By Mary Shelley

Frankenstein

Mary ShelleyWrote Frankenstein

when she was only 18Published

anonymouslyBoth parents were

famous writers.Marriage to Percy

Shelley, a famous poet “Romantic beyond

romance.”

Galvanism

Distrust of Technology/Science

The Summer of 1816-Lake Geneva (near the Swiss Alps)

Romantic PeriodA passion for human emotionThe belief that all humans are

innately goodThe advocacy of free thoughtThe idea that comfort is found in

healing elements of natureAn opposition to political authority

and social conventionA strong sense of human

individualityA belief in the supernaturalThe use of the morbid and

grotesque

Gothic NovelThe use of intense emotionThe evocation of fearUsing weather to depict a character’s moodUse of specific vocabulary (melancholy,

wretched, etc.)Giving nature the power to destroy

Ambiguity of Good and EvilVictor as God,

creator of monsterVictor as similar to

his creation, a “monster” because of his actions

Monster as the biblical Adam because Adam was the 1st creation, and was thrown out of Paradise, and so was the monster

Monster as a satanic representation because Satan, banned from heaven, vows revenge on God, just as the monster vows revenge on Victor

Contrasting ElementsIsolationLightDayHandsome

VSMaleScienceKnowledge

CompanionshipDarkNightUglyFemalePhilosophyIgnorance

Mary Shelley originally did not name the novel, Frankenstein.

She was very literate and well-versed in classics.

Allusions to Greek mythology.Allusions to famous literary works:

Milton Paradise LostRomantic Poets

Coleridge “Kubla Khan”Coleridge “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner”

The Modern Prometheus

Letters 1-4 (EPISTOLARY STYLE, FRAME STORY)Written by Robert Walton in 1700s.Addressed to his sister, Margaret Saville.Arctic explorer (passage to North Pole)Wants to find the “secret of the magnet”Ship surrounded by ice, witnesses a dog

sledge and a gigantic man The next morning the ice breaks, and he

rescues a stranger stranded on a piece of iceThis man is Victor Frankenstein (who then

narrates chapters 1-24).

Robert WaltonEXCITED for his expedition “I feel my heart glow

with an enthusiasm which elevates me to heaven, for nothing contributes so much to tranquillise the mind as a steady purpose…” (10)

LONELY “but I bitterly feel the want of a friend. I have no one near me, gentle yet courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as of a capacious mind, whose tastes are like my own, to approve or amend my plans.” (13)

COMPASSIONATE towards Victor “I should have been happy to have possessed as the brother of my heart.” (22)

THEMESIs knowledge empowering or destructive?Is a creator obligated to his or her creation,

even if the creation is hateful and destructive?

Does society create a monster through prejudice and hate?

Is revenge justified at all costs?Do “people’s” formative years dictate what

they become? Do they have hope of redemption once their personalities form?

“His limbs were nearly frozen, and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering. I never saw a man in so wretched a condition.” (20)

“You may easily perceive, Captain Walton, that I have suffered great and unparalleled misfortunes. I had determined, at one time, that the memory of these evils should die with me; but you have won me to alter my determination.” (23)

“You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did…you may deduce an apt MORAL from my tale…” (23)

Victor Frankenstein