ThAct: CS and Frankenstein

This blog task is given by Dilip Barad Sir,

Introduction

Hello Learners!

This blog is part of a Thinking Activity on Cultural Studies, focusing on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818). The novel is not just a Gothic horror story; it is a mirror of revolutionary ideas, a critique of science and society, and a cultural text that has continued to evolve across centuries. Through a Cultural Studies lens, Frankenstein becomes a study of power, class, ideology, and the “Other.” It raises enduring questions about creation, responsibility, and the boundaries between human and machine.

The discussion in this blog is divided into two main parts:

⿡ Revolutionary Births — exploring how Frankenstein reflects political, social, and intellectual revolutions of its time.

⿢ The Frankenpheme in Popular Culture — understanding how the Creature has evolved as a cultural symbol across literature, film, and media.

1)-Revolutionary Births

Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein during a period of radical political change, influenced by Enlightenment reason, the French Revolution, and industrial progress. Yet, she also witnessed the darker side of these revolutions — social inequality, class oppression, and scientific arrogance. Her novel embodies this ambivalence, giving birth to both a new form of fiction and a critique of modernity itself.

The Creature as the Proletarian

Viewed through a Marxist cultural lens, the Creature represents the oppressed and alienated working class. Born innocent yet abandoned, he mirrors the suffering of the proletariat — created by a society that fears and rejects him. Shelley’s time was marked by the Industrial Revolution, when technology and labor began to redefine human value. The Creature’s plea for recognition and love reflects the working class’s cry for dignity and justice. His rebellion against Victor parallels the revolutionary uprising of the exploited against their creators — an echo of Karl Marx’s idea that history is driven by class struggle.

The paradox of the Creature — both victim and monster — reflects the cultural anxiety of Shelley’s age. He is the symbol of society’s repressed conscience, embodying what civilization refuses to acknowledge: its own cruelty and exclusion.

A Race of Devils: Race, Empire, and the Other

From a postcolonial perspective, Frankenstein dramatizes Western fears of the “Other.” Victor’s rejection of his creation mirrors imperialist attitudes toward colonized peoples — seen as monstrous, uncivilized, and dangerous. The Creature’s physical difference becomes a metaphor for racial otherness, and his exclusion represents how colonial ideology constructs identity through opposition.

Shelley, writing in an era of British imperial expansion, subtly questions these hierarchies. The novel anticipates modern discussions of race, privilege, and cultural dominance, showing how those deemed “non-human” are forced into rebellion by systemic injustice. The “race of devils” Victor fears is actually the product of his own moral blindness.

From Natural Philosophy to Cyborg

Mary Shelley foresaw a world where scientific ambition blurs ethical boundaries. Victor’s experiment symbolizes the Enlightenment’s obsession with mastery over nature — a theme that resonates today in biotechnology, cloning, and artificial intelligence. By giving life to a human form through unnatural means, Victor becomes both a modern Prometheus and a warning figure. His failure to take responsibility for his creation anticipates the ethical crises of modern science: technological progress without moral accountability.

In Cultural Studies terms, Shelley’s novel critiques the ideology of progress. It asks whether humanity’s pursuit of power, knowledge, and control can ever be separated from moral responsibility.

2) The Frankenpheme in Popular Culture

The term “Frankenpheme,” coined by Timothy Morton, refers to the way elements of Frankenstein have been endlessly reproduced across fiction, drama, film, and television. From 1931’s Frankenstein (directed by James Whale) to Blade Runner (1982), Ex Machina (2015), and even memes or political metaphors (“Frankenfoods,” “Franken-tech”), the novel’s themes continue to evolve.

Adaptation and Cultural Survival

Each adaptation transforms the novel’s critique for its own time. In early cinema, the Creature became a figure of terror — reflecting industrial fears about machines replacing humans. In later films, especially Blade Runner, the narrative becomes a cybernetic allegory for corporate control and artificial life. Modern adaptations highlight anxieties about surveillance, genetic engineering, and AI ethics.

These retellings show the novel’s cultural resilience: it adapts to express each era’s anxieties about creation, identity, and power. Through this process, Frankenstein remains one of the most significant “cultural myths” of modernity.

Frankenstein as a Mirror of Modernity

In contemporary culture, the word “Frankenstein” has come to mean any creation that escapes human control. Political speeches, environmental debates, and media headlines use the term to symbolize technological hubris. This transformation shows how Shelley’s story transcends literature to become a living cultural code. The Creature no longer belongs to Gothic fiction alone — he inhabits our daily vocabulary, our ethical debates, and our digital imaginations.

Thus, the “Frankenpheme” captures both the death and rebirth of revolutionary ideas: while the novel’s radical critique may have been commercialized, its adaptability ensures that its warning continues to speak to every generation.

Reflection

Reading Frankenstein through Cultural Studies deepens our understanding of how art reflects and shapes ideology. The novel critiques patriarchy, class hierarchy, and scientific arrogance, yet it also mirrors the very culture that produced those systems. The Creature’s voice becomes a metaphor for all silenced identities — the marginalized, the colonized, the mechanized.

In our age of artificial intelligence, genetic cloning, and digital surveillance, Shelley’s cautionary tale remains profoundly relevant. The novel teaches us that creation without compassion leads to destruction, and that true humanity lies not in power but in empathy.

Conclusion

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein stands as a timeless text of cultural rebellion and ethical reflection. It bridges the Romantic imagination and the modern technological world. Through its revolutionary spirit and enduring cultural afterlife, the novel reveals how literature continues to interrogate power, identity, and ideology.

Seen through a Cultural Studies approach, Frankenstein is not merely a Gothic story — it is a cultural myth of modernity, warning us that our greatest creations can become our most haunting reflections.

Reference:

Teacher's Blog