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3.1. Science fiction topoi in Frankenstein 
The general interest in new scientific developments that had been recorded 

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since the 1790s, such as “experimental work on electricity, gases, and 
combustion, and research into nitrous oxide, voltaic batteries, and the 
elements of chemical composition” gave Shelley material to write about 
(Nichols 126). Frankenstein subsumes two of science fiction’s most abiding 
topoi, the obsessed scientist, who is either a hero or mad, and the artificial 
human (Bould 33). In the following, those topoi will be explained in greater 
detail enhanced by quotations of Shelley’s Frankenstein.
 
3.1.1. The mad scientist
Frankenstein considers himself a scientist and thinks “natural philosophy [to 
be] the genius that has regulated my fate; I desire, therefore, in this narration, 
to state those facts which led to my predilection for science” (Frankenstein ii, 
37). However, he is a scientist that made a mistake because of scientific 
hubris and the abuse of technology (Hamilton 5).
[A]nd soon my mind was filled with one thought, one conception, one purpose. 
So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein – more, far more, 
will I achieve; […] I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and 
unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation (Frankenstein iii, 46). 
I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit 
(Frankenstein, iv, 52).
Only after this experiment, Frankenstein realizes subconsciously the crime he 
committed against the ‘female principle’, i.e. against the natural way of giving 
birth, which becomes obvious when he has a nightmare of killing his mother 
and fiancée. 
I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted 
and surprised, I embraced her; but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with 
the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my 
dead mother in my arms; a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in 
the folds of the flannel (Frankenstein v, 56). 
Frankenstein’s intention is obvious: “I had worked hard for nearly two years, 
for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body” (Frankenstein 55).
Apart from this fact, he even admits to be mad (Clayton 88). 
[A] groan burst from his heaving breast. […] at length he spoke, in broken 
accents: ‘Unhappy man! Do you share my madness? Have drunk also of the 
intoxicating draught? Hear me; let me reveal my tale, and you will dash the 
cup from your lips!’ (Frankenstein Letter iv, 27). 
Frankenstein entirely fulfills the motif of the mad scientist who is not able to 
handle his scientific and technological achievements and thus loses control 
over his own invention.
I
beheld the wretch – the miserable monster whom I had created […]. [The 

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creature’s] hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped 
and rushed downstairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house 
which I inhabited, where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up 
and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing 
each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the daemoniacal 
corpse to which I had so miserably given life (Frankenstein 56).
Frankenstein is not willing to take the role of the ‚mother’ of his ‚child’. He 
immediately leaves the creature and thus eludes his parental duty to care for 
his ‘child’. According to Nichols, Victor might feel envy towards women and 
therefore wants the recognition to be both, mother and father (127). “No father 
could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs” 
(Frankenstein iv, 51-52). 
Moreover, Victor’s character remains somehow indecisive. Though he 
feels regret for his actions, he closes his tale with the following statement: 
Farewell, Walton! Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition, even if it 
be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and 
discoveries. Yet why do I say this? I have myself been blasted in these hopes, 
yet another may succeed (Frankenstein 210). 
Victor Frankenstein is finally opposed to be too ambitious and haughty, but 
nevertheless he still hopes that someone else may fruitfully continue his 
experiments. With the last sentence, all his warnings turn into a farce. It might 
also be assumed that Shelly did not criticize scientific progress in general, but 
only wanted her tale to be a warning of carelessness in scientific research 
(Clayton 88).