Spivak's Frankenstein and a Critique of Imperialism

• Frankenstein's creation of the monster is an attempt to replace woman and, by extension, God as creator of life. His laboratory acts as a womb for the new creature.
• Frankenstein has attempted to create life through, pure, theoretical knowledge ("natural philosophy"), while ignoring the other two parts of Emmanuel Kant's conception of the human condition: practical reasoning and aesthetic judgement. 
• The monster is a representation of the manner in which imperialists wish to control their subjects. Frankenstein created the creature without the expectation that it would gain moral and aesthetic understanding. When it did, Frankenstein was unable to systematically control it.
• Side note: three major characters in the story are depictions of Kant's three-part definition of human nature. Frankenstein represents theoretical knowledge, Clerval represents practical reasoning, and Elizabeth represents aesthetic judgement. Frankenstein creates the monster out of scientific knowledge alone. Ironically, the monster murders the two people who represent the other two elements.