Title: The New Frankenstein

Author: William Maginn

Date of First Publication: 1837

Place of Publication: Fraser’s Magazine

Type: Short Story

Characters: None

Themes: MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; QUEER FRANKENSTEIN; ANDROID; POSTHUMAN; BYRONIC HERO

Critical Summary: The New Frankenstein is a parody of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley about a man telling the story of a German man’s life. The story begins with the “German man” (whose name is never disclosed to the reader) discussing his studies. At university, he begins to show an interest in science. One of his advisors later presents to him an android that has been brought to life with a charged battery. He tells the German that the android is to be his new assistant and leaves him with it. At first, the German has little interest in it but later on develops, seemingly out of nowhere, a strange desire to endow the android with a human brain with the hope of granting it human thought. The German speaks of his inspiration from Frankenstein and of being a dear admirer of Percy Shelley. The German desires for his own creation scene. After assembling the necessary parts, a human brain for instance, to accomplish his task, he returns to the android and completes the creation. He at first is fascinated that the android is able to speak but then grows angry as he learns that the android’s capacity to understand surpasses his own. Because of this, he feels he created a monstrosity and decides to leave for Alexandria, Egypt. There, he discovers a tomb that had remained hidden for thousands of years and, once inside, pries open a sarcophagus. The temple reacts and monsters rise from the depths to attack him. The story ends with the narrator declaring it was only a dream.

Though a parody, The New Frankenstein connects to Frankenstein through the themes of “The Mad Scientist,” “Queer Frankenstein,” “Android,” “Posthuman”, “Last Man,” and “Byronic Hero.” The German and Victor are both mad scientists bent on creating something beyond the human – the posthuman. They both do this by gathering dead human parts, brains, limbs, and fluids. The very endeavor of gathering these items qualifies the characters as is being in line with “The Mad Scientist” theme. In relation to the theme of “Android,” both Victor and the German give an artificial birth to their creations by imbuing life in inanimate objects. Victor creates his Creature, giving life to a stitched together corpse, while the German gives the android a new life by giving him a brain. They both have a male-gendered relationship with their creations regardless of it being negative. Both the German and Victor are Byronic Heroes as they end up becoming obsessed with their self-driven tasks of creating life. They also both take on the dark, brooding antihero aspect of the Byronic Hero. Victor rejects and abandons his creation, but his actions haunt him and result in the death of loved ones. The German also rejects and abandons his creation and commits himself to a different task, which ultimately leads to his own death. The Creature and the android also relate to complementary themes of the Android, Posthuman and Last Man. While the Creature is crafted out of strictly human parts, the android is made of a human brain and human fluids. Both were created with the intention of enhancing natural human qualities. Humans aspired to improve their own human image through the Creature and the android; the Creature through superhuman strength and durability, and the android through greater human thought. At the same time, these creatures are capable of causing great destruction of humanity because of their supernatural abilities. Each creature can potentially learn to hate and destroy their creator, which is why both Victor and the German hate their creations.

Administrative Notes: Hallie Houdetsanakis, CSUF; Adam Shelley, CSUF (Editing)