Tag Archives: frankenstein

The Modern Frankenstein?

Posted on by

Upon writing Frankenstein in 1818, Mary Shelley did much more than just create a great Gothic novel. She set the framework and foundation of an idea that would be used for decades and even centuries to come. Since then, there have been many different takes on the idea of a scientific pursuit going awry. One of these adaptations is Ex Machina, a 2015 film directed by Alex Garland. It tells the story of primarily three characters who interact and have constantly changing relationships. Having seen this movie relatively recently, the inspiration taken from Mary Shelly’s novel could not be clearer. Both Frankenstein and Ex Machina depict the story of a character who is involuntarily whisked into life and wants to break free. Both Frankensteins’ monster, and Ava, a humanoid robot who has been created by Nathan face similar struggles.

In Ex Machina, Caleb Smith wins a a trip to stay at CEO Nathan Bateman’s luxurious home for one week. Nathan’s house is mostly isolated from society and only has a humanoid robot that he has created with artificial intelligence named Ava. Over time, Caleb and Ava grow closer and she expresses her desire to go experience the outside world to him. Caleb observes Nathan’s abusive behavior towards Ava and begins to dislike him. Eventually, Caleb and Ava form a plan to help her escape and experience the outside. Nathan learns of this scheme and knocks out Caleb in order to stop Ava from escaping. In an attempt to stop her, Nathan ends up getting killed by Ava as she leaves with Nathan dead and Caleb trapped in the house.

Both stories are dark and share many themes. For example, they describe man playing God and creation versus creator. Additionally, there are parallels between many of the characters. For example, Ava as Frankenstein’s monster. She, like the monster in the novel, is a sympathetic character. She’s been brought into life as a creation and wants to be seen as normal by everyone else. She yearns for the outside world and to live a “normal” life. She eventually kills her creator, and goes off to live a life of her own. The audience is left imagining what life will be like for someone of Ava’s or the Monster’s situation. To me, though, the heart of it is what lies at the heart of each character. On top of all the similar story beats, they both are non-humans yearning for a human connection. As the monster states, “I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit” (33).

However, both creations are different in terms of their experiences with others. For example, Ava interacts with both Caleb and Nathan and asks questions and receives information from them. On the other hand, the monster has no one to communicate with and even his creator, Victor leaves in fear when Victor sees his creation for the first time. Additionally, the way they use these people is different. In Frankenstein, when the monster first observes De Lacey’s family, he feels admiration. He states, ” I had admired the perfect form of my cottagers- their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions” (80). Meanwhile in Ex Machina, Ava deceives Caleb and merely uses him as a means to escape her confinement. Ex Machina has clearly took inspiration from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as it breathed new life into a genre of Gothic horror and pseudo science fiction.

 

Victor’s Omen

Posted on by

“If, instead of this remark, my father had taken the pains to explain to me that the principles of Agrippa had been entirely exploded and that a modern system of science had been introduced which possessed much greater powers than the ancient, because the powers of the latter were chimerical, while those of the former were real and practical, under such circumstances I should certainly have thrown Agrippa aside and have contented my imagination, warmed as it was, by returning with greater ardour to my former studies. It is even possible that the train of my ideas would never have received the fatal impulse that led to my ruin. But the cursory glance my father had taken of my volume by no means assured me that he was acquainted with its contents, and I continued to read with the greatest avidity.” – Page 39

 

This brief passage is from chapter two and depicts a scene for Victor is discovering his passion for science from reading the works of an alchemists named Agrippa. His father comments that the works of Agrippa are trash in the previous section, but Victor doesn’t heed his father’s warning and continues to delve deeper into Agrippa’s works with great enthusiasm.

 

This passage was intriguing for me because of two major reasons. The first reason is that Victor seems to have a feeling of remorse or regret regarding his father not explaining in depth why he thought Agrippa’s works were trash, which led him to become interested in the field of alchemy as a child. The second intriguing point about the passage is Victor’s mention of the fatal impulse that led to his ruin. This leads the audience and myself to wonder what exactly Victor did in the future and why did his actions lead to his eventual ruin.

 

I believe that Victor’s interest in the works of Agrippa at a young age was what drove him to pursue a career in science, but not necessarily the right type of science. Alchemy is a field of science that most resembles what is chemistry today, but is often portrayed in works of fiction as a field that works with nature in an unnatural way. Even though Victor mentions he would’ve returned to the more modern sciences if his father explained why Agrippa’s works were wrong or outdated, I believe his exposure to Agrippa and other works from other alchemists built his desire to experiment with forms of science that were against nature. This hunger for the “unnatural” sciences leads me to the second point of interest from the passage, which is what event causes Victor’s ruin. Since Victor’s influence and interest in alchemy were followed up by his remorse regarding the ideas that led to his downfall, I believe that Victor’s ruin will be associated with a science experiment trying to defy the natural laws of nature. The inclusion of his father within this passage might also foreshadow harm being caused to Victor’s father or his family from his lust for the unnatural laws of science.