《弗蘭肯斯坦》之人性分析研究 英語學專業(yè)

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1、 摘 要英國著名浪漫主義作家瑪麗雪萊(1797-1851)是英國著名思想家、社會活動家葛德文和著名女性主義運動先驅(qū)沃斯通克拉夫特的獨生女,同時還是十九世紀英國著名詩人珀斯雪萊的第二位妻子。弗蘭肯斯坦是瑪麗雪萊在1818年創(chuàng)作的小說，被認為是世界上第一部真正意義上的科幻小說。對弗蘭肯斯坦的解讀有很多,從早期傳記研究,女權(quán)主義分析,到馬克思主義分析和弗洛伊德的精神分析解讀等等,不一而足。而本文將分析其復(fù)雜的人性描寫來進一步了解及欣賞其深刻的主題人不能違背自然，充當造物主的角色，科學應(yīng)當為人類帶來福音而非災(zāi)難。本文首先從作者的生活經(jīng)歷，浪漫主義思想及歌特小說對她的影響來探討瑪麗雪萊人性觀的根源，更將

2、結(jié)合弗蘭肯斯坦中的人性描寫來分析人類的造物主情結(jié)，俄狄浦斯情結(jié)及人的社會性。論文最后認為弗蘭肯斯坦的悲劇和不幸不僅是寓言式的，而且是預(yù)言式的。本論文分析的現(xiàn)實意義在于在人類已掌握克隆技術(shù)的今天，不能盲目的追求科學，而需在人文精神指導(dǎo)下，合理的應(yīng)用科學，使人性發(fā)展得到更大空間，使人與自然更加親近和諧。關(guān)鍵詞：瑪麗雪萊；弗蘭肯斯坦；人性； Abstract Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley was an important writer during the age of Romanticism in English literature. She was th

3、e only daughter of two literary celebrities. Her father William Godwin was a revolutionary philosopher and novelist. Her mother Mary Wellstone Craft was in the vanguard of feminism. At the age of sixteen, she met the famous British poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, whom she later married. By the time she

4、was nineteen, Mary Shelley had written one of the most famous novels published in 1818 Frankenstein, which was known as the first science fiction in the world. Mary Shelleys Frankenstein has attracted a wide variety of interpretations, ranging from earlier biographical study, the feminist, to the Ma

5、rxist, the psychoanalytic and Freudian reading. This thesis will focus on the analysis of the complicated description of human nature in the novel to further understand the profound themehuman beings should not rebel against nature and science should promote the well-being of mankind but not bring p

6、eople disasters.The thesis will firstly expound on the origin of Mary Shelleys views on human nature according to the influences from Gothic novels, Romanticism and her life experience. Then the analysis will focus on humans God Complex, Oedipus Complex and humans sociality embodied in the complicat

7、ed description in Frankenstein.The last part of the thesis advocates that the tragedy in Frankenstein is not a fable but a prediction. With the cloning of life forms and genetic engineering now common place, human beings should make rational use of the science technology and live in harmony with nat

8、ure.Key words: Mary Shelley; Frankenstein;human nature;Contents1 Introduction12 Origin of Mary Shelleys Views on Human Nature22.1 Influence from Gothic Novels22.2 Influence from Romanticism32.3 Influence from Life Experiences33 Analysis of Human nature in Frankenstein43.1 Humans God Complex43.2 Huma

9、ns Oedipus Complex.63.3 Humans Sociality84 Realistic meaning of the analysis105 Conclusion12Bibliography13Acknowledgements15Analysis of Human Nature in Frankenstein1IntroductionMary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797 - 1851) was born in London, England. She was the only daughter of two literary celebritie

10、s. Her father William Godwin (1756 - 1836) was a revolutionary philosopher and novelist. Her mother Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 -1797), the author of the Rights of Woman , was in the vanguard of feminism. Unfortunately, Mary Wollstonecraft died giving birth to Mary, leaving her daughter in the care of

11、 his husband. Mary spent her childhood in a very miserable situation. She could not expect any love from her stepmother. At the age of sixteen, she met the famous British poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822) whom she later married. Shelley helped her not only in her life but also in her literary

12、 success. She always has conversations with Shelley about life and literature. Most of their conversations aroused her inspiration for her novels. In the summer of 1816, Mary Shelley and her husband visited Switzerland. While they stayed at the Chapuis in Geneva, they had to spend the night at the V

13、illa Diodati due to an incredible storm. They agreed that each one write a story founded on some supernatural occurrence. However, Marys Frankenstein was the only one that completed. “It proved a wet, ungenial summer,” Mary Shelley remembered in 1831, “and incessant rain often confined us for days t

14、o the house.” (Shelley, 1980: 21) Amongst other subjects, the conversation turned to the experiments of the 18th century natural philosopher and poet Erasmus Darwin, who was said to bring a corpse or assembled body parts to life. Sitting around a log fire at Byrons villa, the company also amused the

15、mselves by reading German ghost stories, prompting Byron to suggest they each write their own supernatural tale. Shortly afterwards, in a waking dream, Mary Godwin conceived the idea for Frankenstein:I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the h

16、ideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavor to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the wor

17、ld. ( 劉玉紅, 1997:83)She began writing what she assumed would be a short story. With Percy Shelleys encouragement, she expanded this tale into her first novel, Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus, published in 1818, which made Mary Shelley known as mother of the science fictions.The tale relates t

18、he tragic experiences of Frankenstein, a Geneva student of natural philosophy, who discovers the secret of life and succeeds in imparting life to an artificial human being. The “thing” Frankenstein has created and abandoned later takes its revenge against its creator. In order to catch this vicious

19、monster and kill it for human betterment, Frankenstein pursues the monster to the Arctic and dies there. (Johnson, 1982) The monster makes a decision to destroy itself, too. Many people show their interest in this novel not only because it is one of the earliest written science fictions in the Engli

20、sh literature but also because it had eccentric and unconstrained plots. It also had very complex and complicated description about human nature and this thesis seeks to analyze Mary Shelleys views on human nature and finds the significant meaning for todays human and science development.2Origin of

21、Mary Shelleys Views on Human Nature2.1Influence from Gothic Novels“Gothic novel, tales of the macabre, fantastic, and supernatural, usually set amid haunted castles, graveyards, ruins, and wild picturesque landscapes.” (Frederick, 1997: 23) The Gothic novel was very popular in the late 18th century

22、and the early 19th century, especially among female readers, who indulged themselves in these terrifying romantic stories. “They took delight in talking about the ghastly and bloodcurdling castles, the deep and remote wilderness, the bloody murder, and the mysterious supernatural phenomena.” Althoug

23、h Mary did not write any castles in Frankenstein, she showed the bloody laboratory, the deep and remote forests and mountains where both the scientist and the monster had lived for some time, the bloody murders that the monster committed, and above all, the mysterious supernatural creation of a huma

24、n being. Since Frankenstein is a Gothic tale of terror, it has almost all the distinguishing features of Gothic novel such as terrifying plot, the bleak wilderness, the bloody murder, etc. However, it has also revealed the black side of human race, which is a new feature of Gothic tales. With the in

25、fluence of Gothic novels, Mary Shelly focused her description, on black side of human nature.2.2Influence from RomanticismRather than focusing on the twists and turns of the plot, however, the novel foregrounds the mental and moral struggles of the protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, and Shelley imbue

26、s the text with her own brand of politicized Romanticism, one that criticized the individualism and egotism of traditional Romanticism Victor Frankenstein is like Satan in Paradise Lost, and Prometheus: he rebels against tradition; he creates life; and he shapes his own destiny. These traits are not

27、 portrayed positively; as Blumberg writes, “his relentless ambition is a self-delusion, clothed as quest for truth.”(Blumberg, 1993: 50)2.3Influence from Life ExperiencesMary Shelley had the extremely confused feeling of pregnant and giving birth to a child. She was pregnant when she was sixteen and

28、 it happened almost every year for five years. Most of her babies died soon after their births. Besides, she was an illegal mother at that time because she was not married to Shelley then. The filthy description in Frankenstein demonstrates Mary Shelleys terrifying feeling about the maternal instinc

29、t.In this novel, Mary Shelley concerned much on the creation of life. The creation of life was described as filthy dirty and bloody. For example, the condition of the experimental laboratory of Frankenstein was miserable; Frankenstein himself became seriously ill and the materials for his creation c

30、ame from the graves, charnel houses, the dissecting room and slaughterhouse. (Clemit, 2003:30)3Analysis of Human nature in Frankenstein3.1Humans God ComplexMary Shelley subtitled her novel The Modern Prometheus. “Prometheus (the name means” Forethought”) appears in Greek myth as a divine being, one

31、of the Titans, descended from the original union of the Sky God with the Earth Mother. In some stories, he is the creator of mankind, and he is always their champion. He is supposed to have stolen fire for them from Heaven when they were denied it by Zeus, and to have been punished by being fastened

32、 to a cliff in the Caucasus where an eagle tore daily at his liver. “Frankenstein shared many similarities with Prometheus. In Frankenstein, the scientist played the role of the modern Prometheus. He was the creator of a human being. Although he abandoned his creation, he could not avoid taking the

33、responsibility of it that was his intellectual invention. Once the crazy scientist gained it, his fall began and he would be excluded from the paradise of life. Both Frankenstein and Prometheus had done something for human betterment; however, both of them were punished seriously. Prometheus was pun

34、ished because of fire while Frankenstein suffered from his own actions because of knowledge. Prometheus was chained to a rock, where an eagle plucked at his liver each day. The next day, his liver would grow back again and the eagle ate it again. He had to endure this tragic experience day after day

35、. Frankenstein also endured some miserable things, such as lost of his family and friend. However, Prometheus endured the corporal punishment while Frankenstein suffered the spiritual sufferings. He was disturbed by a state of utmost confusion and terror. Prometheus sought fire for human betterment;

36、 Frankenstein was bold enough to challenge the power of God. Fire can be very useful to human beings, but it can be very destructive, too. So is knowledge. In Frankenstein, the monster learned to use fire to make his food more delicious and he used the same thing to kill people as well. It was knowl

37、edge that made Frankenstein become a researcher in the vanguard of scientific progress meanwhile it was the same knowledge that destroyed his life and happiness.Frankenstein is a very good novel of new ideas and exciting plots. Almost every character in Frankenstein shows his interest in developing

38、his own situation and does something for human betterment. (孟東紅, 2006：4)The first narrator Walton goes to create around in order to seek an extremely new place for human beings. Frankenstein, the scientist in the novel tries every effort to create a living human being that he dreams to be perfect bu

39、t unfortunately it is very different from his dream. Frankenstein plays the role of a Modern Prometheus. Prometheus in the Greek myths sought fire for human betterment. Though ugly and dangerous, the monster is the victim of Frankensteins scientific experiment.Frankenstein, speaking of himself as a

40、young man in his fathers home, points out that he pursues knowledge of the “world” though investigation. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that the meaning of the word “world” is for Frankenstein, very much biased or limited. He thirsts for knowledge of the tangible world and if he perceives

41、 an idea to be as yet unrealized in the material world, he then attempts to work on the idea in order to give it, as it were, a worldly existence. Hence, he creates the creature that he rejects because its worldly form did not reflect the glory and magnificence of his original idea. (Shelley, 1989:

42、60) Frankenstein begins to build on his scientific knowledge and when he goes to Ingolstadt and finds a mentor in Waldman, he also starts to take his study of chemistry seriously. There, he becomes part of the new science that penetrates “into the recesses of nature, and show how she works in her hi

43、ding places”. (吳定柏, 1998：85-86) However, ideas are simply not enough to cause a young and intelligent man like Frankenstein to try to take on the role of the ultimate Creator and bring life to a corpse. Shelly shows us that the external or the society at large will always intermingle with the intern

44、al or the emotional and psychological makeup of the person. It is Frankensteins own “chimerical” makeup- a confidence in the male scientific ability, a belief in the male prerogative to control nature by the accumulation of knowledge, the absence of a tempering maternal influence and his own hubris,

45、 that leads him to “circumvent the natural channels of procreation”. (王永志, 1993: 9) His knowledge of the world is ironically one that is created in piecemeal; Hence the creature can be seen as a physical representation of the terrible patching up of mismatched parts to make a whole. In trying to be

46、more than he is, that is, a human being, Frankenstein finds himself wedged in between nature and God, becoming estranged from his immediate society as he becomes burdened with the tragedies brought about by the creature. Mary Shelley had the extremely confused feeling of pregnant and giving birth to

47、 a child.It was in the middle of the Industrial Revolution in Britain that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. New technologies, such as the mechanization of spinning and weaving and improvements in the modes of transportation, led to a shift in the country from being a largely agricultural and commerc

48、ial society to being the worlds first industrial nation. This transformation fomented economic and political upheaval. Agitation for more rights for workers and women had its onset in this period. The Romantic poets revolted against the formality of neo-classicism and advocated a return to nature an

49、d a world of imagination and unconscious feelings. All of society was influenced by the Napoleonic Wars and the ideas of the French Revolution. (嚴春友, 2002: 78)The debate between scientific discoveries and traditional religious and metaphysical thought was starting to take shape, and the ethics of ho

50、w far man should pursue his desire for knowledge was beginning to be a topic of discussion - a topic still in debate today. And Mary Shelley, undoubtedly, objected to humans God complex and humans tendency to override nature.3.2 Humans Oedipus complexIn the novel, Frankenstein was very proud of his

51、knowledge of science. He determined to create a perfect human being that could fulfill his dream. Frankenstein tried his every effort to create a living human being. However, he did not realize what he had done until the “thing” he had created took its first breath. Frankenstein found that the “thin

52、g” was not a living human being but a monster. Badly frightened and disgusted by the ugly gigantic monster, Frankenstein abandoned it and thought it would die in the forest. However, the monster survived the bleak forest and came back to revenge on his creator. This plot was similar to that of Oedip

53、us the King. “An oracle said that the child Oedipus would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother.” (王佐良,1992: 171) Frankenstein and Oedipus father did the same thing avoiding taking responsibility led to their tragic destiny. Mary showed her dissatisfaction on this in her novel. She believe

54、d that the one who avoid taking the responsibility would finally be punished.Mary Shelley had the monster in Frankenstein educated in the forest so that he could have the knowledge to take his revenge. Instinctively, the monster grasped the necessary skills for his survival. Later, he learned knowle

55、dge secretly from an exiled family. Not only had he learned the basic knowledge of language but also understood the rules and regulations of human society, especially when the cottagers sent him three books as present for his secret help to them. These three books consisted of Paradise Lost, the vol

56、ume of Plutarchs Lives, and The Sorrows of Werter. In The Sorrows of Werter, the monster found a “never-ending source of speculation and astonishment” (Johann,1989: 56). He wondered on Werters deeds wept on his extinction without precisely understanding it. The volume of Plutarchs Lives gave him far

57、 different effect from The Sorrows of Werter. These two books gave him the very basic idea of what the human society was like. (Darbble M, 1932: 792) The more he had read and known, the more he thought about himself completely. He wondered what he was, where he came from, and why he was excluded fro

58、m the human race, etc. This feeling became stronger when he finished Paradise Lost.“Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay to mould me Man; did I solicit thee from darkness to promote me?” (Milton, 1998: 34)Mary Shelley copied these lines from John Miltons Paradise Lost. These words said by Adam to

59、 God echoed in the heart of the monster who wanted to say exactly what Adam had said to his creator. The monster compared his situation to that of Adam. (張玉婷, 1997: 83)Adam was created by God as a perfect creature while the monster was hideously formed and he found himself “wretched, helpless, and a

60、lone” When Frankenstein created the monster, he did not expect it would be a monster. He started doing so for human betterment. He intended to create a wonderful being of good nature that was the most perfect creature in the world. However, the ugly appearance of the monster frightened him and made

61、all his dreams die in failure. So he abandoned the monster and a voided taking the responsibility to take care of it; thus made it such a miserable wretch in the world. The revenge reflected the monsters fight for his right. Once he survived as Oedipus did, he would demand his own right of happiness

62、. However, it was reasonable for him to ask for him to ask for his betterment. When he was refused of this basic request, he would naturally take revenge. When God found that Adam was alone in the Garden of Eden, he created a female “Eve” for him so that he could have a company. The creation of a fe

63、male monster in Frankenstein was an interesting reflection of that. The monster demanded Frankenstein to create a female for him so that he could have someone loving him in the world. Frankenstein had no idea but to do what the monster had requested. However, he was afraid of the result of his exper

64、iment. Therefore, he destroyed the female monster before she came to life that caused the monsters revenge on Frankenstein. Frankenstein did so for human betterment because if the female monster became alive, she could possibly be more vicious than the male monster. The end of this novel shows Mary

65、Shelleys fear about the scientific experiments and her pessimistic point of view.3.3Humans SocialityThe creature, on the other hand, is an untamed and extreme version of the free individual. Without the support and shelter of a family, and the systematic approaches of an education system, the creature nevertheless gains an education of sorts. And he does this by reacting to his basic needs for shelter, food, warmth and company. In the debate on the importance of nature versus nurture, Mellor explains that Frankenstein shows nur