Frankenstein V

One recurring theme in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is work, and the dangers of obsession with it. Frankenstein's obsession with his work comes back to haunt him in the physical manifestation of the creature he created. Victor became such a slave to his work in college that he shut himself away from the outside world. He obsessively questions if he can create life, not if he should. Later in the novel, Shelley shows how Victor literally becomes a slave to his work. He is threatened into creating a female creature by his own creation! The creature even states, "You are my creator, but I am your master" (122). Shelley emphasizes this theme more at the parts of the novel that include Walton. Walton, like Victor, has become obsessed with his work. This similarity is what provokes Victor to tell him of the story in the first place, and is an overall theme throughout the novel.