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Note: the following article on the element of knowledge in Frankenstein is a modified excerpt (pp. 168-169) from my doctoral dissertation, “Time is Everything with Him”: The Concept of the Eternal Now in Nineteenth-Century Gothic, which can be downloaded (for free) from the Tampere University Press pages. For a list of my other academic publications, see the related page of my website.

Knowledge in Frankenstein: a Central Element

One of the central themes in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the element of knowledge. Particularly, the novel is preoccupied with the connection between knowledge and quality of life. There are direct, dire consequences for all the characters of Frankenstein who seek knowledge, and the creature is explicit in regard to that: “Increase of knowledge only discovered to me more clearly what a wretched outcast I was” (Shelley 1999, 101).

Indeed, in Frankenstein knowledge is clearly seen as a burden. This is particularly true for the creature, who describes how his sorrow increased along with knowledge. He adds that he wished to “shake off all thought and feeling”. He also pessimistically adds that the only escape to overcome pain was death (Shelley 1999, 93). It is a noteworthy detail that Paradise Lost is one of the books the creature reads that lead to his increase of knowledge (Shelley 1999, 100) – a subtle hint at the complex metatextual dynamics involved in Frankenstein.

Knowledge in Frankenstein: Connections with Gothic Metaphysics

I argue that the motif of knowledge is intrinsically linked to the Gothic mode, as it is connected with the characters’ or readers’ potential capacity to escape uncertainty and take either the path of the supernatural or of the temporary illusion of the senses (see my references to Todorov’s definition of the fantastic). As a result, to know means to be aware. This process transcends the threshold of “inner reality”, that is the mind, to become a part of the “outer reality”.

It is not surprising, then, that epistemological failures form the core of Gothic fear. Gothic characters seem occasionally more alarmed by their inability to reasonably assess reality than by whatever dangers surround them. Naturally, in Frankenstein the element of knowledge goes hand-in-hand with the element of creation.

In regard to the motif of creation in Frankenstein, it is important to notice the fluid meanings of themes, as much as the roles of the characters themselves. The theme of creation transcends the literal role of creation as an act of formation of life. Indeed, the narrative structure of Frankenstein leaves no doubt that creation is also highly relevant on a metaphorical level, as an act of creation of text.

Knowledge in Frankenstein: Aspects of Creation

To make matters more complicated still, this metaphorical creation exists on multiple levels. The characters of Frankenstein are writers/creators, but, in the world outside the novel, Mary Shelley is the writer/creator of them all. In this nexus of metatextual connections, the text splits temporality onto many parallel levels. When Victor partially edits Walton’s manuscript, the choice of words that both use is telling. Walton mentions how Frankenstein gave “life and spirit” to the text, while the scientist justifies his corrections by saying “I would not that a mutilated [narration] should go down to posterity” (Shelley 1999, 160).

Furthermore, the roles of the characters of the novel are intermixed and interconnected in such a way that not only do the initial roles cease to exist (indeed, it is debatable whether we can use the term “initial”), but also the ultimate conclusion is that these roles are interchangeable, while time becomes transcendental and reality loses its absolute meaning. Although Victor is the creator of the creature, the latter is no less a “creator” of Victor, as the driving force behind Victor’s subsequent actions.

In addition, he considers Victor his slave and himself the master (Shelley 1999, 128). Walton is similarly an aspiring creator – of new lands and a new world. Obviously, they are all authors of various contributions to the whole.

Works Cited

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1999.

Read more: Angelis, Christos. “Time is Everything with Him”: The Concept of the Eternal Now in Nineteenth-Century Gothic. Doctoral Dissertation. Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press, 2017. Available from the repository of the Tampere University Press.