William Godwin's Frankenstein

Mary Shelley, the author of the book Frankenstein, came from a rich literary heritage. She was the daughter of William Godwin, a political theorist, novelist, and publisher who introduced her to many famous intellectuals and encouraged her to become a writer. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft (who died shortly after giving birth) was also a writer and an early feminist thinker.

Attracted by William Godwin's fame as a radical social thinker, Percy Bysshe Shelley visited the Godwin home only to end up bumping into his daughter whom he eventually got married to once Mary Godwin turned sixteen. In 1818, Shelly published her first book in London called, The Modern Prometheus (which later became known as Frankenstein). Since Godwin took it upon himself to edit Shelly's texts before they were published, many of his social theories and ideas appeared in his daughter's novel. (ArtHouse Anarchist)

William Godwin is known to be the founder of Philosophical Anarchism. Throughout his life he argued that the government was a corrupting force in society, and that it was perpetuating dependence and ignorance because it would be rendered unnecessary and powerless by the spread of knowledge. Godwin claimed to have the solution to the government's exploitation, and tried to convince those who earned more money than they needed to live comfortably, to share their surplus with those who were less fortunate. (U.S. National Library of Medicine)

Godwin's theory implied that people tend to be selfish and do not want to accept anything considered to be beyond the norm of society. Godwin was trying to make the world aware of the fact that it is important for people to think as individuals, rather than just following the herd. By asking the rich to be more generous and give their money to charity, Godwin was attempting to open people's eyes and make them aware of things beyond just what was in front of them. The theory was revolutionary, in that it required people look beyond their own social class and help those who they may normally think of as disgusting (such as beggars).

The plot of Frankenstein seems to be based on this idea that people tend to be ignorant about the things that occur out of their own social circle. In the book, the creature symbolizes a rebel that is trying to live in a place where people do not want to accept him because of his horrid appearance. The creature's struggle to survive parallels Godwin's idea that people are blindly biased and do not want to see beyond their comfort zone.

At first, the creature tried to create a living for himself and could not understand why people were treating him poorly. However, after seeing his own reflection, he realized that he was being discriminated against because he looked like a monster. The creature realized that people are very unforgiving and can be quite heartless, and It was this revelation that turned him from good to evil. The creature only wanted to be accepted, and was more than willing to help others, but after being rejected by his own creator and the rest of society, the creature ended up turning into the exact monster that he was trying to prove that he was not. In the end, human ignorance drove the innocent creature into the baron wilderness of the Arctic, where he managed to escape the darkness of society

Works Cited

ArtHouse Anarchist. Godwin's Frankenstein. 15 January 2006 .
U.S. National Library of Medicine. Frankenstein: Birth of Frankenstein. 13 February 2002. 15 January 2006 .