Frankenstein in Art

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Frankenstein in Art

• How Artists Interpret Literature

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Elsie Russell

• Frankenstein Creator Meets Created on the Mer de
  Glace
• 1995, oil on linen, 52"x52"

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Greg Tim Hildebrandt

• Frankenstein

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Uncredited

• http//images.google.com/imgres?imgurlhttp//www.
  angelfire.com/cantina/shyco/paintings/frankenstein
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Martha Lewis

• "Metaphysics Abandoned Realism Evaded", 2003
  Original photocopy of drawing and collage.

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Chris Yambar

• Frankenstein4' x 4' - Masonite

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Patricia Terrell-O'Neal

• Myth Frankenstein Walking
• oil on linen, 21.0" (53.34 cm) x 12.0" (30.48
  cm), Frankenstein Series, 2002

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Uncredited Web Banner

• http//www.sixfatninjas.com/Projects/
  Frank/Nate-Frank.html

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Ori Hofmekler

• Frankenstein

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Peter Moschel Johnson

• Frankenstein ChillaxedAcrylic on wood

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Uncredited

• Dark Frankenstein Poster

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Frankenstein

• Modern Prometheus

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Mary Shelley

• Born in 1797 to William Godwin and Mary
  Wollstonecraft
• Her mother died shortly after Mary was born
• Shelley learned about her mother only through
  writings her mother left behind, including A
  Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) which
  advocated that women should have the same
  educational opportunities as rights in society as
  men.

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Mary Shelley

• Avid reader and scholar and knew through her
  father some of the most important men of the time
  (William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
• Married (scandal!) Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1816
  and listened intently to his intellectual
  conversations with others

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Mary Shelley

• On a visit in Switzerland with PBS to Lord Byron,
  she was challenged to write a story. She had
  heard Byron and Shelley discussing the nature of
  the principle of life and whether there was any
  chance of its ever being discovered. From this
  conversation, she had the waking dream which
  eventually became the novel Frankenstein.

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Historical Context

• Ambiguous Waltons letters dated 17- with no
  reference to anything specific to pinpoint the
  date.
• It is set in the latter part of the 18th century,
  at the end of the Enlightenment and the beginning
  of the Romantic period.
• It critiques the excesses of the Enlightenment
  and introduces the beliefs of the Romantics.
• Reflects a shift in social and political thought
  from humans as creatures who use science and
  reason to shape and control their destiny to
  humans as creatures who rely on their emotions to
  determine what is right.

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Ideas of the Enlightenment

• Scientific observation of the outer world
• Logic and reason science and technology
• Believed in following standards and traditions
• Appreciated elegance and refinement
• Interested in maintaining the aristocracy
• Sought to follow and validate authority
• Favored a social hierarchy
• Nature should be controlled by humans

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Important Revolutions

• American and French Revolution (call for
  individual freedom and an overthrow of rigid
  social hierarchy)
• Industrial Revolution social system challenged
  by change from agricultural society to industrial
  one with a large, impoverished and restless
  working class

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Characteristics of Romantic Period

• Emphasis on imagination and emotion, individual
  passion and inspiration
• Rejection of formal, upper class works and a
  preference for writing (poetry) that addresses
  personal experiences and emotions in simple,
  language
• A turn to the past or an inner dream world that
  is thought to be more picturesque and magical
  than the current world (industrial age)

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Characteristics of Romantic Period

• Belief in individual liberty rebellious attitude
  against tyranny
• Fascination with nature perception of nature as
  transformative
• Concerned with common people
• Favored democracy
• Desired radical change
• Nature should be untamed

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Style Gothic Novel

• Frankenstein is generally categorized as a Gothic
  novel, a genre of fiction that uses gloomy
  settings and supernatural events to create and
  atmosphere of mystery and terror.
• Shelley adds to her development of the plot the
  use of psychological realism, delving into the
  psyches of the characters in and attempt to
  explain why they react as they do and what drives
  them to make their decisions.

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Structure and Point of View
Frame Story
Epistolary carried by letters
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What to look for

• THEMES
• Dangerous Knowledge-how the ruthless pursuit of
  knowledge can prove dangerous.
• Sublime Nature-the influence of nature on mood.
• Monstrosity-not only of appearance, but also of,
  ambition, and selfishness.
• Secrecy-out of shame and guilt, but also forced
  by appearance.
• IRONY 2 major ones

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What to look for

• SYMBOLS
• White/light
• Water
• Ice
• Lightning
• Nature
• Mountains
• ANTITHESES Contrasts of ideas, characters,
  themes, settings or moods. Example
  Victor/Monster

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What to look for

• ALLUSIONS
• Paradise Lost by John Milton story of mans
  fall from innocence to painful knowledge. Who
  might experience these same feelings?
• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel
  Taylor Coleridge, in which the narrator tells his
  story as a warning and a confession

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• Allusions Continued
• __________________________________________________
  __________________________________________________
  __________________________________
• PROMETHEUS
• Greek rebels against Zeus, steals fire from
  heaven, gives it to man
• Roman shapes man out of clay and manipulates
  him rather than saves him
• Prometheus Unbound
• ? poem by Percy

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Qualities of the Byronic Hero

• Rebel or Renegadethe Bad Boy
• Moody, Dark, and Mysterious
• Sometimes Arrogant or Self-Centered
• Has a guilty secret or past
• Passionate about a certain topic
• Wanderer in Exile Isolated
• Emotional and Intellectual
• Rejects societys values or methods
• The true Byronic Hero rejects morality.

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Andy Dufresne - Shawshank
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GHOST RIDER
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Wed./Thurs., January 28-29, 2009

• Is there anything worth pursuing at all costs?
• If so, what? What are some acceptable risks and
  costs in this pursuit?
• Can you think of any examples, either with a
  positive or negative result?
• In pursuing a passion, why is it extremely
  helpful and necessary to have a friend to turn to?