The doctor has never quite believed that he would reach this point as he points out that he is like the Arabian who is aided by a 'seemingly ineffectual light'. Shelley seems to telling the reader of the doctor's lack of belief in his own abilities. Then at the vital moment of discovery, the entire process is 'obliterated' and the doctor is astounded to discovery that he has actually accomplished the task on which he set his mind upon so many months before. This discovery, however,...
He had traveled the path, directed his endeavors in the specific manner necessary to achieve his 'magic scene' and was quick to realize that it was of his own doing.
Thus Shelley's novel provides a third solution of sorts, an acknowledgement of the imperfect and estranged nature of humanity that is not comforting, but seems more realistic to modern readers, perhaps, as the monster seems like a modern anti-hero, from a 21st century point-of-view. Even to 19th century readers, Shelley's ambiguous views of science and religion were likely to resonate. The analogies of creator and created are deliberately ambiguous in
It is no surprise that this phenomenon shows up in her novel and that it symbolized evil. Lightening has been a dramatic voice from heaven in many works and the romantic poets thought it to be a revelation signaling dramatic change. Clubbe thinks every appearance of thunderstorms in Frankenstein have inner significance, and, for Shelley, it signifies what cannot be know, the secrets of the universe. That lightening could
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