Title: The Man in Black
Author: Christopher Fahy
Date of First Publication: 1993
Place of Publication: Frankenstein! The Monster Wakes
Type: Short Story
Characters: Mary Shelley; Percy Shelley; Lord Byron; Claire Clairmont; John Polidori; John Trelawny; Victor Frankenstein; the Creature
Themes: ANDROID; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; BYRONIC HERO; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER; WOMEN WRITING MONSTERS
Critical Summary: In the winter of 1816, Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, Claire Clairmont, and John Polidori are vacationing in a villa off the coast of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. The week has been gray and gloomy and so to amuse themselves, Lord Byron suggests the five of them have a friendly writing competition to see who could produce the best ghost story. Intimidated and suffering from writer’s block, Mary Shelley decides to walk along the coast of the lake to clear her head. While out walking, she comes across a dead fish and, feeling sorry for the little creature (as it also brings back painful memories of the child she has lost the year prior to this vacation), she ponders aloud whether it was possible to bring the little dear back to life. She is startled by a voice from behind her, ridiculing such an idea. Alarmed, Mary Shelley is introduced to a little man dressed in black who introduces himself as Dr. Heinrich Berger. He is a native of the small village of Zurich and he claims that a friend of his had actually succeeded in bringing the dead back to life in the form of a grotesque monster. Suddenly, Dr. Berger goes pale and yells at a “demon” in the distance. Telling Mary to flee, the little doctor runs off. Amazed and confused, Mary returns home to the villa and after warming herself by the fire, takes inspiration from the man’s claim and begins writing Frankenstein.
Six years pass and Mary Shelley has achieved world fame for the publication of Frankenstein. Pregnant and living in La Spezia, Italy, Mary takes another walk along the coast to ease her pains when she happens to run into Dr. Berger once again. Recognizing the young mother instantly, Dr. Berger congratulates her on the fame of her book but warns her of the potential danger she is in for upon publishing it, the “demon’s” affections have been set on her. For the meanwhile however, Dr. Berger boasts that he has “trapped” the Creature on a nearby island but still encourages flight as soon as possible. Returning to her vacation villa, Mary Shelley cannot help but stay awake thinking about the monster she knows is not real (for clearly Dr. Berger is mad) but still feels unease. She soon goes into labor but produces a stillborn daughter. Her loss is not made any easier when Percy Shelley announces that he must depart for another region of Italy to help a friend in need. Several days pass before Mary receives a letter from her dear friend John Trelawny informing her that there was a terrible storm off the Italian coast which struck the ship carrying Percy Shelley and that he had drowned in the sea. His body washed ashore and was cremated but he did manage to save the heart from burning. He later delivers Percy’s heart to her which she keeps in a glass jar for comfort. Left to raise baby Percy alone with her step-sister, Mary falls into a depression and debates whether to commit suicide. One stormy night however, Mary is visited by an unexpected and horrifying guest: the Creature! The undead monster confesses its eternal love for her and demands Mary’s love in return. After all, she MUST love him for she was the only one who cared enough about him to write his story. The Creature explains that he escaped from the island by flagging down the ship carrying Percy Shelley and upon realizing he was the husband of Mary Shelley, cast him into the sea to drown! Upon arriving to the mainland, the Creature hunted down his creator who happened to be none other than Dr. Berger who was the true Frankenstein after all! Terrified, Mary shrieks that she would never love him and demands him to leave. Heartbroken and enraged, the Creature flees the house and Mary rushes to baby Percy’s bedroom to insure he is safe. The next day, Trelawny arrives bringing disturbing news. Pieces of human body parts have been discovered along the strand of the beach and the body of Dr. Berger had washed ashore overnight displaying an ugly broken neck. It was believed to be a bad shipwreck. As Mary comforts her sister and baby, she softly states that a storm had nothing to do with the disaster. The real culprit was love.
The short story is historical fiction. Many of the characters are real historical figures and the main protagonist is the author of Frankenstein herself. The story focuses on the “untold” truth behind the creation of the novel which was Shelley physically meeting Frankenstein (though he goes by a different name) and basing her novel off his own life. This taps into the theme of Mad Scientist/Monster and Women writing Monsters in both a literal and symbolic way in the story itself. Dr. Berger (Frankenstein) is the real mad doctor who creates the Creature and plays cat-and-mouse with his creation all throughout the world. Mary also unknowingly becomes a “mad scientist” herself in the creation of her book which draws the monster to her and brings about the death of her true love. The theme of Women Writing Monsters is literal because Mary Shelley literally writes the book about the ultimate human monster. It can also be taken metaphorical because it is through the publication of her book that writes the monster into Mary’s own personal story. The theme of Sympathetic Monster is present but short-lived. While the reader does not get to connect with this monster as much as with the one from the novel, one cannot help but feel sympathy for the ugly beast’s search for acceptance and love. His infatuation with Mary is based on his delusion of her sympathy as he believes she created the story of Victor and his Monster as a sign of her personal affection for him. This delusion leads him to commit murder in order to gain Mary’s attention much like his counterpart in the novel.
Administrative Notes: Kyle Kalmanson, CSUF; Yesenia Rodriguez (editing)