Notas (tomadas en 2007) sobre el prólogo del editor y la introducción de la autora de Frankenstein. Edición usada:
Mary
Shelley. Frankenstein. Ed. M. K. Joseph. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1969. (World's Classics ed.,
1980).
Introduction (by M. K. Joseph).
The Prometheus myth is a basic clue to the meaning of Frankenstein. 2
myths: Prometheus pyrphoros and Prometheus plasticator, mixed since late Antiquity. The theme was being worked on by
Byron and Shelley at the time Mary Shelley wrote the novel. Theories of galvanism, Erasmus Darwin, H. Davy,
Volta... and Shaftesbury's Characteristicks,
on the possibility of creating a human being, use of Prometheus myth.
3
concentric layer structure. (En realidad
4 capas concéntricas, pues el prefacio de Mary Shelley se ha vuelto parte de la
novela (véase por ej. la versión de Gonzalo Suárez, Remando al viento), y las extrañas conexiones críticas con el
libro desarrolladas tanto por la misma M. Shelley como por los comentadores,
que la suelen mostrar como la que roba el fuego de la inspiración de los
poetas).
Parallelism between Walton and Frankenstein: Faustian hybris in both. Cautionary tale vs. the science
which takes men away from normal society. Echo of The Ancient Mariner. Parallelism
Mer de Glace (Alps) / the North Pole. The Monster's narrative: a Godwinian Genesis.
Improbabilities
and contrivances: the cottage, Safie, the journal. Paradise
Lost offers a double parallel (Adam/Satan) for the Monster. He demands his Eve; "we are drawn to complete the equation for ourselves: as the
monster is to Frankenstein, so perhaps is Frankenstein to whatever power
created man. The clue to the monster's predicament—benevolence corrupted—may
also be the clue to Frankenstein's" (xi).
The Monster
becomes a doppelgänger or a Mr Hyde. Only at end the story is proved not to be an
hallucination. "Yet the monster is, in a literal sense, a projection of
Frankenstein's mind, and an embodiment of his guilt in withdrawing from his
kind and pursuing knowledge which, though not forbidden, is still
dangerous." (xi). The epigraph applies to both. (Y a Mary Shelley también). Frankenstein's sin vs. Godwinian social benevolence,
influenced by Perby Bysshe Shelley's Alastor, or the
Spirit of Solitude.
Writing
at the start of scientific revolution: Prometheanism is applied by Mary Shelley to science,
not art —a great move. The novel creates a lasting symbol of the perils of scientific Prometheanism,
it has become independent myth, giving rise to films, etc., "It is ironic but entirely
appropriate that, in the process, the nameless monster seems to have usurped
the name of his creator" (xiii).
Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818)
Epigraph from Paradise Lost. (Y sigue inmediatamente la dedicatoria a William Godwin, su padre; hay pues dos "makers"; "to
mould Me man", irónico en una mujer autora, ¿clave
genérica para la novela como travestismo?)
Introduction (de Mary Shelley, en retrospección, escrita en 1831).
(Se oye una voz nueva, nueva relación del
autor con la invención y la imaginación. Lo presenta como parte de su vida
interior, sólo con dificultad y límites transmitible al papel. Escribe desde
niña, pero le gusta fantasear:)
"my favourite pastime, during the
hours given me for recreation, was to 'write stories.' Still I had a dearer
pleasure than this, which was the formation of castles in the air—the indulging
in waking dreams—the following of trains of thought, which had for their
subject the formation of a succession of imaginary incidents" (5) Dreams are
free and original, writings are derivative, because they are going to be read by
others, "but my dreams were all my own" (5).
"I did not make
myself the heroine of my tales" (6) (pero
sugiere un elemento de proyección que además se realiza: "I could not figure myself that
romantic woes or wonderful events would ever be my lot; but I was not confined
to my own identity, and I could people the hours with creations far more
interesing to me at that age, than my own sensations" (6). Nota: to people, creations.
Luego se
presenta a sí misma como discípula e hija intelectual de Percy Bysshe Shelley. Historia de
la estancia en Suiza, historias de fantasmas alemanas que lee prefiguran temas
en Frankenstein: el retorno de lo reprimido, el
creador que acaba con su raza. Byron propone escribir cada uno una ghost story, pero Mary insinúa que ni la prosa ni la narración se les dan bien: "The
illustrious poets also, annoyed by the platitude of prose, speedily
relinquished their uncongenial task" (8) (—detecto un tono de burla?).
"I busied myself to think of a story" desea
mostrar miedos misteriosos ocultos en
nuestra naturaleza y asustar al lector,
pero writer's block: "that blank capability of invention which
is the greatest misery of authorship, when dull Nothing replies to our anxious
invocations" (—¿invocar a lo
oculto?).
Mary aprende de Byron y Shelley como el monstruo aprende de Paradise
Lost: "Many and long were the conversations between Lord Byron and
Shelley, to which I was a devout but nearly silent listener" (8). Experimentos científicos discutidos,
posibilidad de crear vida, electricidad, fabricación de partes corporales "brought together, and endued with vital
warmth" (9) —cf. el sueño de su hija
muerta, acercado al fuego y calentado a la vida.
La noche de la conversación, "I did
not sleep, nor could I be said to think. My imagination, unbidden, possessed
and guided me, gifting the successive images that arose in my mind with a
vividness far beyond the usual bounds of reverie" (9). "Ve" la
imagen central de la novela, el monstruo animado "on the working of some
powerful engine" (9). "Frightful it must be; for supremely frightful
would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous mechanism of the
Creator of the world" (9). Cf. la
oposición entre la auténtica vida y creación de la poesía de Byron y Shelley, por una parte, y
el "mecanismo" de la prosa por otra, que ellos no consiguen crear pero Mary
sí, efecto de una "Uneasy,
half vital motion" quizá.
Es crucial
en el prefacio el tema de Frankenstein durmiendo, paralelismo con M. Shelley: esperando a que se disuelva la fantasía, "that this thing, which had
received such imperfect animation, would subside into dead matter" (9). Paralelismo monstruo / historia: Frankenstein libro, creador y monstruo son
todo uno.
Pasa al presente histórico: el libro como proyección y conciencia
autónoma, nos mira (como el monstruo) con "yellow, watery, but speculative eyes"
(9). Enlace narrativo: "I opened
mine in terror".
Pasamos al pasado verbal;
busca la autora librarse de la idea, pero sólo lo puede hacer aceptándola, creando el
monstruo. "I could not so easily get rid of my hideous phantom; still
it haunted me" (10).
Parece chocante que
hasta entonces no hubiese relacionado ese monstruo con la historia, y entonces
percibe la relación. Además, anuncia
orgullosamente Mary Shelley que lo que la aterroriza a ella aterrorizará a otros, y se libra
de su complejo de inferioridad ante los grandes poetas: "I announced that I had thought of a story". Shelley la
anima a desarrollarlo, etc.
"And
now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go forth and prosper. I have an
affection for it, for it was the offspring of happy days, when death and grief
were but words, which found no true echo in my heart" (10). Sugiere que
para ella la novela tiene asociaciones personales con aquella época, pero no para el
lector. —¡Tela! Lo importante es la
semiconsciencia o deliberación con la que establece el paralelismo entre la creación del
monstruo y la de la novela.
—oOo—