Frankenstein

1
Frankenstein

• Introduction to the novel and other such
  excitements

2
About the Author

• Mary Shelley was the daughter of famed feminist
  Mary Wollstencraft and political writer and
  social reformer William Godwin.
• Eloped with a married man, Percy Bysshe Shelley
  and lived with him on the European continent
  until his first wife died and they could marry.
• Considered heir to the literary legacy left by
  both her parents and her husband.

3
What were her influences?

• Other Romantic writers of the time such as
  William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and
  Charles Lamb.
• Davys Elements of Chemical Philosophy
• An influential scientist of the day, Davy, a
  family friend, worked with galvanism, the science
  of healing and rekindling life via electrical
  current.
• Gothic movement, which evolved from Romantic
  movement but with a stronger focus on
  philosophical questions like the quest of man to
  achieve perfection.

4
Origins of the Novel

• Result of a story writing competition between the
  Shelleys and Lord Byron, a famous poet of the
  time.
• Shelley claimed that the book came to her in a
  dream.
• First novel of its kind, considered by many to be
  the first Science Fiction novel ever.
• Also filled with Shelleys concerns from her
  upbringing, such as civic responsibility,
  religion and scientific exploration.

5
Lasting Impact

• Most famous representation of the novel is the
  1931 film version.
• Boris Karloff
• Bolts and nuts version of Frankensteins monster
• Misreading of text--monster has name in movie,
  but is never named in text.

6
Essential Questions

• What is right and wrong?
• What role does context play on the ethical
  situations?
• How does fulfilled or failed obligation/
  responsibilities motivate characters?

7
Themes and Devices

• Characterization
• Technique used to create character/personality
• Flat and Round Characters
• Static and Dynamic Characters
• Point of view
• 1st Person Reliability of Narrator

8

• Letters (Epistolary Novel)
• Allows for other perspectives to be shared within
  the context of the 1st person narration
• Creates the frame of the story
• Dr. Frankenstein in the present
• Dr. Frankensteins memories
• Dr. Frankensteins filter on the letters and the
  monsters tale.

9

• Allusion
• Paradise Lost
• Rime of the Ancient Mariner
• Bible
• Myth of Prometheus
• Magical Realism
• Rhetorical structure--allows story to be
  presented pragmatically
• Scientific Context
• Alchemy
• Reanimation

10

• Imagery
• What is the purpose for the images presented?
• How is the monster presented/described?
• Setting
• City vs.. Countryside

11

• Gothic Horror
• Scientifically based
• Discussion of the paradox between mans role in
  the universe and natural world.
• Romanticism
• Idealism
• Idealized view of the natural world
• Extremes of emotion

12
Scientific Ideas to consider

• According to Pamintuan, In the 19th century,
  scientific probing of the limits of life and
  death belied optimism about discovering the
  secrets of immortality.
• What modern issues reflect that sentiment?
• When or how has Science gone too far or not far
  enough?
• Atomic Bomb
• Stem Cell Research
• Cloning
• Euthanasia