Episode #238 ... Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Hello, everyone. I'm Stephen West. This is Philosophize This. Patreon.com/philosophize this. Philosophical writing on Substack at Philosophize This on there. I hope you love the show today. So this episode's about the philosophical themes of the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. And I think out of respect to your time, it's worth it to clear up a few misconceptions real briefly right here at the start that'll help frame this whole thing. First of all, for anyone just getting started with this book, Victor Frankenstein is the name of the scientist that makes the monster in this book. The monster is not named Frankenstein. In fact, the monster in the book doesn't really have a name, which as we'll see is part of the point that Mary Shelley was going for. Secondly, I think most people when they think of Frankenstein's monster, they think of this, you know, giant green dude, bolts coming out of his neck. He's got a bowl cut, and he just sort of lumbers around all stiff moaning at people, like, you know, like he's a zombie or something. Just know this is a Hollywood thing that came from when they made the Frankenstein movie in the nineteen thirties. This is nothing like the creature Mary Shelley describes in the book. In the book, this creature is articulate. He's fast, murdering people, planting evidence, framing people for murder. I mean, the thing climbs up into the Alps at one point and surprises Victor Frankenstein just sitting on a glacier because he wants to have a private conversation with him. Just know that as we talk about this book, this is the actual kind of monster depicted in the story, Hollywood images aside. The last thing I wanted to clear up here is if you wanted to feel horrible about how little you've done with your life, Fun fact, Mary Shelley wrote this book when she was 18, 19 years old. It was published anonymously at first in the year 1818 when she was just 20. A book, by the way, were parts of it were a hundred years ahead of its time in terms of the philosophy and it being popular to be discussed, a situation that's pretty unbelievable on its own. And it only becomes slightly more believable when you consider the fact that she was the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, legendary philosopher. We've done an episode on her. Wrote a vindication of the rights of women among other things. But But the reason I bring it up is because Mary Wollstonecraft dies just eleven days after Mary Shelley is born. So this is someone that grows up without a mom, but spends her entire youth admiring the work that her mother did. Her father, turns out, was a famous writer as well in William Godwin. And again, as an 18 year old person on this planet, Mount Tambora erupts in Indonesia when she's 18. And while people are staying indoors a lot because of …