Summary

For the next two years, Victor devotes himself entirely to the study of natural philosophy, particularly chemistry. He often works in his laboratory late into the night. M. Waldman becomes his mentor, and Victor is even able to find value in M. Krempe’s lectures despite the professor’s abrasiveness.

He makes rapid progress in his studies and wins acclaim at the university for his accomplishments, and at the end of two years he has learned all he can from his professors. Just as he is considering returning home, however, Victor becomes completely consumed by a monumental new discovery. For some time now he has attempted with “almost supernatural enthusiasm” to discover the source of the life force by studying corpses, a pursuit that, while unpleasant, has left him largely unbothered due to the lack of superstition with which he was raised. Now, finally, he has succeeded not only in discovering the cause of life but the secret of giving life to “lifeless matter.”

After spending some time contemplating his new power, Victor excitedly begins the task of creating a human being, who he decides will be a huge eight-foot-tall man. He imagines himself the creator of a new species who will owe him their happiness and gratitude, and hopes he might one day even succeed in bringing the dead back to life. Completely obsessed with his task, Victor works nonstop in his laboratory with body parts he collects from graves, charnel-houses, slaughterhouses, and dissecting rooms, ignoring the disgust he sometimes feels for his work. During this time he neglects both the beauty of nature and his correspondence with his loved ones in Geneva, becoming more anxious and unhealthy all the time.

Analysis

Victor does not disclose the exact nature of the discovery he makes or of how he brings the creature to life, but many critics believe Shelley intends to imply that Victor uses galvanism, or stimulating dead bodies with an electric current. It is possible to interpret the lecture on galvanism that so impresses Victor in Chapter Two as foreshadowing his later application of the theory.

Victor describes himself as being “animated by an almost supernatural enthusiasm” while building the creature, and though he believes he is doing work that will benefit society and bring him glory, this enthusiasm—or obsession—leads Victor to isolate himself and ignore his family, social life, and health, along with his ever-increasing anxiety and the “loathing” he sometimes feels for the grisly details of his work. Victor also ignores the beauty of nature that was so important to the Romantic tradition and to his own youthful happiness in Geneva. Instead, he tries to assert power over nature by manipulating the natural forces of life and death.