castles in Frankenstein, she showed the bloody laboratory, the deep and remote fo

24、rests and mountains where both the scientist and the monster had lived for some time, the bloody murders that the monster committed, and above all, the mysterious supernatural creation of a human being. Since Frankenstein is a Gothic tale of terror, it has almost all the distinguishing features of G

25、othic novel such as terrifying plot, the bleak wilderness, the bloody murder, etc. However, it has also revealed the black side of human race, which is a new feature of Gothic tales. With the influence of Gothic novels, Mary Shelly focused her description, on black side of human nature. 2.2 Influen

26、ce from Romanticism Rather than focusing on the twists and turns of the plot, however, the novel foregrounds the mental and moral struggles of the protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, and Shelley imbues the text with her own brand of politicized Romanticism, one that criticized the individualism and e

27、gotism of traditional Romanticism Victor Frankenstein is like Satan in Paradise Lost, and Prometheus: he rebels against tradition; he creates life; and he shapes his own destiny. These traits are not portrayed positively; as Blumberg writes, “his relentless ambition is a self-delusion, clothed as qu

28、est for truth.”(Blumberg, 1993: 50) 2.3 Influence from Life Experiences Mary Shelley had the extremely confused feeling of pregnant and giving birth to a child. She was pregnant when she was sixteen and it happened almost every year for five years. Most of her babies died soon after their births.

29、Besides, she was an illegal mother at that time because she was not married to Shelley then. The filthy description in Frankenstein demonstrates Mary Shelley’s terrifying feeling about the maternal instinct. In this novel, Mary Shelley concerned much on the creation of life. The creation of life wa

30、s described as filthy dirty and bloody. For example, the condition of the experimental laboratory of Frankenstein was miserable; Frankenstein himself became seriously ill and the materials for his creation came from the graves, charnel houses, the dissecting room and slaughterhouse. (Clemit, 2003:30

31、) 3 Analysis of Human nature in Frankenstein 3.1 Human’s God Complex Mary Shelley subtitled her novel The Modern Prometheus. “Prometheus (the name means” Forethought”) appears in Greek myth as a divine being, one of the Titans, descended from the original union of the Sky God with the Earth Mothe

32、r. In some stories, he is the creator of mankind, and he is always their champion. He is supposed to have stolen fire for them from Heaven when they were denied it by Zeus, and to have been punished by being fastened to a cliff in the Caucasus where an eagle tore daily at his liver. “Frankenstein sh

33、ared many similarities with Prometheus. In Frankenstein, the scientist played the role of the modern Prometheus. He was the creator of a human being. Although he abandoned his creation, he could not avoid taking the responsibility of it that was his intellectual invention. Once the crazy scientist

34、 gained it, his fall began and he would be excluded from the paradise of life. Both Frankenstein and Prometheus had done something for human betterment; however, both of them were punished seriously. Prometheus was punished because of fire while Frankenstein suffered from his own actions because of

35、knowledge. Prometheus was chained to a rock, where an eagle plucked at his liver each day. The next day, his liver would grow back again and the eagle ate it again. He had to endure this tragic experience day after day. Frankenstein also endured some miserable things, such as lost of his family and

36、friend. However, Prometheus endured the corporal punishment while Frankenstein suffered the spiritual sufferings. He was disturbed by a state of utmost confusion and terror. Prometheus sought fire for human betterment; Frankenstein was bold enough to challenge the power of God. Fire can be very us

37、eful to human beings, but it can be very destructive, too. So is knowledge. In Frankenstein, the monster learned to use fire to make his food more delicious and he used the same thing to kill people as well. It was knowledge that made Frankenstein become a researcher in the vanguard of scientific pr

38、ogress meanwhile it was the same knowledge that destroyed his life and happiness. Frankenstein is a very good novel of new ideas and exciting plots. Almost every character in Frankenstein shows his interest in developing his own situation and does something for human betterment. (孟东红, 2006：4)The fi

39、rst narrator Walton goes to create around in order to seek an extremely new place for human beings. Frankenstein, the scientist in the novel tries every effort to create a living human being that he dreams to be perfect but unfortunately it is very different from his dream. Frankenstein plays the ro

40、le of a Modern Prometheus. Prometheus in the Greek myths sought fire for human betterment. Though ugly and dangerous, the monster is the victim of Frankenstein’s scientific experiment. Frankenstein, speaking of himself as a young man in his father’s home, points out that he pursues knowledge of the

41、 “world” though investigation. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that the meaning of the word “world” is for Frankenstein, very much biased or limited. He thirsts for knowledge of the tangible world and if he perceives an idea to be as yet unrealized in the material world, he then attempts t

42、o work on the idea in order to give it, as it were, a worldly existence. Hence, he creates the creature that he rejects because its worldly form did not reflect the glory and magnificence of his original idea. (Shelley, 1989: 60) Frankenstein begins to build on his scientific knowledge and when he

43、 goes to Ingolstadt and finds a mentor in Waldman, he also starts to take his study of chemistry seriously. There, he becomes part of the new science that penetrates “into the recesses of nature, and show how she works in her hiding places”. (吴定柏, 1998：85-86) However, ideas are simply not enough to

44、cause a young and intelligent man like Frankenstein to try to take on the role of the ultimate Creator and bring life to a corpse. Shelly shows us that the external or the society at large will always intermingle with the internal or the emotional and psychological makeup of the person. It is Franke

45、nstein’s own “chimerical” makeup- a confidence in the male scientific ability, a belief in the male prerogative to control nature by the accumulation of knowledge, the absence of a tempering maternal influence and his own hubris, that leads him to “circumvent the natural channels of procreation”. (王

46、永志, 1993: 9) His knowledge of the world is ironically one that is created in piecemeal; Hence the creature can be seen as a physical representation of the terrible patching up of mismatched parts to make a whole. In trying to be more than he is, that is, a human being, Frankenstein finds himself wed

47、ged in between nature and God, becoming estranged from his immediate society as he becomes burdened with the tragedies brought about by the creature. Mary Shelley had the extremely confused feeling of pregnant and giving birth to a child. It was in the middle of the Industrial Revolution in Britain

48、 that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein.  New technologies, such as the mechanization of spinning and weaving and improvements in the modes of transportation, led to a shift in the country from being a largely agricultural and commercial society to being the world’s first industrial nation.  This tran

49、sformation fomented economic and political upheaval. Agitation for more rights for workers and women had its onset in this period. The Romantic poets revolted against the formality of neo-classicism and advocated a return to nature and a world of imagination and unconscious feelings. All of society

50、was influenced by the Napoleonic Wars and the ideas of the French Revolution. (严春友, 2002: 78) The debate between scientific discoveries and traditional religious and metaphysical thought was starting to take shape, and the ethics of how far man should pursue his desire for knowledge was beginning t

51、o be a topic of discussion - a topic still in debate today. And Mary Shelley, undoubtedly, objected to human’s God complex and human’s tendency to override nature. 3.2 Human’s Oedipus complex In the novel, Frankenstein was very proud of his knowledge of science. He determined to create a perfect h

52、uman being that could fulfill his dream. Frankenstein tried his every effort to create a living human being. However, he did not realize what he had done until the “thing” he had created took its first breath. Frankenstein found that the “thing” was not a living human being but a monster. Badly frig

53、htened and disgusted by the ugly gigantic monster, Frankenstein abandoned it and thought it would die in the forest. However, the monster survived the bleak forest and came back to revenge on his creator. This plot was similar to that of Oedipus the King. “An oracle said that the child Oedipus would

54、 grow up to kill his father and marry his mother.” (王佐良,1992: 171) Frankenstein and Oedipus’ father did the same thing avoiding taking responsibility led to their tragic destiny. Mary showed her dissatisfaction on this in her novel. She believed that the one who avoid taking the responsibility would

55、 finally be punished. Mary Shelley had the monster in Frankenstein educated in the forest so that he could have the knowledge to take his revenge. Instinctively, the monster grasped the necessary skills for his survival. Later, he learned knowledge secretly from an exiled family. Not only had he le

56、arned the basic knowledge of language but also understood the rules and regulations of human society, especially when the cottagers sent him three books as present for his secret help to them. These three books consisted of Paradise Lost, the volume of Plutarch’s Lives, and The Sorrows of Werter.

57、In The Sorrows of Werter, the monster found a “never-ending source of speculation and astonishment” (Johann,1989: 56). He wondered on Werter’s deeds wept on his extinction without precisely understanding it. The volume of Plutarch’s Lives gave him far different effect from The Sorrows of Werter. The

58、se two books gave him the very basic idea of what the human society was like. (Darbble M, 1932: 792) The more he had read and known, the more he thought about himself completely. He wondered what he was, where he came from, and why he was excluded from the human race, etc. This feeling became strong

59、er when he finished Paradise Lost. “Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay to mould me Man; did I solicit thee from darkness to promote me?” (Milton, 1998: 34) Mary Shelley copied these lines from John Milton’s Paradise Lost. These words said by Adam to God echoed in the heart of the monster who

60、wanted to say exactly what Adam had said to his creator. The monster compared his situation to that of Adam. (张玉婷, 1997: 83) Adam was created by God as a perfect creature while the monster was hideously formed and he found himself “wretched, helpless, and alone” When Frankenstein created the monste

61、r, he did not expect it would be a monster. He started doing so for human betterment. He intended to create a wonderful being of good nature that was the most perfect creature in the world. However, the ugly appearance of the monster frightened him and made all his dreams die in failure. So he aband

62、oned the monster and a voided taking the responsibility to take care of it; thus made it such a miserable wretch in the world. The revenge reflected the monster’s fight for his right. Once he survived as Oedipus did, he would demand his own right of happiness. However, it was reasonable for him to a

63、sk for him to ask for his betterment. When he was refused of this basic request, he would naturally take revenge. When God found that Adam was alone in the Garden of Eden, he created a female “Eve” for him so that he could have a company. The creation of a female monster in Frankenstein was an inter

64、esting reflection of that. The monster demanded Frankenstein to create a female for him so that he could have someone loving him in the world. Frankenstein had no idea but to do what the monster had requested. However, he was afraid of the result of his experiment. Therefore, he destroyed the female

65、 monster before she came to life that caused the monster’s revenge on Frankenstein. Frankenstein did so for human betterment because if the female monster became alive, she could possibly be more vicious than the male monster. The end of this novel shows Mary Shelley’s fear about the scientific expe

66、riments and her pessimistic point of view. 3.3 Human’s Sociality The creature, on the other hand, is an untamed and extreme version of the free individual. Without the support and shelter of a family, and the systematic approaches of an education system, the creature nevertheless gains an education of sorts. And he does this by reacting to his basic needs for shelter, food, warmth and company. In the debate on the importance of nature versus nurture, Mellor explains that Frankenstein shows nur