Fiction Over Fact Of Frankenstein

Maya Shaked

Dr. Matthew Margini

Research into Anglophone Literature

5 April 2023

Fiction Over Fact: Shelley’s Critique of the Scientific Method During the Romantic Era

Science evolves to reflect the beliefs of its time, regardless of whether doing so builds on or undermines the work done up until that point. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein exhibits this evolution of the scientific method as Victor Frankenstein tries to integrate the Romantic ideas of the nineteenth century into science. He begins his studies motivated by those ideas, saying, “I entered with the greatest diligence into the search of the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life” (Shelley 25). Yet, the destructive effects of his experiment erode this hope and expose the fallacies

The ideas of Romantic scientists such as Sir Humphrey Davy, while revolutionary for their time, were not completely novel, but referenced scientists and philosophers from before the scientific revolution. Stuart Peterfreund discusses in his article “Composing What May Not Be ‘Sad Trash’: A Reconsideration of Mary Shelley's Use of Paracelsus in "Frankenstein" that such ideas parallel those of alchemists Albertus Magnus, Cornelius Agrippa, and Paracelsus. He points out how Paracelsus in particular had a significant influence on the studies of psychology and medicine of the nineteenth century. Often dubbed pseudoscience or associated with magic, Paracelsus’ theories have several similarities with Victor’s experiments and carry a significant influence on Victor’s perception of science (81). Therefore, Shelley’s critique of Romantic science extends to older scientific eras as well. When Victor reflects on his journey as a scientist upon choosing to study the ancients over modern science, he narrates, “The train of my ideas would never have received the fatal impulse that led to my ruin” (Shelley 24). From the beginning of his education, Victor views science through a historical lens and believes that adapting older techniques will foster scientific progress. Yet, in his narrative to Walton, he cautions against the ancients and labels this method as flawed. Shelley traces the flaws of the Romantic movement back to this reliance on older iterations of