FRANKENSTEIN

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FRANKENSTEIN

• By Mary Shelley

Put your pens down. This will be available on
the Wiki!
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Opening Questions

• Are scientists morally bound to ensure their
  discoveries are not destructive?
• What are the consequences of excessive pride?
• How do we explain societys pursuit of beauty and
  rejection of ugliness?
• Are acts of revenge justifiable? Why or why not?
• List the responsibilities of parents and
  children.
• Who are the outcasts in our society?

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Mary Shelley

• Born in 1797 to William Godwin, an influential
  political philosopher and novelist, and Mary
  Wollstonecraft, a pioneer in promoting womens
  rights and education
• Her mother died ten days after Mary was born
• Although Shelley never knew her mother, she was
  influenced throughout her life by her mothers
  writings (and reputation), including A
  Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792)
• Mary did not receive any formal education, but
  her father encouraged her to read from a
  well-stocked library

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Mary Shelley

• The Godwin household was a place of lively
  intellectual conversation, and many writers
  visited Godwin to talk about philosophy,
  politics, science, and literature.
• When Mary was nine, she and her stepsister hid
  under the sofa to hear Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  recite his poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
• This popular poem later influenced Mary as she
  developed her ideas for Frankenstein
• The poet, Percy Shelley, was one of her fathers
  frequent visitors. When Mary was sixteen, she and
  Shelley eloped to France.

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Mary Shelley

• Percy Shelley was, at the time, still married to
  his first wife, and the father of two small
  children. Their scandalous act was not approved
  of by English society.
• They married in 1817, just a few weeks after
  Shelleys first wife committed suicide. They
  lived together for 8 years, until Percys
  untimely death in a boating accident.
• She had 4 children in 5 years, three of whom died
  as infants.
• In the summer of 1816, they were neighbors to
  Lord Byron in Switzerland. Mary was challenged
  to write a ghost story.

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Mary Shelley

• Four days later, she did not have an idea. But
  then she heard Byron and Shelley discussing the
  probability of using electricity to create life
  artificially, according to a theory called
  galvanism.
• From this conversation, she had the waking
  dream which eventually became the novel
  Frankenstein.

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MARY SHELLEY 1797-1851
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INTROCUDING THE NOVEL

• The novel takes place in the late 1700s in
  various parts of Europe, especially Switzerland,
  Germany, and in the Arctic.
• It was published in 1818, at the height of the
  Romantic movement.
• The Romantic movement, which lasted from about
  1798 to 1832, was a reaction to the period known
  as The Enlightenment, which emphasized reason and
  logic.
• The novel reflects a shift in social and
  political thought as writers of the Romantic
  period valued emotions and imagination.

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Did you know?

• In the early 1800s, scientists were on the verge
  of discovering the potential of electricity
• In the 1780s, Luigi Galvani, a professor of
  anatomy in Bologna, Italy, used a machine that
  could produce electrical sparks to conduct
  experiments on animal tissue.
• He concluded that animal tissue contained
  electricity in the form of a fluid.
• Galvanis theory of animal electricity was
  proven incorrect, but he did prove muscle
  contraction in response to an electrical
  stimulus.
• In the novel, Frankenstein learns of the
  controversial theory of galvanism.

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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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Major Characters

• Victor Frankenstein protagonist, product of an
  idealistic Enlightenment education fueled by
  possibilities of science and a desire for
  acclaim becomes obsessed with creating life from
  spare body parts.

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More Major Characters

• The Creature - never named is Victors
  doppelganger (alter ego) Creature rationally
  analyzes the society that rejects him
  sympathetic character, admires people and wants
  to be a part of human society only results in
  violence when he is repeatedly rejected

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And Some More!

• Henry Clerval Victors childhood friend, he is
  a true romantic who wants to leave a mark on the
  world. He never loses sight of the moral
  relations of things.
• Elizabeth adopted as an infant by Victors
  family. She marries Victor and then.
• Robert Walton Arctic explorer whos obsessed
  with gaining knowledge and fame. He rescues
  Victor in the Arctic. He tells us the story

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YOUR TURN

• When the novel opens, an explorer named Robert
  Walton is organizing an expedition through the
  Arctic.
• What do you think spurs people to explore the
  unknown?
• List the ways in which people throughout the ages
  explored the unkown. Identify some reasons why
  individuals devote themselves to exploration and
  discovery.

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Were almost done! But here is one more thing to
consider.

• In the opening letters which set the stage for
  the novel, Walton refers to the narrative poem
  The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel
  Taylor Coleridge.
• The narrator of the poem tells the story of a
  horrific sea voyage that changed his life he
  tells the story as a warning and confession.
• Waltons comments about the poem are examples of
  allusions. An allusion is a reference to a
  written work, and writers use this device to add
  insights to the story.

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HOMEWORK! ?

• Read Preface and Letters 1-4 for next class
• Prepare the response questions to be discussed
  with the class and/or your Literature Circle
• Here is the Journal Topic for the week Following
  Waltons example in the story, write a letter to
  a friend about a meaningful personal experience
  in detail and reflect on the meaning of that
  experience.

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• THE END.