怪物並不存在：《科學怪人》中的怪物與怪物性

Abstract

至今，大多數的學者都將《科學怪人》中的那個生物定義成怪物．學者藉由關注這個特定的生物，忽略掉充斥這部小說的怪物性，也忽視了瑪麗·雪萊筆下的這個生物其實反映了十九世紀的英國．本論文認為，這部小說裡沒有所謂的怪物，而瑪麗·雪萊的意圖是揭露她所處社會的怪物性––––而不是寫一部怪物小說．透過文本與歷史分析，本論文將闡釋《科學怪人》當中精神層面、身體層面、心理層面與社會層面的怪物性． 瑪麗·雪萊透過他筆下的生物，討論她所處社會的怪物性．本文選取了九個例子，並分成三類：三種屬於精神層面、三種屬於身體與心理層面、三種屬於社會層面．精神層面的怪物性將這個生物的創生、他的靈魂、及為創造他而使用的科學，扣連到雪萊的時代裡關於基督教復活、奴隸靈魂的地位、及科學地位變化的神學辯論．身體與心理層面的怪物性探討這個生物的混雜性、力量及心靈敏銳程度，反思異常生產以及雪萊關於人類脆弱與心靈不穩定的自身經驗．社會層面的怪物性檢視動物、女性、家庭在這部小說中的角色，以及這個生物如何在雪萊十九世紀經驗的脈絡底下，反映這些面向．九個怪物性看似集中在維多創造的生物身上，讓他更像是怪物，但他其實是一面映照出怪物社會的鏡子，本身並不是怪物性的體現．

To date, the majority of scholars have framed the creature in Frankenstein as a monster. By focusing on a single embodiment, scholars have neglected the monstrous aspects pervasive in the novel and ignored the fact that Shelley’s creature actually reflects nineteenth-century Britain. This thesis argues that there is no monster, and Shelley’s intention was to display the monstrosity of her own society –– not to write a monster novel. Through a textual and historical analysis, this thesis will elucidate the spiritual, physical, mental, and social monstrosities within Frankenstein. Shelley addressed the monstrosities of her society through the creature, nine of which have been selected for this study and assorted into three categories: three spiritual, three physical and mental, and three social. The first three monstrosities connect the creation of the creature, his soul, and the science used to create him with the theological debates of the period regarding Christian resurrection, the status of the slave’s soul, and the changing status of science in Shelley’s era. The three physical and mental monstrosities address the creature’s hybridity, strength, and mental acuity as a reflection of monstrous births, and Shelley’s own experience with human frailty and mental instability. The last three monstrosities examine the role of animals, women, and family in the novel, and how the creature reflects these various aspects in the context of how Shelley experienced them in the nineteenth-century. All nine monstrosities appear to reflect upon Victor’s creature to make him seem more monstrous, but the creature is actually the mirror of a monstrous society and not an embodiment of monstrosity himself.