Title: The Diamond Lens
Author: Fitz-James O’Brien
Date of First Publication: 1858
Publisher: Place of Publication: The Atlantic Monthly (Boston, MA)
Bibliographic Reference: isfdb
Type: Short story
Keywords: FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER; BYRONIC HERO; POSTHUMAN
Critical Summary: “The Diamond Lens” concerns the mad obsessions of a young man named Linley, who, by his own admission, has “bent towards microscopic investigations” for most of his life, to the neglect of all else. Fascinated solely by the pursuit and study of the microscopic, Linley ignores all his studies and responsibilities in order to “perfect” his instrument, which he eventually does with the aid of a spirit medium that channels the creator of the first microscopic lens in order to learn how to make it perfect: a particular process involving a large diamond. Linley murders his neighbour in order to steal his (conveniently of the perfect size) diamond, then proceeds to use this diamond lens to look into a single drop of water. In this drop of water, Linley sees a fantastical world, absent of all life except for a single woman-like organism that Linley names Animula and immediately falls in love with for her extreme beauty. Linley grows obsessed with Animula and this microscopic world. Eventually, however, the water droplet begins to evaporate, and Linley, in agony, watches Animula and the microscopic world slowly fade away and die. Linley spends the rest of his days in disgrace, surviving only on charity and the fees he earns from delivering lectures to scientific associations who want only to laugh at his stories of Animula and the powers of the perfect lens.
Perhaps the biggest similarity that this work shares with Frankenstein is the obsessive nature of its protagonist. Just as Victor, in his time as a wealthy young student with the resources to pursue his whims, becomes obsessed with the idea of creating life, Linley obsesses over the perfection of the microscope. During their research, both protagonists lose their morals; Victor uses the body parts of the deceased to create his monster, and Linley kills Jules Simon in cold blood, rationalizing it as a worthy sacrifice in the pursuit of science. Ambition has captured both Victor and Linley, and robs them of what makes them recognizably human in pursuit of a single goal. Upon seeing his creation, however, Victor immediately regrets his actions and attempts to reject them; Linley falls immediately in love with the lifeform he has discovered, and continues to be obsessed with Animula for the rest of his days. Jules Simon never gets justice for his murder, and Linley never regrets killing him in cold blood for the fleeting fancy for only a few days.
“The Diamond Lens” owes a debt to Frankenstein, most obviously for the similar nature of their protagonists, but also for the concept of the natural sublime that permeates both works. Victor realizes, upon hearing the Creature ask for a female companion, that it could lead to the birth of a new race, superior to homo sapiens. Likewise, Linley, upon viewing Animula and the microscopic world, immediately forgets all that ties him to the human world, wishing with all his heart that he could throw away his human existence and exist only in the water droplet with Animula. For Linley, this microscopic life is infinitely preferable to human life, and, unlike Victor, never seems to change his mind. Both Frankenstein and “The Diamond Lens” demonstrate the dangers of cold ambition and intruding upon the realm of God, but, whereas Frankenstein is a tragic tale of Victor Frankenstein and his attempt to rectify his greatest sin, “The Diamond Lens” is a warning: if one takes the same path Linley took, there is no way off, and they are now doomed to a sinful and broken existence.
Administrative Notes: Kevin Hoang, CSUF. Edited by Molly Robertson