Yeakle Frankenpost #1

The scientific theme of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was one of fascination and horror during the nineteenth century; galvanism. When the Italian physician Luigi Galvani used electricity to make a pair of frog legs move, in the 1790s, his discovery sparked a mass interest in the idea of electricity as a sort of life force. This is what drives Shelley's scientist, Victor Frankenstein, in his quest to re-create life. "Before this I was not unacquainted with the more obvious laws of electricity. On this occasion a man of great research in natural philosophy was with us, and, excited by this catastrophe, he entered on the explanation of a theory which he had formed on the subject of electricity and galvanism..." (p. 22) For the time, Frankenstein's experiments were not that unusual, in fact many scientists were conducting galvanic experiments. In 1803, in a famous demonstration of the bio-electric technique, Giovanni Aldini "revived" the body of an executed criminal using electric stimuli that made the face and and limbs of the body move. Carlo Matteucci, a disciple of Galvani, pursued a series of bio-electric experiments on frogs and other animal parts beginning in 1830. The experiments raised concern over the ethics of science and research. Frankenstein is an example of literature in response to social dilemmas, because in it, Victor Frankenstein faces the consequences and morality of going against the natural order. "I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that O had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart...I beheld the wretch - the miserable monster whom I had created." (p. 35) Like him, scientists of the era did not know what would happen if they were able to actually reanimate someone. Frankenstein is such a core part of our collection of important literature because still today, scientists face the ethical questions and consequences of the unknown as we continue to study the complex and immense idea of life.