The Poetic Splosion of Mutability in Frankenstein

While many readers have tended to view Frankenstein simply as a straight forward and basic story, an understanding of Percy Shelley’s Mutability shows a more complicated story because it reveals the actions and thoughts of Victor Frankenstein in a new light. We see this element used particularly in Chapter X, page 92. Although this more complicated version of the Frankenstein story in terms of Mutability’s correlation to the actions and thoughts of Victor may not be familiar to many readers or viewers of Frankenstein, in my understanding it is crucial to understanding Shelley’s novel.

Mary Shelley breaks up Chapter X with not only poetry but her husband’s poetry none the less.  The last two stanzas of Mutability by Percy Shelley appear after Victor describes his awe-struck wonder of the outdoor landscape that he is beholding.  He has just returned home to Geneva to find that his brother William is dead (presumably due to the monster), and to get a moment of relaxation he explores the mountains of Montanvert and Mont Blanc.  When out of the blue there is a poem seemingly dropped into the text.

But, before delving into the part of the poem that is present, it’s important to also look at what is behind the scenes.  Mary Shelley only uses the last two stanza of Percy’s poem.  One would think that if an author is going to hamper the reader with poetry in the middle of a novel then they might as well just give me the complete thing.  Well Mary Shelley apparently likes to play games and forces you to look up the entirety of Mutability to scratch for a rope of understanding.  Was this entire poem necessary?  With a closer look apparently not, as the first two stanzas describe a landscape much like Victor has just done before the poetic intermission and a useless musical reference.  The landscape in the poem and the music stanza have little to do with Frankenstein so to counteract this Mary Shelley forms her own “intro stanzas” in the form of her own writing.  She can then implement the third and fourth stanzas in their whole to express their original meaning in connection to the beginning of the chapter that she presented.

Of the poetry that is presented many connections can be made not to just the rest of the chapter but to the entire book as well.  The length of the poem obviously shares instances with the previous paragraphs in the chapter. This is eminent with the back and forth thoughts shown in both the poem and the writing beforehand.  For example Victor dictates that there are shattered pines scattered around (destruction), along with the solemn silence of nature (peace).  While Percy’s poem does the same sort of deal: talking about joy and sorrow or laughter and weeping.  The poem named Mutability also stands up well to its name as it depicts change in a vast number of ways; Victor’s nature hike under-goes many changes, that is the changes of nature which can go from one extreme to the next.

The poem also out-reaches its solitary confines of the respected chapter that it resides in.  For instance in the first couple of lines: “We rest; a dream has power to poison sleep.  We rise; one wand’ring thought pollutes the day” (Shelley, 92), a very clear link to the creature can be made.  “We rest” refers to the creature in his premature state; the “dream” is that of Victor Frankenstein which when he was all caught up in it he did not realize the “poison” he made when bringing the creature to life.  The creature coming to life goes with “We rise” and the phrase following it depicts how his wandering destroys humanity and is a nuisance to man.  The next three lines:  “We feel, conceive, or reason; laugh or weep, Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away; It is the same: for, be it joy or sorrow” (Shelley, 92), cover the creature’s response to the variety of polar extremes that he not only realizes but experiences in his journey thus far and beyond due to his up and down encounters with mankind.  Then the six line: “The path of its departure still is free” (Shelley, 92) announces that the creature, despite his hardships he still has a path forward.  That is to have another of his kind to interact with or to torment all of humanity.  In the final lines: “Man’s yesterday may ne’er be like his morrow; Nought may endure but mutability!” (Shelley, 92) it is made clear that which ever way is chosen, one way or another the last survivor will be the genetic change of a human that the hands of Victor so horrifically crafted.  The poem then drops off and almost immediately, afterwards the accursed monster rears his ugly shape, all to well relating this poem to his being and explaining what is happened to him along with what is to come.

This is how Mutability’s presence further complicates the story of Frankenstein.  In turn not just further confusing the plot line but enhancing it with a second dimension and alternate allusions that explain current events and fore-shadow new ones.

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