f r a n k e n s t e i n

1. frankenstein

2. Mary Shelley • Born to radicals • Mother- Mary Wollstonecraft, feminist writer, A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) which drew attention to women’s second class status • Father- William Godwin, ex-minister, atheist, influential writer (politics, morality); name became associated with truth, justice and liberty • Both influence by French Revolution • Both anti-marriage, but did wed when Mary became pregnant • Mother died of septicemia (blood poisoning) after Mary’s birth • Father remarried • Emotionally void, but intellectually guided

3. Mary Shelley • Met future husband Percy Shelley in 1814 • Shelley, “Romantic”, attached self to Godwin and his idealistic political notions • Shelley abandons wife to spend time at Godwin house • Eloped in July 1814 • 1815 Mary gives birth to 1st baby, but baby dies a few days after birth • 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."

4. Mary Shelley in Geneva • Opposite of gloomy London, yet rained much in summer to confine to house • Discussion of Erasmus Darwin’s experiments with galvanism (uses of electricity) • Ghost story contest-Mary, Percy, Lord Byron, and others

5. The Publishing of Frankenstein • 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.

6. Historical context • The French Revolution and the Rise of Industrialism • Early Romantic writers strongly advocated the French Revolution • Revolution signaled throwing off of old traditions and customs of the wealthy classes • Balance of economic power shifted toward the middle class with the rise of industrialism • Advanced machinery and technology threatened to replace workers • England's literary thinkers welcomed revolution because it represented an opportunity to establish a harmonious social structure.

7. Historical context • Napoleon crowned emperor in 1804. England now at war against France • After the war ended in 1815, the English focused on economic and social problems • England didn’t regulate the economic shift from a farming-based society to an industrialized society stemmed from a hands-off philosophy of non-governmental interference • Leading to extremely low wages and terrible working conditions for employees who were prevented by law from unionizing

8. Science and technology • Technology/machines replaced workers creating low wages and poor working conditions • People encouraged to sabotage machines that took jobs away from workers • Erasmus Darwin, scientist who wrote about biological evolution big influence (people began to question power of God) • Percy and Mary also attended lecture by Andrew Crosse, scientist whose experiments with electricity • Discussed galvanism, or the study of electricity and its applications

9. Arctic exploration • The late 1700s also marked the beginnings of a new era of ocean exploration. • England's Royal Academy, which promoted the first voyage to the South seas, appealed to scientists and travelers alike • Explorers wanted to find a trade route through the Arctic to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific

10. characters • Victor Frankenstein • The Monster • Henry Clerval • Elizabeth Lavenza • Alphonse Frankenstein • Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein • William Frankenstein • Justine Moritz • De Lacey Family • Robert Walton • Margaret Saville

11. Characters Victor Frankenstein  -  The doomed protagonist and narrator of the main portion of the story. Studying in Ingolstadt, Victor discovers the secret of life and creates an intelligent but grotesque monster, from whom he recoils in horror. Victor keeps his creation of the monster a secret, feeling increasingly guilty and ashamed as he realizes how helpless he is to prevent the monster from ruining his life and the lives of others. The monster -  The eight-foot-tall, hideously ugly creation of Victor Frankenstein. Intelligent and sensitive, the monster attempts to integrate himself into human social patterns, but all who see him shun him. His feeling of abandonment compels him to seek revenge against his creator.

12. Characters • Robert Walton  -  The Arctic seafarer whose letters open and close Frankenstein. Walton picks the bedraggled Victor Frankenstein up off the ice, helps nurse him back to health, and hears Victor’s story. He records the incredible tale in a series of letters addressed to his sister, Margaret Saville, in England. • Alphonse Frankenstein -  Victor’s father, very sympathetic toward his son. Alphonse consoles Victor in moments of pain and encourages him to remember the importance of family. • Elizabeth Lavenza -  An orphan, four to five years younger than Victor, whom the Frankensteins adopt. Victor’s mother rescues Elizabeth from a destitute peasant cottage in Italy. Elizabeth embodies the novel’s motif of passive women, as she waits patiently for Victor’s attention.

13. Characters Henry Clerval -  Victor’s boyhood friend, who nurses Victor back to health in Ingolstadt. After working unhappily for his father, Henry begins to follow in Victor’s footsteps as a scientist. His cheerfulness counters Victor’s moroseness. William Frankenstein -  Victor’s youngest brother and the darling of the Frankenstein family. The monster strangles William in the woods outside Geneva in order to hurt Victor for abandoning him. William’s death deeply saddens Victor and burdens him with tremendous guilt about having created the monster. Justine Moritz -  A young girl adopted into the Frankenstein household while Victor is growing up. Justine is blamed and executed for William’s murder, which is actually committed by the monster.

14. Characters Caroline Beaufort  -  The daughter of Beaufort. After her father’s death, Caroline is taken in by, and later marries, Alphonse Frankenstein. She dies of scarlet fever, which she contracts from Elizabeth, just before Victor leaves for Ingolstadt at age seventeen. Beaufort -  A merchant and friend of Victor’s father; the father of Caroline Beaufort. Peasants -  A family of peasants, including a blind old man, De Lacey; his son and daughter, Felix and Agatha; and a foreign woman named Safie. The monster learns how to speak and interact by observing them. When he reveals himself to them, hoping for friendship, they beat him and chase him away. M. Waldman -  The professor of chemistry who sparks Victor’s interest in science. He dismisses the alchemists’ conclusions as unfounded but sympathizes with Victor’s interest in a science that can explain the “big questions,” such as the origin of life. M. Krempe  -  A professor of natural philosophy at Ingolstadt. He dismisses Victor’s study of the alchemists as wasted time and encourages him to begin his studies anew. Mr. Kirwin -  The magistrate who accuses Victor of Henry’s murder.

15. Style: 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.

16. themes • The use of knowledge for good or evil • The invasion of technology into modern life • Treatment of the poor or uneducated • The power of nature in the face of unnatural events • Parent-child conflicts

17. Narrative perspective(point of view) Frankenstein has three intersecting narrative frames: • The Robert Walton plot line that opens and closes the novel • Victor Frankenstein’s narrative • The Monster’s story

18. The End