Mary Shelley and Frankenstein

Mrs. Cumberland

Life and Time of Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley was born Mary Wollstoncraft in 1797

to William Godwin and Mary Wollstoncraft- both

very prominent and liberal writers.

Her mother had written “A Vindication on the Rights of Women,” which was a very

popular feminist work.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Mary spent much of her teen years writing stories in Scotland until

she returned to London at age 16. She met and fell in love with Romantic poet Percy Bysshe

Shelley and became pregnant. The two continued their affair until his estranged wife committed suicide

at which point they married.

They lost all three of their children, and in 1822 Percy

drowned in the Gulf of Spezia in Italy. At the age of 24, she was an

impoverished widow, and she supported herself with her writing.

Frankenstein was

published in 1818

Mary Shelley was 20 years old when Frankenstein was published. It is considered a huge feminist feat because it was written by the female child of a world-renowned early feminist. However, there are very few female characters, and other than Safie ( the wife of one of the cottagers) they are not particularly

strong female roles.

Historical Events 1789: the start of the French Revolution

( an attempt of the French people to ride themselves of their absolute monarchy). British liberals were excited that the common people were standing up to their oppressors, but they quickly became disillusioned when the revolution became very bloody and its leaders quickly became tyrants themselves.

1793-1794 The French Reign of Terror under

Robespierre. British liberals lost all hope for true justice

and equality in that year

1804: Napoleon is crowned Emperor During this whole time, Romantic writers

were turning towards nature as an escape from the harsh realities of their world. Nature was someplace where human tyranny did not reign.

The Romantic Movement

They Romantics were, for the most part, disheartened liberals.

They sought solitude in nature, believing that the key to all emotional healing could be found in nature. Nature imagery is the most predominant feature of Romantic literature.

“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 might 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

The idea of the disenfranchised man was also very common. Such men, who found themselves unable to live in society, were often revered and/or sympathized with. Frankenstein and his creature are both disenfranchised men- the creature because his form keeps him from any human company, and Frankenstein because he eventually feels that he cannot enjoy the company of his fellow men after unleashing a monster among them.

Supernatural Many Romantics ( like Coleridge and both

Shelleys) dealt with the supernatural. One common Romantic trait was making ordinary, everyday things seem wonderful and awe-inspiring. However, some went a step further and dealt with non-natural things. Frankenstein’s creature ( and his

education/life) is not a common thing. It could not possibly be a real thing. Up until 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 LiteratureIt was an offshoot of Romantic literature

Gothic Literature Gothic literature was the predecessor of modern

horror movies in both theme and style.

Gothic literature put a spin on the Romantic idea of nature worship and nature imagery. Along with nature having the power of healing,

Gothic writers gave nature the power of destruction. “Frankenstein” is full of the harsh reality of nature. Many storms arise in the book, including the storms the night the creature comes to life and the night Frankenstein destroys the corpse of the second create in the Irish Sea.

Mood through weather

The most common feature of Gothic literature is the indication of mood through the weather. When bad things are going to happen in a Gothic novel, the reader knows it because there is inevitably a storm outside. This is still true in many books and films.

When Frankenstein is about to encounter his creature in the mountains:

“I quitted my seat and walked on, although the darkness and storm increased every minute and the thunder burst with a terrific crash over my head. It was echoed from Saleve, the Juras, and the Alps of Savory; vivid flashed of lightning dazzled my eyes, illuminating the lake, making it appear like a vast sheet of fire…I perceived in the gloom a figure which stole from behind a clump of trees near me; I stood fixed, gazing intently…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…”.

Victor Frankenstein’s

“Science”

“Elixir of Life” Modern 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.

Prior to the 18th 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.

“Natural Philosophy”

Mary Shelley indicates that Victor is a student of this “Natural philosophy” when she indicates who some of Victor’s early influences were. While 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 eventually was to take.

Cornelius Agrippa Renaissance philosopher and scientist whose works reflect a strong

interest in the occult and ancient, mystical “sciences” of the near East. Writings blend European interpretations of Plato’s philosophy with

Jewish Kabalistic beliefs. His famous work “De incertitudine et vanutate scientiarum” ( the

vanity and uncertainty of the arts and sciences), published in 1527, is a treatise of the occult, as a hidden knowledge that existed in Renaissance Europe and was known to a select few. It is a collection of thoughts on Renaissance magic including topics of astrology and the effect of planetary motion on human events, occult virtues, the natural tendency of certain “elements” to work harmoniously together and others to oppose one another, spells, methods of predicting the future, numerology, and the order of evil spirits.

His ideas have been discredited by later thinkers

Paraclesus Renaissance philosopher and scientist who

introduced a new concept of disease and the use of chemicals rather than herbs to treat diseases.

He 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 disease, one needed to attack this external agent. Alchemy became the means by which the chemical remedies were prepared.

Albertus Magnus Renaissance philosopher and scientist who

advocated the search into the natural causes of things apart from the church’s position that God was the cause of all effects.

This was a radical idea for the time, as most scholars believed that the scriptures were the sole source of all knowledege. Not only did Albertus advocate what we would call today the scientific approach to studying the real world, but he did so in such a way that his ideas were accepted by the Church.

Character Development

Types of Characters Round Character: characters that are fully developed and

multi-dimensional

Flat characters: characters that are based solely on one trait or characteristic.

Dynamic Characters: characters that develop through the course of the story

Static Characters: characters that do NOT develop

Foil: a character who is the opposite of another character used to shed light upon the character of the latter.

Catalyst: a character ( or event) that starts a chain of events.

Static Characters Frankenstein Family, Elizabeth and Justine

Used as the reason for Victor’s revenge. They exist only to be killed by the monster ( or killed by society), thus giving Victor motivation he needs to rid the world of the monster.

Henry Clerval Used as another reason for Victor’s revenge. He is

also a foil for Victor by showing how scientific and, often, un-Romantic Victor is. Henry is Shelley’s way of showing how life could be for Victor if he was not given to his passion for science.

Static Characters Robert Walton: is Shelley’s device that allows Victor to

tell his story. Just as Victor uses him to be the scribe of his story. Shelley uses him to be the reason the story is told.

M. Waldman: is purely a catalyst for Victor to return to natural philosophy and continue his creation.

The Cottagers: are the means through which the creature learns how to speak ( so he can tell his story) and how to “socialize” They are the singlemost important factor in making the creature long for human company, and then for his feeling of utter despair that drives him to murder.

Dynamic Character: Frankenstein

Very complex character

Because of the inverted time sequence ( the bulk of the novel is a flashback and a flashback written within a flashback) his character in the book is not in the same sequence as in real life.

He evolves from being a happy and loving child with a love of knowledge, to a science-obsessed youth, to a broken man

The various sorrows he endures, sense of guilt for having created such a murderous being wear on him until he is prematurely aged and sickly.

Feels ignorance is bliss. Victor carries the moral of the story

Creature Begins his life as a tabula rasa ( clean slate)

Has no history, no family, nothing to help determine who he would become.

Only develops personality through books

Learns loneliness and rejection ( by Frankenstein and cottagers)

The people he encounters and their meanness toward him teach him meanness.

Becomes what society makes him

The creature is Shelly’s warning to the reader.

Literary Allusions A writer’s comparison of his or her

characters to character in other well-known works of literature.

The value of allusion lies in its ability to garner much information in only a title or a character name.

By alluding to a work with which everyone is familiar, all of the connotations of the one work are transferred to the new one.

Allusions within Milton’s Paradise Lost and the biblical

account of Adam and Eve Shelley wanted the idea of being cast out as

a horrible thing. “But Paradise Lost excited different and far

deeper emotions. I read it…as a true history. It moved every feeling of wonder and awe, that the picture of an omnipotent God warring with his creatures was capable of exciting. I often referred the several situations, as their similarity struck me, to my own…”

Subtitle of “The Modern Prometheus”

Prometheus was a Greek god who was in charge of giving out gifts to the various creature on Earth. He gave out speed and instinct and such. By the time he got to mankind, he was out of gifts. He decided to go against his orders and gave man fire ( symbolic of knowledge). The other gods were angered by his disobedience. His 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.

The NovelChapter Summaries

Prologue The novel begins with a series of letters in which the

narrator of the novel is writing his thoughts and plans to his sister.

Robert Walton is attempting to be the first person to sail to and reach the North Pole. He is pursuing this goal for personal gain and glory. He is not concerned with the possible cost in the suffering of his crew or even the benefits it will provide to mankind. He is Romantic because he listens to his heart instead of

his mind. He is concerned with the individual, focusing on his subjective experiences. He is irrational, imaginative, and emotional

Walton’s letters indicate a belief that humankind ( via science) can and will ultimately conquer nature, contrary to the Romantic belief that Nature was ultimately unknowable and unconquerable.

Frankenstein fears Walton is doomed to make the same tragic mistakes he has made. He is trying to keep Walton from the same trap he fell into with the pursuit of knowledge.

Chapters 1 and 2 Frankenstein’s birth and family

His family is devoted to their children

Victor is curious to learn the hidden laws of nature. Elizabeth delights in the appearance of things while he investigates their causes.

Chapters 3 and 4 Victor’s mother contracts the disease that

kills her by caring for and eventually saving Elizabeth.

Victor likes that science offers the opportunity for limitless learning while it is possible to exhaust the knowledge of other disciplines.

Victor hesitates to make a creature like man because he originally though that the body frame would be too laborious to make. However, his pride and ego convince him to try

Victor shares a moral with Walton: Nothing, no study or pursuit, is more important than relationships with others, The fact that his study of science and his creation drew him away from appreciating the beauty of Nature around him was a crime against Nature.

Chapters 5 and 6 Victor’s creature is grotesque.

Dr. Frankenstein has disgust when he sees his creature and runs from the room.

Victor is repulsed by the creature’s physical ugliness, but the true horror is in the fact that he has overstepped his bounds as a human being.

Victor’s fever is brought on by nervousness he feels about his creature but he begins to heal when he sees the beauty in nature- the sky, flowers, the smile of children ( Romantic idea)

Chapter 7 and 8 Letters: way 1st person narrator relates

information

Encounter with the creature ends when thunder ends

Chapters 9 and 10 Victor doesn’t kill himself because he has

an obligation to watch the monster. He is afraid the creature will commit crimes against his father and brother

The creature says misery made him a fiend. Romantics believed that people were essentially good and that evil was introduced into the world by social mistreatment.

Creature claims Victor owes it protection and regard that a creator owes its creation

Chapters 11 and 12 The creature is telling his story to Victor,

who is telling the story to Walton, who is writing the story in a letter to his sister.

The creature is surprise that fire can warm him and burn him. The positive and negative consequences of the fire relate to Prometheus and the positive and negative consequences of knowledge.

The creature hopes his ability to speak will enable the cottagers to look past his appearance.

Shelley discredits the science of physiognomy, the belief that goodness or evil could be read in a person’s appearance through the creature

The creature instinctively likes the cottagers, helps to make their lives easier

Chapters 13 and 14 We learn that the creature is capable of

changing as a result of his experiences and he is isolated by society due to his appearance.

The creature learns a lot about murder and evil by studying society, otherwise he would never have known how to “murder”

Chapters 15 and 16 The creature finds the diary of his creation.

He is angry that his creator made him so ugly and alone, which made him sad.

The creature introduces himself to the cottagers : the blind man is kind and understanding, however, those that can see force him away. Though angry, he is not ready to give up. Admits his anger was so great he could have

burned down the cottage and killed them but he doesnt

When the creature returns, he sees they have fled. He goes into a rage and burns down the cottage

He decides to go to Geneva to find his creator

Chapters 17 and 18 The creatures loneliness and isolation are

the causes of its wickedness

Debate over a companion: creature says when given the chance for happiness, its good nature will resurface; Victor refuses to make a female because he is afraid that the two creatures would destroy the world

Chapters 19 and 20 Reasons for not creating a 2nd creature:

The female creature might be more evil than the first

The female would have the 1st creature to help her form thoughts and feelings

She might reject the first creature They might make a new race

Chapters 21 and 22 Henry Clerval has been murdered, and Victor is

accused because witnesses saw a single man in a boat leaving the scene. The boat resembles the one in which Victor has come ashore.

Victor is doomed while his friends die he remains alive; watching everything he loves being destroyed is worse than death. Victor believes the creature means to kill

The creature desires companionship, therefore, the creature will do all he can to deprive Victor of companionship.

Chapters 23 and 24 The creature is delighted to murder Elizabeth

( Victor’s love)

The creature wants Victor to live. Life without all he once held dear is more painful to Victor than death would be, and the creature wants him to feel pain

Walton’s decision to abort his mission and return home establishes the theme of the failed Romantic quest

Victor cannot narrate his own death so the letters function as the narrator here.

Victor as Tragic Hero

Victor is of noble birth and has noble aspirations

He thinks and feels intensely

He has passionate aspirations

The actions that result in his downfall and death are intended for good, but he does not clearly consider or understand their true consequences

He feels intense suffering during his downfall

He has a blind spot that allows him to commit errors in both action and judgment

His errors, and the resultant suffering spread to those around him

He dies as a result of his actions

Victor as Romantic Hero

He is an individual of high birth with stronger-than-normal passions

He has a deep appreciation of the rugged beauty of nature and finds both relief and inspiration in the mountains and lakes of Switzerland

He feels deeply.

Strives to be Godlike

He ultimately fails in this quest He departs from the form of the typical Romantic Hero in that he

discourages other extra human endeavors, encouraging Walton to return home to a “normal” life and avoid disillusionment and ruin.