Episode #238 ... Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Stephen West· Host0:00

Hello, everyone. I'm Stephen West. This is Philosophize This!. patreon.com/philosophizethis, philosophical writing on Substack at philosophizethis on there. I hope you love the show today. So this episode's about the philosophical themes of the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and I think out of respect to your time, it's worth it to clear up a few misconceptions real briefly right here at the start that'll help frame this whole thing. First of all, for anyone just getting started with this book, Victor Frankenstein's the name of the scientist that makes the monster in this book. The monster is not named Frankenstein. In fact, the monster in the book doesn't really have a name, which as we'll see, is part of the point that Mary Shelley was going for. Secondly, uh, I think most people, when they think of Frankenstein's monster, they think of this, you know, giant green dude, uh, bolts coming out of his neck. He's got a bowl cut, and he just sort of lumbers around all stiff, moaning at people, like, "Argh," you know, like he's a zombie or something. Just know this is a Hollywood thing that came from when they made the Frankenstein movie in the 1930s. This is nothing like the creature Mary Shelley describes in the book. In the book, this creature is articulate. He's fast, murdering people, planting evidence, framing people for murder. I mean, the thing climbs up into the Alps at one point and surprises Victor Frankenstein just sitting on a glacier 'cause he wants to have a private conversation with him. Just know that as we talk about this book, this is the actual kind of monster depicted in the story, Hollywood images aside. The last thing I wanted to clear up here is if you wanted to feel horrible about how little you've done with your life, fun fact, Mary Shelley wrote this book when she was 18, 19 years