FRANKENSTEIN

Mary Shelley - Introduction

LIFE AND TIMES M

ary Shelley was born Mary

Wollstonecraft in 1797 to William

Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft—

both very prominent, liberal writers.

M

ary’s mother, a pioneer in promoting

women’s rights and education, died

shortly after giving birth to her

daughter; however, she remained a

strong influence on the young girl

through her writings and reputation.

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

G

rowing up, Mary was surrounded

by lively intellectual conversation

as her home was frequented by

writers.

A

t age 16, she met and fell in love

with Romantic poet Percy Bysshe

Shelley, a friend of her father’s.

ROMANTIC BEYOND ROMANCE

I

n 1816, Mary and Percy eloped. A life that she termed

“romantic beyond romance”, Mary and Percy lived happily

for eight years until his tragic death in 1822. This time was

not without tragedy as Shelley gave birth to four children

and three died as infants.

A

t the age of 24, she was an

impoverished widow, and she

supported herself, her son

and father with her writing.

S

helley 1st published

Frankenstein in 1818

anonymously but republished

again in 1831 after writing its

introduction.

ROMANTIC MOVEMENT

The Romantics or

The Disheartened Liberals

SOLITUDE OF NATURE

•S

ought solitude in nature– Key to emotional healing– Nature imagery is a predominant feature

“The weather was fine: it was about the middle of August...The weight upon my spirit was sensibly lightened as I plunged into the precipices that overhung me on every side—the sound of the river raging among the rocks, and the dashing of the waterfalls around, spoke of a power mighty as Omnipotence—and I ceased to fear, or to bend before any less almighty than that which had created and ruled the elements...”.

DISENFRANCHISED MEN

T

he idea of the disenfranchised man was very common.

T

hey were:• unable to live in society• often revered and/or sympathized with

• The creature: his form keeps him from any human company.• Victor Frankenstein: he eventually feels that he cannot enjoy

the company of his fellow men after unleashing a monster among them.

THE SUPERNATURAL

T

o make the ordinary seem wonderful and awe-

inspiring.• Some dealt with non-natural things

• The creature, as well as his education and life, could not be real.

• Prior to the Romantic era, writers wrote fiction that read as though it could possibly be real—and was often taken for truth. • Frankenstein cannot be misconstrued as real.

GOTHIC LITERATUREStems from Romantic Literature

and Predecessor of the

Modern Horror Movie

GOTHIC CONNECTION TO NATURE

P

ut a spin on the idea of nature worship and imagery• Nature still has the power to heal• Gave nature the power of destruction

• Many storms arise in the book, including the storm on the night the creature comes to life, as well as other intense moments in the text.

MOOD AND WEATHER

M

ost common feature of Gothic literature:• Using the weather to indicate mood• The reader knows when something bad is going to

happen• “A flash of lightning illuminated the object, and

discovered its shape plainly to me; it’s gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity.”

THE MAKING OF FRANKENSTEIN• On 19 March

1815 Shelley recorded in her journal, after the death of her first child: "Dream that my little baby came to life again--that it had only been cold & that we rubbed it before the fire & it lived."

BYRON’S CHALLENGE• In the summer of

1816, Percy and Mary visit Lord Byron’s estate in France.

• The summer of 1816 had fall like weather because a massive volcano in Indonesia spewed ash around the world.

• Because of the gloomy weather, Byron issued a challenge to his guests to create the best horror story.

THE PUBLISHING OF FRANKENSTEIN• At Byron’s estate,

Mary has a dream about a man who plans to bring life to the dead.

• She turns her idea into a story and is encouraged by her husband to turn the story into a novel.

• In 1818, Shelley publishes the novel at the age of 19.

CENTRAL CHARACTERS

The Creature/Monster,

Victor Frankenstein, Robert Walton, Elizabeth Lavenza,

and Henry Clerval

Victor Frankenstein

H

e tells Robert Walton his life story,

one which includes collecting

dead body parts and bringing a

creature/monster to life, a

monster who wreaks vengeance

on his creator for abandoning him

and leaving him alone.

Creature

V

ictor's creation is referred to as the

monster or the demon. He is created

on a dark, dreary night in November.

T

he novel opens with letters

from Robert Walton to his

sister. It is through these

letters that Walton narrates

the tale of Dr. Frankenstein.

H

enry is Victor's best friend and

follows him to Ingolstadt to help

Victor recover from an illness.

Robert Walton

Henry Clerval

E

lizabeth is adopted by the

Frankenstein family and

raised to be the wife of

Victor. She represents all

that is beautiful to Victor.

She is the antithesis of

the monster he creates.

Elizabeth Lavenza Frankenstein

MINOR CHARACTERS

J

ustine Moritz - Justine comes to live with the Frankenstein

family and cares for the dying

Mrs. Frankenstein.

T

he De Lacey Family - The monster observes a family in a cottage

in the forest and becomes their secret helper. He befriends the

blind Mr. De Lacey in hopes that his kindness will serve as a

bridge to the rest of the family.

A

lphonso Frankenstein - Victor's father unwittingly encourages

Victor's study of science by a disparaging remark regarding

Cornelius Agrippa.

M

argaret Saville - Mrs. Saville is the audience for Robert Walton's tale.

C

aroline Beaufort Frankenstein - The daughter of Alphonso's close friend

is left in poverty at her father's death. Alphonso takes care of Caroline and

marries her a couple years later.

W

illiam Frankenstein - Victor's youngest brother, murdered by the monster.

P

rofessors Krempe and Waldman - Two professors at Ingolstadt who

influence Frankenstein's work.

LITERARY ALLUSIONS

Paradise Lost, Prometheus, and

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

LITERARY ALLUSIONS

A

llows the reader to garner information in only a title or a

character name.

A

ll of the connotations of the one work are transferred to

the new one.• Shelley uses many allusions, referring mostly to Milton’s

Paradise Lost and the biblical account of Adam and Eve.

T

his story is one that is well known in

Western culture, especially Milton’s

version.

S

helley wanted to bring the back story of

Paradise Lost to Frankenstein.

S

he presented the idea of the proud and

inquisitive creature being cast out, as well

as the idea that being cast out was a

horrible thing.

THE CREATION OF ADAM AND EVE

THE MONSTER AND ADAM

•T

he monster appeals to Frankenstein's sympathy by comparing himself to

Adam:– "Oh Frankenstein, be not equitable to every other and trample upon me

alone, to whom thy justice, and even thy clemency and affection, is most due. Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel.”

•T

he monster's petition evokes sympathy, highlighting the guilt of his

creator.

•I

f Frankenstein would only have loved his creation, the tragedy could

have been avoided.

VICTOR IS GODLIKE

• The monster reminds Victor, once again, of his duty. Victor had become as a god, and must therefore act with mercy.

• The monster brings up Eve to emphasize his loneliness and to preface his request for a mate.• "But it was all a dream; no Eve soothed my sorrows nor

shared my thoughts; I was alone. I remembered Adam's supplication to his Creator. But where was mine?”

VICTOR AS ADAM

T

he roles are reversed. Here Dr. Frankenstein compares

himself to Adam.

T

he monster's desire to make Victor as miserable as he is

approaching completion.• “Sweet and beloved Elizabeth! I read and re-read her letter,

and some softened feelings stole into my heart and dared to whisper paradisiacal dreams of love and joy; but the apple was already eaten.”

•P

rometheus was a

Greek god who was in

charge of giving out

gifts to the various

creatures on Earth.

GREEK MYTH: PROMETHEUS

PROMETHEUS

•H

e gave out speed and instinct and such, but by the time he got to mankind, he was out of

gifts.

•H

e decided to go against his orders and gave man fire (symbolic of knowledge).

•T

he other gods were angered by his disobedience (partly because now man was too godlike).

•P

rometheus’ punishment was that he was chained to a rock. Every day a vulture came and

devoured his liver. Every night the liver grew back to be devoured the next day.

•I

n several obvious ways, this ancient Greek story is very closely connected to Frankenstein.

VICTOR AS PROMETHEUS

•T

he full title of the novel, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus,

emphasizes the theme of Victor as an over-reacher, one who

ascends further than his ability.

•I

n Greek mythology, Prometheus created man. As a modern

Prometheus, Victor creates a new species.

•M

uch like Prometheus suffers eternally, so must Victor Frankenstein.

C

oleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" tells the

story of an ancient mariner who kills an albatross

and brings upon himself and his ship's crew a

curse.

T

he ancient mariner travels the world, unburdening

his soul, telling his story to whomever needs to

hear it. Shelley alludes to the poem several times.

RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER

VICTOR AS THE ANCIENT MARINER

•R

obert Walton in Frankenstein is similar to the Wedding Guest from

"Rime of the Ancient Mariner," with Victor Frankenstein playing the

role of the mariner.

•A

s the mariner feels compelled to share his story to one who needs to

hear it, so does Victor.

•T

he explicit theme in "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," that love conquers

all, is a clue as to how the tragedy that occurs in Frankenstein's life

could have been avoided.

VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN’S SCIENCE

M

odern readers are often puzzled by Victor’s approach to discovering

the “elixir of life” in that he does not seem to perform scientific

experiments as much as read books.

P

rior to the eighteenth century, what we call “science” and what we

call “philosophy” were essentially the same disciplines. The study of

nature and the desire to know how nature functions eventually came

to be called “natural philosophy,” but the quest for such knowledge

was still more what we would consider philosophical than scientific.

M

ary Shelley indicates that Victor is a student of this “natural

philosophy” when she indicates who some of Victor’s early

influences were. • Cornelius Agrippa• Paracelsus• Albertus Magnus• Roger Bacon

W

hile admitting that many of these men’s theories had been

discredited, Victor still admits that it was they who largely set

him on the course he was eventually to take.

Victor’s Influences

A

Renaissance philosopher and scientist whose

works reflect a strong interest in the occult and

ancient, mystical “sciences” of the near East

H

is famous work “De incertitudine et vanitate

scientiarum” (the vanity and uncertainty of the

arts and sciences), published in 1527, is a

collection of thoughts on Renaissance.

I

n terms of “real science,” his ideas have all but

been discredited by later thinkers and by the

processes of observation and experimentation.

CORNELIUS AGRIPPA

I

ntroduced a new concept of disease and the use of chemicals

rather than herbs to treat diseases.

P

aracelsus asserted that diseases were caused by external

agents attacking the body, contrary to the then-traditional

idea of disease as an internal upset of the balance of the

body’s humors (yellow bile, black bile, blood and phlegm). To

cure the disease, one needed to attack this external agent.

Alchemy became the means by which the chemical remedies

were prepared. Thus, Paracelsus changed the emphasis of

the alchemy from chasing the mythological “Elixir of Life” or

“Philosopher’s Stone,” to making medicines.

PARACELSUS

A

dvocated the search into the natural causes of things apart from the

church’s position that God was the cause of all effects.

I

n one of his most famous works Albertus wrote: “The aim of natural

science is not simply to accept the statements of others, but to

investigate the causes that are at work in nature.” This was a radical

idea for the time, as most scholars believed that the scriptures were

the sole source of all knowledge.

ALBERTUS MAGNUS

R

oger Bacon was an even stronger

advocate of experimental science

than was Albertus but did not feel

compelled to reconcile his

scientific theories with Church

doctrine.

ROGER BACON