A Study Of “Creator-created” Relationship Writings In Frankissstein: A Love Story From An Ethical Criticism Perspective

Jeanette Winterson,a winner of Whitbread Prize,E.M.Foster Award,and Lambda Literary Award,has been viewed as one of the most influential contemporary British writers.Her novels are recognized worldwide for their delicate stroke,unconventional writing style,bold imagination,and profound themes.The latest published science fiction Frankissstein:A Love Story,incorporating scientific concepts like AI,cryonics,and cyborg into the plot,depicting the complex relationship between humans and technology,sparked heated discussion and was long-listed for the 2019 Booker’s Prize.Under the microscope of Ethical Literary Criticism,this thesis firstly analyzes the rhetorical and narrative skills Jeanette Winterson applies in writing“creator-created”relationships in Frankissstein:A Love Story;secondly,investigates Winterson’s ethical concerns on the development of human civilization,the relationship between human and technology and the future of mankind;and finally,explores the writer’s vision for the future of humanity.The thesis mainly discusses three types of“creator-created”relationships in Frankissstein,namely,human beings creating artificial beings,men creating their new selves,and mankind creating the future.These three types of“creator-created”relationships are closely related and intertwined:Human beings create something whether in the form of spiritual or material,to express their ethical concerns,to confess their past mistakes,or to extend their imaginations;The created in return reshapes the creators,helps them establishing ethical identities,becoming new,advanced selves;In the process of pursuing new selves,the creators will inevitably face countless ethical choices,which will ultimately shape mankind’s future.This thesis believes that by reinterpreting the“creator-created”relationship in her novel,Winterson conveys the idea that only by considering the creator and the created as an organic whole,one could change from focusing on the contradiction between humans and technology to focusing on humans’problems,to eliminate the fear of science and technology as mankind moves toward the future.Winterson inherits Mary Shelley’s 18^thcentury reflections on the development of science and technology in Frankenstein,that is,any ethical choice made by human beings in the process of creation is crucial.In order to achieve a better future for mankind,the invention and development of science and technology must be carried out under ethical rules.At the same time,by giving the novel an opening end,Winterson is calling for the establishment of a future of shared destiny for mankind,in which divisions are eliminated,individual freedom and growth are promised,and human beings will live in harmony with nature.