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The Context of Frankenstein

The Context of Frankenstein. Alison Aitken, 2012. Mary Shelley. Born 1797 Died 1851 Wrote Frankenstein 1816 Published 1818. Image source: http://alextrenoweth.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/mary-shelley1.jpg. Mary Shelley’s Parents.

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The Context of Frankenstein

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  1. The Context of Frankenstein Alison Aitken, 2012

  2. Mary Shelley • Born 1797 • Died 1851 • Wrote Frankenstein 1816 • Published 1818 Image source: http://alextrenoweth.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/mary-shelley1.jpg

  3. Mary Shelley’s Parents • Mary Shelley described (accurately) that she was the “daughter of two persons of distinguished literary celebrity” • Two of the most radical writers/thinkers of the previous generation • Mother: Mary Wollestonecraft • Father: William Godwin

  4. Shelley’s mother Mary Wollstonecraft • Wrote The Vindication of the Rights of Women • Early feminist piece • “I do not wish [women] to have power over men; but over themselves.” • “Make women rational creatures, and free citizens, and they will quickly become good wives; — that is, if men do not neglect the duties of husbands and fathers.” • Died 11 days after Mary Shelley’s birth. • Had an illegitimate child • Believed in sexual freedom of women Image source: http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/resources/images/1071170/?type=display

  5. Mary Shelley’s Father William Godwin • Wrote An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793) • A leader in radical intellectual circles • Believed in human perfectibility and enlightenment • Believed that governments, marriage, property monopoly and monarchy restrained the progress of humankind Image source: http://www.utilitarian.net/godwin.jpg

  6. William Godwin – cont’d • After Mary Wollstonecraft’s death, Godwin raised Mary Shelley and her half-sister. • Despite his alleged coldness, he surrounded his children with: • Extensive library • Intellectual conversations • Creative intellectuals

  7. The Enlightenment – The Age of Reason • Human perfectibility • “The proper employment of reason will result in the full achievement of human potential." • Progress • Scientific and mathematical discoveries • The innate goodness of man – “benevolent heart” • Logic • Reason • Research and science over God and church

  8. The Enlightenment – The Age of Reason • Scientific method • Rationality • Discovery • Astronomy • Darwin’s Theory of Evolution • Order • Concern for peace • Beginnings of Industrialisation • Measurement • Interest in the past, antiquity • World was expanding – geographical discoveries (EG. Australia!) • Growth of international trade • Imperialism • Colonisation • Published media = • Masses interested in science, alchemy, philosophy, natural history…

  9. Romanticism • Began in 18th century • Response to the “reason” of The Enlightenment. • A movement in literature and other arts • Art (not science or reason) as way to inner truths of life, one’s soul • Nature as “sublime” • Hatred of industrialisation • Response to rationalism of the Enlightenment • Strong emotion as authentic source of aesthetic experience • Intuition, imagination, feeling • Listen: Tintern Abbey - http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/arts/romantics/audio/mp3/wordsworth_tintern_abbey.mp3

  10. Galvanism • Luigi Galvani • Italian physicist/physician • Late 18th century • Discovered that an electrical current applied to a dead frog’s leg caused it to twitch • Caused others to theorise that enough current (either by electrical current or chemical reaction) to the brain might “re-animate” a human corpse Image sourced 19/01/12 at http://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB:Luigi_galvani.jpg

  11. Shelley Surrounded by Creative Intellectuals of the Time • William Wordsworth &Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Poets who began the Romantic movement) • William Hazlitt (Major Essayist in English Literature) • Mary Shelley heard their conversations! Images sourced from: 1) http://www.searchbeat.com/bookshop/index.php?psps_search=William+Wordsworth 2) http://www.english.ucla.edu/faculty/fburwick/bibweb.html 3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:William_Hazlitt_self-portrait_(1802).jpg

  12. The French Revolution • Radical social and political upheaval • Aim: end to aristocracy and monarchy • Liberty, Fraternity, Equality! • At first - English and others looked to the French model for inspiration, but later, as the horror took shape, became fearful of similar chaos

  13. Gothic Fiction • Popular art form – Late 18th century • Settings: castles, dungeons, secret passages • Omens, phenomena, portents, dreams, visions • Supernatural elements – ghosts, hauntings • High emotions – often overwrought • Mystery, doom, gloomy, foreboding • Metonymy (something standing for something else) of horror – wind, rain • Panic, threatening atmosphere, terror, • Sentimental narration • Breathless, heart pounding • Female heroine, without male protector – oppressed or lonely • Heroine often threatened by powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male to do something they don’t want to (reflects patriarchal context, women without power) • Footsteps approaching, groaning, maniacal laughter, thunder, lightning, ruins, howling winds etc.. Info sourced on 19/01/12 from http://www.virtualsalt.com/gothic.htm To read The Castle of Otronto, the “first” Gothic novel, click here.

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