FRANKENSTEIN

BY MARY SHELLEY

Who was Mary Shelley?

Born to radicals Her mother: Mary Wollstonecraft, feminist writer, wrote A

Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) which drew attention to women’s second class status

Her father, William Godwin, ex-minister, atheist, influential writer (politics, morality); his name became associated with truth, justice and liberty

Both her parents were influenced by French Revolution

Both were anti-marriage, but did wed when Mary W (mother) became pregnant with Mary (author)

Mary’s mother died of septicemia (blood poisoning) after Mary’s birth – Mary always felt guilty about this.

Mary’s father remarried

He was emotionally void, but intellectually guided

Mary and Percy Shelley

Met in 1814

Percy Shelley, a “Romantic,” attached himself to Godwin (Mary’s father) and his idealistic political notions

Shelley abandons his wife to spend time at Godwin house

Elopes with Mary in July 1814 (even though he’s still married to his first wife)

His first wife commits suicide in despair

1815 Mary gives birth to their 1st baby, but baby dies a few days after birth “Dream that my little baby came to life again: that it had

only been cold, and that we rubbed it before the fire and it lived.”

Mary and Percy in Geneva

Mary and Percy travel to Geneva to vacation at Percy’s

buddy’s summer home. (Lord Byron – also a famous

Romantic poet). Also staying at the house are a group of

other Romantic writers.

It rained much that summer, confining the group to the

house

Ghost story contest

Mary, Percy, Lord Byron, and others

The group discusses Erasmus Darwin’s experiments with

galvanism (uses of electricity)

Mary has a “waking dream,” where she dreamed about a

monster coming to life. This is what she bases the story of

Frankenstein on.

Mary wins the ghost story contest hands down, with her

tale called Frankenstein.

Mary’s Tragedies

• She was always guilt-stricken regarding her own mother’s death (since it happened in childbirth)

• She gave birth to 4 children in 5 years. 3 of them died in infancy

• Shelley lost her husband in a mysterious boating accident after only 8 years of marriage.

• She was left widowed, with only one surviving child, financially destitute at only age 25.

• Only surviving child was a son named Percy.

• Critics say that Frankenstein is greatly influenced by the concepts of birth and death.

Historical context

For the Romantic era in literature:

Early Romantic writers strongly advocated the French

Revolution

Revolution signaled throwing off of old traditions and customs of the wealthy classes

Balance of economic power shifted toward the middle class with the rise of industrialism.

Advanced machinery and technology threatened to replace workers

England's literary thinkers welcomed revolution because it represented an opportunity to establish a harmonious social structure.

Science and technology

Technology/machines replaced workers creating low wages and poor working conditions

People encouraged to sabotage machines that took jobs away from workers.

Erasmus Darwin, scientist who wrote about biological evolution was a big influence (people began to question power of God)

Percy and Mary also attended lecture by Andrew Crosse, a scientist who experimented with electricity discussed galvanism-- or the study of electricity and its

applications.

Arctic exploration

The late 1700s also marked the beginnings of a

new era of ocean exploration.

Explorers wanted to find a trade route through the

Arctic to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific.

This is what Robert Walton is trying to accomplish

in the novel (in the letters).

What is Romanticism?

Romanticism is a reaction to the Age of Reason

The Age of Reason

• Time Period: roughly 1700-1797

• The Enlightenment, or the age of

reason, is often closely linked with

the Scientific Revolution, for both

movements emphasized reason,

science, and rationality

What is Romanticism?

Romanticism = out with order, calm, harmony,

balance, rationality, and logic Romanticism = in with: the subjective, the

irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, and the visionary.

Characteristics of Romantics

Emphasis on intuition and emotion – rejected the rational and intellectual

Emphasized strange and bizarre – the common has no place in art

Artists should choose subjects not encountered in everyday life

Writers were not always interested in creating viable/ believable characters

Characteristics of Romantics

Stories were usually set in obscure, remote or unknown places (very unpopulated areas)

Rugged, natural settings provide comfort and visual appeal

Valued close relationships and felt concern / responsibility for the poor and less fortunate

Wanted to search for fundamental knowledge and consequences of acquiring that knowledge

Believed humans were born inherently kindhearted and moral

The Natural World

•Romantics believed that the

beauty of nature should be

studied

•That trying to control nature

was dangerous

•That nature provides solace or

comfort to the individual

Natural World Cont’d

•In the novel, Walton’s attempt

to conquer the sea, and Victor’s

scientific experiments reveal

man’s attempt to control or

exploit the natural world.

The Individual

Romanticism favored the idea

of the Individual

This individual (above) is Percy Bysshe Shelley,

Mary’s husband!

The Individual

• The Romantics had a preoccupation with the genius, the hero, and the exceptional figure.

• They focused on his passions and inner struggles.

• They viewed the artist as a supremely individual creator, whose creative spirit is more important than strict adherence to formal rules and traditional procedures.

• They emphasized imagination as a gateway to the transcendental, leading to belief in . . .

The Supernatural !!!

Which leads us to:

The Gothic Novel!

The Gothic Novel

1790 – 1830

a part of the Romantic

era

The GOTHIC STYLE

Elements

Supernatural forces

Imaginative excess

Delusions

Religious and human evil

Social transgressions

Mental disintegration

Spiritual corruption

ALSO WATCH FOR:

• Picturesque and grand scenery

• Use of weather, especially stormy

weather to create mood

• Lightening

• Moonlight

• The grotesque

The REACTION TO GOTHIC

Novel

Perceived as subversive

Promotes violence and vice, celebrates

criminal behavior

Texts give free reign to selfish ambitions

and desires beyond law and family duty

No! Not these kinds of

goths!

Gothic Archetypes • Gothic Hero: isolated either

voluntarily or involuntarily

• Villain: epitome of evil, either by his

own fall from grace, or by some

implicit malevolence

• The Wanderer, found in many Gothic

tales, is the epitome of isolation as

he wanders the earth in perpetual

exile, usually a form of divine

punishment

What the book isn’t:

Topics Explored

Alienation and Loneliness

Nature vs. Nurture

Appearance vs. Reality

Duty and Responsibility

Justice and Injustice

Questions the novel poses: • Is knowledge dangerous?

• Should we fool around with Nature?

• Are there laws (“God’s Laws”) that are off limits to humanity? How far is too far?

• What is nature’s role and relationship to mankind?

• What does it mean to be a parent or creator?

• What are the responsibilities of a parent or creator?

• What defines good and evil?

Nothing In Excess

• Stressed importance of leading balanced and moderate lifestyle

• During Shelley’s time, people were struggling to adjust to the Industrial Age

• In our time, we struggle to balance our humanity with our dependence on technology

Sublime Nature

Throughout the novel, pay attention to

how the characters are influenced by

the natural world.

Also note Shelley’s long descriptions of

the natural world. This is classic

Romanticism!