Presented by Prinjal Shiyal
Enrollment no. 2069108420190041.
Paper no. 5
Batch year, 2018- 2020.a
Email ID. Prinjal00123@gmail.com
Submitted to ; Maharaja krishnakumarsinghji Bhavnagar university. (MKBU)
Narrative technique in Frankenstein.
About Mary Shelley :-
Mary Shelley was born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin in Somers Town, London, in 1797. She was the second child of the feminist philosopher, educator, and writer Mary Wollstonecraft, and the first child of the philosopher, novelist, and journalist William Godwin. Wollstonecraft died of puerperal fever shortly after Mary was born. Godwin was left to bring up Mary, along with her older half-sister, Fanny Imlay, Wollstonecraft's child by the American speculator Gilbert Imlay.A year after Wollstonecraft's death, Godwin published his Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1798), which he intended as a sincere and compassionate tribute. However, because the Memoirs revealed Wollstonecraft's affairs and her illegitimate child, they were seen as shocking. Mary Godwin read these memoirs and her mother's books, and was brought up to cherish her mother's memory.
Mary's earliest years were happy, judging from the letters of William Godwin's housekeeper and nurse, Louisa Jones] But Godwin was often deeply in debt; feeling that he could not raise the children by himself, he cast about for a second wife] In December 1801, he married Mary Jane Clairmont, a well-educated woman with two young children of her own—Charles and Claire] Most of Godwin's friends disliked his new wife, describing her as quick-tempered and quarrelsome but Godwin was devoted to her, and the marriage was a successMary Godwin, on the other hand, came to detest her stepmotherWilliam Godwin's 19th-century biographer Charles Kegan Paul later suggested that Mrs Godwin had favoured her own children over those of Mary Wollstonecraft.Together, the Godwins started a publishing firm called M. J. Godwin, which sold children's books as well as stationery, maps, and games. However, the business did not turn a profit, and Godwin was forced to borrow substantial sums to keep it going.[10] He continued to borrow to pay off earlier loans, compounding his problems. By 1809, Godwin's business was close to failure, and he was "near to despair"Godwin was saved from debtor's prison by philosophical devotees such as Francis Place, who lent him further money.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
Frankenstein was written in a story writing competition by Mary Shelley In 1818. This novel is regarded as one of the pioneering work of Mary and also a cornerstone in the literary development of science fiction. Except being first science fiction, it is also one Gothic novel where a monster is created with the help of scientific experiment and the horrible form of monster frightens and creates a sense of havoc and fear in the reader time and again.The subtitle of the novel is the modern Prometheus. Prometheus is a messenger in Greek mythology. He went against the god and tried to be like god but he was punished. In the same parallel way Victor is a modern Prometheus. He tries to take over the role of god and woman. He creates a monster in a scientific laboratory with dead body parts. But the horrible and hideous creature cannot get success to draw his creator’s attention towards him. So full of anguished the monster starts killing all his relatives, making him quite alone as himself. He
suffers whole life till his last breathe.The novel is written in a unique narrative style, i.e. Chinese box style. There are three first person narratives. The novel starts with the letter written by Walton to his sister, which is commonly known as an epistolary style. Then the narrative is taken by Victor, who tells his ambitious dream and its terrific consequence. Later the narrative is taken up by the monster who in detail shares his loneliness in human society and their cruel behavior towards him and he further persuades Victor, his creator, to make a mate for him. Again the narrative is carried further by Victor and ultimately Walton takes the final narratives.The novel has a modern feature. The end is open. One can interpret the ending in any way they like. At the end the monster says that it will end its life and springs out from there. But no traces are there further to justify its end. Walton too on Victor’s request promises to end his dangerous journey, but his return to the land is not mentioned. In this way the novel carries some modern qualities too.
Narrative technique in Frankenstein :-
Mary Shelley had many narrative conventions hitherto followed by earlier writers. Jane Austen had written many novels, but the area, she covered was restricted to one or two families. Her realistic mode did not suit Mary Shelly.Since the novel is said to have originated in the so-called ‘ghost-story’ context, she fell back on the Gothic tradition, but altered it drastically. So much so that the novel as it was published could hardly be called Gothic, for, with a few exceptions, there are no supernatural trappings. As a literary heiress to two great and eminent intellectuals, Mary seems to have examined and tested all existing conventions, but she found none which could suit her: she invented her own – a hybrid of ‘Chinese box’, ‘point of view’, ‘indirections’ and Framed or Embedded Narrative, which is a also known as framed narratives or Chinese box structure of stories within stories, metafiction. The first narrative was taken by Walton Who writes to his sister Mrs. Saville. Since the plot of the novel in this section is carried on by letters, at this stage the epistolary narrative has been employed from there the embedded structure of the narrative is taken up by Victor from chapter 1 to 10. Victor’s narrative then gives a frame to the narratives of Monster from chapters 11 to 16. From there again the turn of narrative is carried further by Victor up to 24 and Walton takes over the narratives to the concluding part of the novel and the frame is closed up. The structure is tight because of embedded narrative. It is written in 1st person narrative, but there are three 1st person narratives.The intention of each narrative is to create some effect on the narration. The narrative of monster attempts to convince his creator, Victor, to take his responsibility as parent and to make a mate for him. Victor’s narrative ventures to persuade Walton to end his journey and to destroy the monster.Through the narratives, the parallels between the characters are sketched that linked the stories together. The ambition of Walton turns him a potential Victor Frankenstein and his isolation from the people brings him close like the monster. In this sense, Walton is parallel to Victor and Monster.The novel is a recorded replica of the diary maintained by Walton, and at least stretch our imagination so as to take what her camera covers to be real, the happening s are all real, for Mary Shelley is not interested in narrating a story or stories, her primary intent is in Showing, and she shows us a slide after slide of diverse people, their nature , their corrupt institutions like the church and the courts of law; she also shows how most bourgeois societies live in ivory towers; and evaluate a man by his descent and by his external appearance. They are not bothered about the inner or inherent good and virtue one may have. Each slide engenders the next and so the link at all stages acts as a progressively advancing fast video cassette till the Principal scribe chooses to sum up. But do we find any closure? Where does the monster go? Springs out on the raft and disappears borne by waves into distance and dark. Walton promises to sail home, but does he? He is like Victor, an over-reacher; would he give up his quest after having observed the tragic end of Victor? We have no answer? There is no hint; we are on the frozen seas far remote from human habitation. The end is open. Certain sections of Mary Shelley's novels are often interpreted as masked rewritings of her life. Critics have pointed to the recurrence of the father–daughter motif in particular as evidence of this autobiographical style.[156] For example, commentators frequently read Mathilda (1820) autobiographically, identifying the three central characters as versions of Mary Shelley, William Godwin, and Percy ShelleyMary Shelley herself confided that she modelled the central characters of The Last Man on her Italian circle. Lord Raymond, who leaves England to fight for the Greeks and dies in Constantinople, is based on Lord Byron; and the utopian Adrian, Earl of Windsor, who leads his followers in search of a natural paradise and dies when his boat sinks in a storm, is a fictional portrait of Percy Bysshe ShelleyHowever, as she wrote in her review of Godwin's novel Cloudesley (1830), she did not believe that authors "were merely copying from our own hearts". William Godwin regarded his daughter's characters as types rather than portraits from real life.Shelley uses the historical novel to comment on gender relations; for example, Valperga is a feminist version of Scott's masculinist genreIntroducing women into the story who are not part of the historical record, Shelley uses their narratives to question established theological and political institutions Shelley sets the male protagonist's compulsive greed for conquest in opposition to a female alternative: reason and sensibility.In Perkin Warbeck, Shelley's other historical novel, Lady Gordon stands for the values of friendship, domesticity, and equality. Through her, Shelley offers a feminine alternative to the masculine power politics that destroy the male characters. The novel provides a more inclusive historical narrative to challenge the one which usually relates only masculine events.
Conclusion :-
In Frankenstein we find this type of narrative style. Marry Shelley's work is more important according to traditional culture and here we can find one of the best narrative technique. Shelley's Frankenstein is different from other works, that's why we can find here different types of narrative technique in Frankenstein.
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