Civilized Solitude: Mary Shelley’s Critique of Rousseau's Human Nature

The discourse regarding defining humanity, specifically in regards to our mammal compatriots, has occurred within literature since the conception of introspection and cognition. A focal point within this discourse emanates from Jean-Jacques Rousseau's assertion that human curiosity, or intellectual pursuit, is what demarcates us from animal instinct. In the 1818 version of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley grapples with Rousseau's claims through her fantastical exploration of the natural sciences. Frankenstein's intense devotion to laboratory sciences and the self-destruction that ensues following the birth of his creation embodies the Rossuean notion that intellectual progress leads to an inevitable decline in human well-being. However, the dynamic between Frankenstein and his creation establishes a complex polarity that directly disagrees with Rousseau's ideology. Mary Shelley's intentionally dualistic depiction of Frankenstein and his creation fundamentally critiques Rousseau's doctrine regarding the civilized versus savage and the collective versus solitary.

Mary Shelley was both directly and indirectly influenced by Rousseau's work. In A Vindication for the Rights of Women, Shelley's mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, argues against many of Rousseau's philosophies that had become focal points in societal discourse. Although her mother died when she was only seven, Shelley was engrossed by her mother's work, and it indubitably influenced her writing. In Shelley's Frankenstein, Frankenstein's intellectual pursuit of reanimating life leads to his demise. Mary Shelley entertains Rousseau's notion that intellectual curiosity is the downfall of human nature, yet she complicates his assertions on human nature through her dualistic depiction of Frankenstein and his creation.

Frankenstein's pursuit of natural sciences encapsulates Rousseau's assertion that intellectual progress is a catalyst in corrupting human character. Despite his misinformed notion of human origins, Rousseau asserts that inequality began when humanity sought to bypass animalistic tendencies, which he believes is to be  solitary, instinctual beings. In a sense, as soon as humans prioritized rationality over instinct and the collective over the individual, Rousseau believes "equality disappeared, property came into existence" (123). Rousseau viewed humans as naturally individualistic, solitary creatures, and that intellectual pursuit is what created a world of collectivism and community. Rousseau separates humanity into two castes based on whether they rely on rationality and community or instinct and solidarity. These opposing classes —civilized and savage— are the basis on which Rousseau's critique of society lies. Rousseau's expressed view toward humanity insists on a condemnation of human curiosity, and his bold assertions regarding civilized society enable a variety of critiques and inquiries into his tenet.

Mary Shelley's split personality representation of Frankenstein contradicts Rousseau's assertion of savage versus civilized man. Within Frankenstein, both our protagonist and his offspring may be considered an embodiment of Rousseau's view of savage versus civilized. On the one hand, Frankenstein represents Rousseau's portrayal of the civilized man: infatuated with intellectual pursuit. On the other hand, his creation signifies the savage man, both in appearance and inherent solitude. Shelley provokes the reader's innate desire to consider Frankenstein as civilized and his creature as savage —perhaps a lasting impact of Rousseau’s influence. However, Shelley's developmental relationship between protagonist and antagonist diverges from Rousseau's doctrine. Frankenstein, our supposed civilized man, struggles with isolation to the point of physical illness. As Frankenstein commits to his studies, he becomes further detached from human connection. The impacts of solitude had such adverse effects that when Clerval, his close friend, finally sees him, he is shocked by his physicality. Clerval exclaims how "thin and pale" Frankenstein appears, almost as if "[he] had been watching for several nights" (48). Clerval's description of Frankenstein is notable for two reasons. Firstly, it has been isolation, which Rousseau claims in the natural state of humankind, that has depleted Frankenstein's health, but more importantly, Clerval's depiction is eerily reminiscent of how Shelley describes Frankenstein's creation. Days before he is animated, Frankenstein describes his creation as having "yellow skin" that "scarcely covered the work of muscles" (45). Shelley similarly describes Frankenstein as she does his creation, drawing a strong correlation between the isolated Frankenstein and his savage counterpart. The degradation of Frankenstein's physicality serves as a symbolic representation of his fall from civility. Frankenstein began his journey as a civilized creature, yet the effects of isolation impelled him into savagery.

Frankenstein's creation's desire for human companionship directly diverges from Rousseau's belief of a savage, solitary man.  While Shelley engages with the impacts of isolation through Frankenstein, his relative counter, the supposed savage man, avidly seeks an escape from seclusion. Frankenstein's creation yearns so profoundly for human connection — a direct confrontation of Rousseau's allegory. Not only does the creation resent Frankenstein for abandoning him, but his foremost demand is to be saved from his solitude. When Frankenstein finally speaks to his creation, the being requests a female partner "with whom I [he] can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being" (136). The creation needs a counterpart not only to ease his suffering, but he equates this partner to something necessary to his existance. However, what is even more compelling is how the creature uses solitude as a means of extenuating Frankenstein's suffering. As Frankenstein ostracized his creation, the creation responds by taking away the most crucial thing to Frankenstein's health —his own companionship. Through the novel, the creature systematically kills off all of the people close to Frankenstein. For Frankenstein, lack of human connection not only creates suffering but it is used directly as a tool of pain and revenge. The dualistic depiction of Frankenstein contradicts Rousseau's beliefs on solitude, and the creation's demeanor further combats the very notion of the savage man.

The creation's capabilities for love and a desire for knowledge disagrees with Rousseau's description of  savageness. In Shelley's depiction of the creation,  she makes him capable, even eager, for love and for learning. While Rousseau asserts that only civilized man pursues intellectual curiosities, it is through education and reading that Frankenstein's creation becomes self-aware. The creation seeks knowledge, and it aids in his journey to escape his misfortune. Furthermore, the creature is very capable of emotion and reason —traits that Rousseau believes only the civilized man could inhabit. The creature repeatedly expresses the horrible feelings he experiences from being abandoned and disregarded. When describing his experiences with the French family, the creature relays how his "heart sunk within me [him] with bitter sickness" after the family is frightened by his demonic appearance. The creature not only expresses emotional regard in this episode, but he also displays remorse and self-control. Interestingly, these emotions that the creature exhibits are the same feelings Frankenstein actively suppresses.

Frankenstein, despite being presented as a civilized creature, more prominently exhibits savage behavior. After becoming so devoid of emotion during his intellectual pursuit, Frankenstein loses all sense of empathy and emotion resonance —traits of a civilized man. Frankenstein notes that during his intellectual quest, he "procrastinated [d] all the related to my feelings of affection until the great object, which swallowed up every habit of my nature, should be completed" (43). After the completion of "the great object," however, his emotional health does not return to its original state. Instead, he begins to act and behave off of his instincts or beliefs on the situation rather than reason. Shelley completely reverses the dynamic between Frankenstein and his creation, thus furthering the direct confrontation of Rousseau's ideology. Frankenstein is the savage man, while his wretched offspring signifies civility.

Mary Shelley sought to engross the reader into a narrative that both pushed the imagination of natural science and formed critiques of fundamental social values and beliefs. Her engagement with Rousseau's ideology lays the groundwork for a wide array of significance and connotations in her narrative structure. Through this engagement, Shelley deconstructs Rousseau's notion of the civilized man, and she explicitly opposes Rousseau's beliefs on instinctual solitude. The dynamic relationship she creates between Frankenstein and his creation serves as a concise model to refute Rousseau's claims. In her Avante-garde science fiction, Mary Shelley sets a precedent for the natural sciences and sets a standard for understanding the human condition.