Groundings (May 2018)
The fatality of scientific monomania
Abstract
In this essay I will investigate the various links between scientific development, death, and monomania in an interdisciplinary analysis of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein and Christopher Nolan’s 2006 film The Prestige. This essay consists of three parts, focusing on the inventor, the invention, and the relationship between science and the arts. The first part of this essay discusses the inventor. It will compare the characters of Victor Frankenstein and Rupert Angier, contrasting and relating their motivations and behaviours in using scientific means to further their careers and reach their objectives. The second component of this essay pertains to the invention itself, primarily by contrasting the characters of Frankenstein’s monster and Rupert Angier’s Prestiges. This section will also discuss how the narrative structures of the film and novel subdue these voices within their respective texts while provoking the reader to formulate their own critical interpretation of the invention’s existence. The third and concluding section of this essay hopes to create further discourse between the scientific discipline and the arts. It evaluates the relationship these artistic texts share with the science which inspires them and argues that they react to the public interest and fears surrounding science rather than aiming to provide an accurate presentation of the scientific subject.
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