FRANKENSTEIN

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FRANKENSTEIN

• BY MARY SHELLEY

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Who was Mary Shelley?

• Born in 1797 to 2 leading intellectuals Mary
  Wollstonecraft and William Godwin
• Married Percy Shelley at the age of 16
• At the age of 18 she wrote Frankenstein The
  Modern Prometheus
• Frankenstein is the greatest example of British
  Romanticism in the novel form

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Shelleys Tragedies

• She gave birth to 4 children in 5 years. 3 of
  them died in infancy
• Shelley lost her husband in a boating accident
  after only 8 years of marriage
• Critics say that Frankenstein is greatly
  influenced by the themes of Birth and Death

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What is Romanticism?

• Romanticism is a reaction to the Age of Reason

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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

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What is Romanticism?

• Romanticism is also a rejection of Classicism
• the precepts of order, calm, harmony, balance,
  idealization, and rationality (logos!) were
  replaced with the subjective, the irrational, the
  imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the
  emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental
  (pathos!)

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What did the Romantics Believe?
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The Natural World

• That the beauty of nature should be studied
• That trying to control was dangerous
• That nature provides solace or comfort to the
  individual

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Natural World Contd

• In the novel, Roberts attempt to conquer the sea
  and Victors scientific experiments reveal mans
  attempt to control or exploit the natural world

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The Individual

• Romanticism favored the idea
• of the Individual
• This Individual is Percy Bysshe Shelley, Marys
  husband!

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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 . . .

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The Supernatural !!!

• Which leads us to
• The Gothic Novel!

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The Gothic Novel
The Gothic novel took shape mostly in England
from 1790 to 1830 and falls within the category
of Romantic literature.
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The Gothic Novel

• The Gothic is far from limited to this set time
  period, as it takes its roots from former
  terrorizing writing that dates back to the Middle
  Ages, and can still be found written today by
  writers such as Stephen King

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The Gothic Novel

• Gothic novel could be seen as a description of a
  fallen world.
• We experience this fallen world though all
  aspects of the novel plot, setting,
  characterization, and theme.
• This leads us to the Gothic Hero . . .

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No! Not these kinds of goths!
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Gothic Archetypes

• Gothic Hero isolated either voluntarily or
  involuntarily
• Villian epitome of evil, either by his (usually
  a man) 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

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What the book isnt
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Themes in the book
(((A more realistic Creature!
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Dangerous Knowledge

• Should we fool around with Nature?
• Are there laws (Gods Laws) that are off limits
  to humanity?
• Prometheus Myth He stole fire from the Gods for
  humans. He was punished for eternity by being
  tied to a rock and having a vulture eat his liver
  every morning

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Nothing In Excess

• Stressed importance of leading balanced and
  moderate lifestyle
• During Shelleys time, people were struggling to
  adjust to the Industrial Age
• In our time, we struggle to balance our humanity
  with our dependence on technology

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Sublime Nature

• Throughout the novel, pay attention to how the
  characters are influenced by the natural world.
• Also note Shelleys long descriptions of the
  natural world. This is classic Romanticism!