Chapter 14
Due to his extended period of time observing the group, he begins to piece their story together, starting with the elder, De Lacey. He used to be a prosperous citizen of Paris, with his children Agatha and Felix also being admirable and successful members of the Parisian community. Safie’s father, a Turk, was wrongfully accused of a crime, sentencing him to death.
Felix decided to visit the Turk whilst he was incarcerated and met his daughter, falling immediately in love, and thus motivating him to try and fight for her father. Safie writes letters to Felix at this time, thanking him for his generous and white-hearted intentions, letters that the creature has copied as proof.
These letters detail that Safie’s mother was a Christian Arab that had been enslaved by the Turks before she married her father. Safie was then gifted something which other typically Islamic women were not, the chance to grow and become independent in ways of intelligence and liberating thought, endeavouring to marry a wealthy European in order to free herself from her impending servitude in Turkey.
Felix had done well to successfully plan and enact the escape of Safie’s father, but the plot was discovered and De Lacey, Felix, and Agatha were exiled from France, leading them to reside in the cottage in Germany. Safie’s father attempted to coerce her into joining him to Constantinople but she managed to avoid that unwanted future and, with rough knowledge of Felix’s location, set off to find him.
Frankenstein
Frankenstein is the classic gothic horror novel which has thrilled and engrossed readers for two centuries. Written by Mary Shelley, it is a story which she intended would ‘curdle the blood and quicken the beatings of the heart.’ The tale is a superb blend of science fiction, mystery and thriller.
Victor Frankenstein driven by the mad dream of creating his own creature, experiments with alchemy and science to build a monster stitched together from dead remains. Once the creature becomes a living breathing articulate entity, it turns on its maker and the novel darkens into tragedy.
The reader is very quickly swept along by the force of the elegant prose, the grotesque, surreal imagery, and the multi-layered themes in the novel. Although first published in 1818, Shelley’s masterpiece still maintains a strong grip on the imagination and has been the inspiration for numerous horror movies, television and stage adaptations.