Everything you need to know to read "Frankenstein" - Iseult Gillespie

譯者: Winston Szeto 審譯者: SF Huang

In 1815, the eruption of Mount Tambora plunged parts of the world into darkness

1815 年坦博拉火山爆發， 讓大半世界陷入黑暗，

and marked a gloomy period that came to be known as The Year Without a Summer.

也昭示了一段黑暗時期， 稱為無夏之年。

So when Mary and Percy Shelley arrived at the House of Lord Byron on Lake Geneva,

那時，瑪莉·雪萊跟珀西·雪萊前往 拜倫勛爵位在日內瓦湖畔的宅邸，

their vacation was mostly spent indoors.

他們的假期也幾乎在宅邸內度過。

For amusement, Byron proposed a challenge to his literary companions:

拜倫為了找點樂子， 向文友們提出了挑戰：

Who could write the most chilling ghost story?

誰能寫出最可怕的鬼故事？

This sparked an idea in 18-year-old Mary.

18 歲的瑪莉文思泉湧。

Over the next few months, she would craft the story of Frankenstein.

接下來幾個月， 她致力於科學怪人的故事。

Popular depictions may evoke a green and groaning figure,

一般可能會想到 綠色的可怕怪物形象，

but that's not Mary Shelley's monster.

但那並非瑪莉·雪萊要塑造的怪物。

In fact, in the book, Frankenstein refers to the nameless monster's maker,

其實，書中的科學怪人弗蘭肯斯坦

指的是創造出無名怪物的科學家，

Dr. Victor Frankenstein.

維多·弗蘭肯斯坦博士。

So tense is the struggle between creator and creature

科學家與怪物兩者間緊張的關係，

that the two have merged in our collective imagination.

形成兩者混為一體的意象。

Before you read or reread the original text,

第一次閱讀或是重閱本書之前，

there are several other things that are helpful to know about Frankenstein

有幾項背景知識可以幫助你 閱讀科學怪人，

and how it came to assume its multiple meanings.

以及故事要呈現的各種意涵。

The book traces Dr. Frankenstein's futile quest to impart and sustain life.

故事追溯至弗蘭肯斯坦博士徒勞地

追求、維持生命的過程，

He constructs his monster part by part from dead matter

他用屍塊拼湊出怪物的身體，

and electrifies it into conscious being.

利用電擊激發他的意識。

Upon completing the experiment, however, he's horrified at the result and flees.

實驗完成之際， 他卻因為恐懼而逃跑。

But time and space aren't enough to banish the abandoned monster,

被遺棄的怪物徘徊於時空之中，

and the plot turns on a chilling chase between the two.

劇情轉向到兩者間無情的追逐。

Shelley subtitled her fireside ghost story,

雪萊為故事下了副標：

"The Modern Prometheus."

「現代的普羅米修斯」

That's in reference to the Greek myth of the Titan Prometheus

引用希臘神話中 泰坦巨神普羅米修斯，

who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity.

他偷了眾神的火苗，賜予人類。

This gave humanity knowledge and power,

這賦予了人類知識及力量。

but for tampering with the status quo,

但因此舉，

Prometheus was chained to a rock and eaten by vultures for eternity.

普羅米修斯被鍊於巨石， 永生被禿鷹啄食。

Prometheus enjoyed a resurgence in the literature of the Romantic Period

普羅米修斯的神話 在 18 世紀浪漫時期

during the 18th century.

再次獲得注意。

Mary was a prominent Romantic,

瑪莉是浪漫時期的重要作家，

and shared the movement's appreciation for nature, emotion, and the purity of art.

支持自然、情感還有純粹的藝術。

Two years after Mary released "Frankenstein",

瑪莉出版《科學怪人》兩年後，

Percy reimagined the plight of Prometheus in his lyrical drama,

珀西重編普羅米修斯的劇情， 寫成抒情詩劇

"Prometheus Unbound."

《解放普羅米修斯》。

The Romantics used these mythical references

浪漫時期作家引用希臘神話，

to signal the purity of the Ancient World in contrast to modernity.

以表達與現代相反的純真古老世界。

They typically regarded science with suspicion,

他們大多對科學持疑，

and "Frankenstein" is one of the first cautionary tales

《科學怪人》是首批關於 人工智慧的警世作品之一。

about artificial intelligence.

For Shelley, the terror was not supernatural,

對雪萊來說， 恐懼並非來自超自然力量，

but born in a lab.

而是來自實驗室的產物。

In addition, gothic devices infuse the text.

除此，文本也融入了哥德文體。

The gothic genre is characterized by unease,

哥德文體的特色是緊張的情緒、

eerie settings,

怪誕的背景、

the grotesque,

詭異

and the fear of oblivion -

以及被遺忘的恐懼 ──

all elements that can be seen in "Frankenstein."

這些元素也可見於 《科學怪人》之中。

But this horror had roots in personal trauma, as well.

但這樣的恐懼也來自個人的創傷。

The text is filled with references to Shelley's own circumstances.

文本可見雪萊個人的寫照。

Born in 1797, Mary was the child of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft.

瑪莉出生於 1797 年，

雙親為威廉．戈德溫 及瑪莉．沃斯通克拉夫特。

Both were radical intellectual figures,

兩人皆為激進的知識分子，

and her mother's book, "A Vindication of the Rights of Women,"

她母親的著作《為女權辯護》

is a key feminist text.

是相當重要的女性主義文本。

Tragically, she died as a result of complications from Mary's birth.

不幸的是她死於生產瑪莉時 所引起的併發症。

Mary was haunted by her mother's death,

母親之死深擾瑪莉，

and later experienced her own problems with childbirth.

而之後她自己生產時也不順利。

She became pregnant following her elopement with Percy at 16,

她 16 歲跟珀西私奔之後懷孕，

but that baby died shortly after birth.

孩子出生不久就離世。

Out of four more pregnancies, only one of their children survived.

四次懷孕中只有一個孩子活下來。

Some critics have linked this tragedy to the themes explored in "Frankenstein."

部分評論家將這悲慘的經驗 與書中探索的主題做連結。

Shelley depicts birth as both creative and destructive,

雪萊認為生產同時具有 生機及毀滅性，

and the monster becomes a disfigured mirror of the natural cycle of life.

怪物則真實地反映了生命的殘破面。

The monster, therefore, embodies Dr. Frankenstein's corruption of nature

怪物也因此代表弗蘭肯斯坦博士

in the quest for glory.

在追求榮耀的同時天性淪喪。

This constitutes his fatal flaw, or hamartia.

這也成為他的致命缺陷或「罪」，

His god complex is most clear in the line,

他的上帝情節在下段節錄中 表露無遺：

"Life and death appear to me ideal bounds which I should first break through

「生死的完美界線將由我率先打破，

and pour a torrent of light onto our dark world."

為這黑暗世界注入光明。」

Although he accomplishes something awe-inspiring,

雖然他創造出了令人 望而生畏的產物，

he has played with fire at his own ethical expense.

但他卻是捨棄道德冒險玩火。

And that decision echoes throughout the novel,

這個抉擇的意象在小說中反覆出現，

which is full of references to fire and imagery that contrasts light and dark.

不斷出現火的暗示 及光影對比的意象。

These moments suggest not only the spark of Prometheus's fire,

這些不僅是普羅米修斯盜火 所濺起的火花，

but the power of radical ideas to expose darker areas of life.

更是激進思想的烈焰， 映照出生命更深層的黑暗面。