摘 要

《弗兰肯斯坦》是“科幻小说之母”玛丽·雪莱的著作，它被认为是最有影响力的哥特小说之一，同时也被看做是科幻小说的先驱。该小说自从1818年问世以来，就受到了公众热烈的讨论和追捧，以及评论家的关注。这篇论文旨在从生态批评的角度分析弗兰肯斯坦及其创造的怪物的悲剧原因，从而探讨玛丽·雪莱对人与人之间，人与自然之间以及人与自我之间的复杂关系的思考。玛丽·雪莱希望借此提醒人们遵守自然法则，否则其后果将不堪设想，不但人类自身会受到惩罚，生态系统也将严重失衡。作者认为只有遵循自然规律，努力协调好人与人，人与自然，人与自我之间的关系，才能实现真正的生态平衡。玛丽·雪莱借助弗兰肯斯坦的悲剧发出呼吁以实现自然，社会，和精神之间的生态平衡。

关键词：弗兰肯斯坦；怪物；生态平衡；悲剧；生态批评

Contents

1. Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------------------------1

1.1 A brief introduction to Frankenstein----------------------------------------------------1

1.2 A general explanation of Ecocriticism--------------------------------------------------2

2. Demonstration-----------------------------------------------------------------------------4

2.1 The imbalances of Natural Ecology-----------------------------------------------------4

2.1.1 Frankenstein: A person who violates the laws of nature----------------------------4

2.1.2 The monster: The avenger as an incarnation of nature------------------------------5

2.2 The imbalances of Social Ecology------------------------------------------------------6

2.2.1 The isolation between Frankenstein and society------------------------------------7

2.2.2 Desertion of the monster by Frankenstein-------------------------------------------8

2.3 The imbalances of Spiritual Ecology---------------------------------------------------9

2.3.1 Frankenstein：Facing the problem of mental collapse----------------------------10

2.3.2 The monster：Suffering from the spiritual torture---------------------------------11

3. Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------------------11

Works Cited -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------13

Bibliography-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------14

An Ecocritical Interpretation of Frankenstein

1. Introduction

1.1 A brief introduction to Frankenstein

As an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and a travel writer, Mary Shelley is best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein. Although being neglected frequently, Mary Shelley, who is born on August 30, 1797, is an outstanding literary figure during the period of English Romantic literature. Frankenstein is a novel about an eccentric scientist Victor Frankenstein, who creates a grotesque creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. In Frankenstein, a tragic story of Victor Frankenstein and his monster has been told. Finally, the health problem of Victor becomes more serious and he dies on the way of chasing the monster. On the other hand, the monster commits suicide soon.

Born in a prominent family in Geneva, Switzerland, Victor grew up with Elizabeth, who was an orphan, and two younger brothers, Ernest and William. At the same time, Henry Clerval was the only intimate friend in his whole childhood. When he was nineteen years old, Victor showed great interest in natural philosophy, which became an obsession after he studied further in the German university.

After four-year assiduous study, being isolated from the outside world, Victor created a monster whose body parts were taken from places like graveyards, slaughterhouses and dissecting rooms. However, He was terrified by his creation and fled from his laboratory in alarm while the monster disappeared. After a prolonged brain fever, Victor was back to health with the help of his friend Clerval for about two years. However, he had no idea about the monster during this period of time.