I always felt like Frankenstein has a weird place in public consciousness as the "don't play God" story, when the actual story reads (at least to me) much more like "don't be a deadbeat dad"
Yes, Victor Frankenstein was totally irresponsible with science and his creation, but the argument the story presents seems to be much more "take care of what you made" than "don't create life/play God"
Maybe I am missing something, but I would love to read a story that actually and fairly explores the ethics and consequences of creating life
What would the story be like if Victor made a child that passed as human (so we don't get derailed by them getting mistreated because of their appearance) and actually took care of them?
Reminder: It's also very much a story about the consequences of rejecting your creation (child!) BECAUSE they didn't turn out as expected/desired.
the 'getting mistreated because of their appearance' is an important, baked-in part of the concept, not a derail.
From 2018, Jill Lepore on why Mary Shelleyâs novel has accreted so many wildly different and irreconcilable readings and restagings in the t
I do agree, absolutely. What I meant was that, if you *were* creating that story I would like to exist too (not a Witch in the Alps⢠moment, I do like Frankenstein), discussing the ethics of creating life and meddling with nature *by itself*, adding that different layer (which is likely much more emotionally resonant) could make it become the focus and the other themes could end up not being explored