Frankenstein Tomb Raiders Essay

The Tomb Robbing During Nineteenth Century and Its Connection with Frankenstein In a painting drawn by Hablot Knight Browne in 1847, several tomb raiders are gathering around a coffin. While the artwork is drawn in a dark horror scene, the tomb raiders explicitly display their excitement. All the tomb raiders are staring at the corps as they have found a considerable amount of gold, with one drinking alcohol from a bottle and another smoking and relaxing on the lid. This famous painting, Resurrectionist, depicted the rising trend of body snatching during the nineteenth century. The painting and the history of tomb raiders during the nineteenth century directly remind the readers of Frankenstein, in which Mary Shelley sets Victor’s process

Victor’s interest in anatomy and determination to bring life by his hand follows the background of tomb robbing during the nineteenth century: for medical research. Before the nineteenth century, the dissection of the human body was prohibited; however, the scientific revolution and enlightenment encouraged researchers to pay close attention to the human body. The dead bodies that usually appear in scientists’ laboratories are criminals and felons sent from the court. Those bodies played a crucial role in the early discoveries of anatomy and physiology. Still, the demand for dead bodies skyrocketed during the mid-eighteenth century as the number of dead felons could not meet the requirement of researchers. Under the high demand from scientists and researchers, resurrectionists formed groups to steal corps from the graveyard and sell the corps to researchers for profit. Intriguingly, some medical schools will send their doctors and students to rob the graveyard (Pietila). Mary Shelley has incorporated those historical facts into the novel as Victor finds dead bodies in the graveyard to fulfill his research

The resurrectionists would first locate the head of the body, and a rope would then be placed around the neck to pull the body out. When the body is pulled from the graveyard, the resurrectionists will put it into a whiskey barrel to mask the odor and ship the barrel to the medical researchers who need the body. Those whiskey barrels could even be sold to the public as rotgut whiskey (Pietila). Another way to transport the body is to dig a hole in a distance, pull the body out and leave the shroud and grave goods back in the grave. This method is more covert as the original grave appears unmoved (“The Rise of Body Snatchers”). There are ways to prevent body snatchings. Watchtower in the cemetery is a standard measure to guard the graves, and some places will use cemetery guns, guns placed over the grave and connected with trip wires, to stop the rampant actions from body snatchers