Critical Annotated Webliography - Lily

Question 3:
Frankenstein continues to occupy the popular imagination as a monstrous scientist. Analyze some of the ways in which Frankenstein haunts discussions of recent technologies.


Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was written over two centuries ago. Yet, Mary Shelley foresaw the development of science and technology, and she portrayed the horrible result that human may suffer when we lose control over technology, just like the dreadful story of Frankenstein. Using search engines, such as Yahoo! and Google, I found many articles that discuss recent technologies which used the story of Frankenstein as example. I chose five of these articles that are all related to my chosen guiding research question.

In “Frankenstein of the Future”[1], Alisa Burns argues that human beings will be in danger when we no longer have control over the modern technology. Since human are intelligence, we create machines to make our lives easier. Gradually, our dependence on machines is getting greater. However, when we make more “smarter” computers and give them more power, such as the creation of Artificial Intelligence, they might turn into monsters that bring harm to our lives. The horrific story, Frankenstein, is used as an example to illustrate that how technology endangers the world when the scientist, Victor, created a monster by his intelligence. When machines have the ability to learn and to think for themselves, there might be a possibility that they will resist against human, just like Frankenstein. Therefore, the author wants scientists to realize the terrible mistake that they could have made if they lose their control over the “A.I. children”. I found this article is useful because the author describes the development of technology throughout this few centuries, and how human started to rely and be dependent on technology. She uses a lot of comparisons in her article, for instance, she compares the creation of A.I. with Frankenstein, and she also compares the scientist in the novel, Victor, with the scientists who investigate A.I. By using a famous novel as example, she makes her argument more convincing.

Similar with “Frankenstein of the Future”, Orlin Damyanov[2] describes the dangerous effects of technology on nature and human life as perceived in two famous books, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and William Gibson's Neuromancer, in his research paper. The author states the historical context of these stories, in which Frankenstein is written during the period of the first industrial revolution. Although many people were enthusiastic about the development of new technology, Shelley recognized that obsession of modern technology will exploit the nature and will lead to terrible consequence, just like the creation of Frankenstein. As for Neuromancer, it is written during the era of information technology. Gibson finds that human still have not find a proper solution to deal with the moral dilemmas arise from the rapid technological change. The message that Shelley wants to bring out is a monster will be created if human continue a morally irresponsible scientific development. Both stories reveal the unexpected danger that underlying recent technology. This article provides the background information of the two science fictions, which is helpful for us to know what inspirited these authors. Shelley and Gibson did not only see the positive side of technology, but also the negative side or the harmful result that technology could bring about. I think this article useful because it has in-depth discussion of moral responsibility and nature system along with the development of technology.

On the other hand, some people hold positive view towards technology, where “The Curse of Frankenstein”[3] is an example of that. Robert W. Tracinski points out that the story of Frankenstein is a slander of science and technology. He argues that recent technology has improved our lives, for example, invention of fertilizers and pesticides, and technique of modern farming, which solve the problem of hunger for many poor people in the world. He believes that genetically modified seeds and foods are beneficial to human because crops grow better and food is becoming more nutritious. Yet, environmentalists and the people who believe in Frankenstein myth oppose the use of genetically modified foods since they think that it is toxic and is harmful to their lives. These people even labeled genetically modified foods as “Frankenfood”. However, the author states that there is no evidence showing that genetically modified seeds and foods are toxic, so people should stop their fear and hatred towards technology. I think this article is interesting because it gives a positive view towards recent technology. The author states some of the positive outcomes of technology, but I found it is not convincing enough. It is because the author only describes the benefits of technology on agricultural field, and he ignores the negative impacts that may arise if human continue to interrupt the system of nature.

Charlotte Kuchinsky[4] holds a neutral view towards technology. In this article, she compares the monster Frankenstein with recent technology, and compares modern scientists with Victor, in which she wants to prove that science could also create mistakes, even though technology benefits human in varies way. She takes cloning as example that it ultimately benefits humanity, but there may be mistakes occurred along the way that human have to bear the responsibility. Another point she makes is the increasingly popular field of robotics, in which she states that robotics is becoming reality. She takes the Robotic vacuum cleaners as example, and states that it is useful and totally innocuous. However, she argues that human should be aware of what we are doing because human do not have the power over advanced technology. We cannot stop science from progressing, but we can prevent the happening of terrible consequence like Frankenstein. This article is easy to understand and I think it is an objective article since the author gives both the pros and cons of science and technology. It is true that science has benefited human in many ways, like transportation and medication, but we cannot ignore the power of technology. This article is a bit short, and I think it will be more useful if it has a more in-depth discussion.

In “Shelley’s Frankenstein and the Problems with Technology”[5], the author gives the background information of Mary Shelley and her novel, Frankenstein. The novel was written during the England Industrial Revolution where Shelley saw scientists brought changes to the world. Although she knew that science and technology can improve human lives, she saw the effects of technology can be dangerous to all of humanity. The author criticizes that scientific project is an attempt to gain power, and modern scientists are acquiring new power and trying to take the place of God. They do not only disrupt the nature, they even want to gain the power of reproduction. The author does not see Frankenstein as a villainous character because he thinks that the evil is not inherent in Frankenstein, but it is a result of the way that Victor treated him. Again, this article concerns about the moral responsibility toward the advanced technology. The author put the responsibility on scientists, in which they should have proper feeling, charity and understanding towards scientific researches. This article uses lots of paragraphs in describing the background of the novel, and I think the discussion on recent technologies is relatively short.

In conclusion, I have chosen five online articles for my chosen guiding research question. Different opinions towards recent technologies are examined in this annotated webliography. Although some of the articles do not have in-depth discussion, the ideas raised are worth to consider.


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[1] Burns, A. “Frankenstein of the Future.” Washington State University (2008). 5 March 2009. http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/frank.comment4.html.

[2] Damyanov, O. “Technology and its dangerous effects on nature and human life as perceived in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and William Gibson's Neuromancer.” (1996). 5 March 2009. http://www.geocities.com/Paris/5972/gibson.html.

[3] Tracinski, R. W. “The Curse of Frankenstein.” Capitalism Magazine (2009). 5 March 2009. http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=538.

[4] Kuchinsky, C. “Frankenstein Complex: Man's Obsession with & Fear of Technological Advancement.” Associated Content, Inc. (2009). 5 March 2009. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/381828/frankenstein_complex_mans_obsession.html?cat=9.

[5] “Shelley’s Frankenstein and the Problems with Technology.” Easy Sample (2009). 5 March 2009. http://www.essaysample.com/essay/002053.html.