Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

1. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

2. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley • Daughter of two of England’s leading intellectual radicals. • Her father, William Godwin, was an influential political philosopher and novelist. • Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, the author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, was a pioneer in promoting women’s rights and education.

3. Percy Bysshe Shelley • Growing up, Mary was surrounded by lively intellectual conversation as her home was frequented by writers. • Her future husband, the admired poet Percy Shelley, was one of her father’s frequent visitors. • When she was 16, she and Percy eloped to France. • She gave birth to four children in five years, three of whom died as infants. • Percy died eight years later, due to a boating accident.

4. At the age of 24, she was an impoverished widow, and she supported herself, her son, and father with her writing. • Shelley first published Frankenstein in 1818 anonymously but republished again in 1831 after writing its introduction.

5. The “Birth” of Frankenstein • When Mary was 9, she hid under a sofa to hear Samuel Taylor Coleridge recite his poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” which later influenced her as she developed her ideas for Frankenstein. • Due to the loss of her children, many critics have pointed out that thoughts of birth and death were much on Shelley’s mind at the time she wrote Frankenstein. • Summer of 1816 • Mary and Percy Shelley were living near the poet Lord Byron and his doctor-friend John Polidori on Lake Geneva in the Swiss Alps. • During a period of incessant rain, the four of them were reading ghost stories to each other when Byron proposed that they each try to write one. • For days Shelley could not think of an idea. Then, while she was listening to Lord Byron and Percy discussing the probability of using electricity to create life artificially, according to a theory called Galvanism, an idea began to grow in her mind: Perhaps a corpse would be re-animated; galvanism had given token of such things: perhaps the component parts of a creature might be manufactured, brought together, and [endued] with vital warmth. • The next day she started work on Frankenstein. A year later, she had completed her novel. It was published in 1818, when Shelley was 19 years old.

6. Romantic Movement The Romantics or The Disheartened Liberals

7. Romanticism • 1798-1832 • Movement contrary to Enlightenment and Industrialization which emphasized how man’s reason and logic can improve society • Emphasized the importance of the individual, subjectivity, imagination, and expression of emotions

8. Romantic Quest • During the Romantic period, a journey to find one’s self through nature, isolation, and meditation • Natural science should lead to discovery • Could be a physical journey or a mental, psychological, or spiritual one

9. Disenfranchised Men • The idea of the disenfranchised man was very common. They 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.

10. The Supernatural • To 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.

11. Gothic Literature Stems from Romantic Literature and Predecessor of the Modern Horror Movie

12. Elements of the Gothic Novel • Setting in a castle • An atmosphere of mystery and suspense • An ancient prophecy • Omens, portents, visions • Supernatural or otherwise inexplicable events • High, even overwrought emotion • Women in distress • Women threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male • Themes of gloom and horror • Vocabulary of the gothic

13. Gothic Connection to Nature • Put 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.

14. Mood and Weather • Most 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.”

15. Frame Story

16. Epistolary • A story told by means of a series of letters • Purpose is to suspend disbelief

17. Central Characters The Creature/Monster, Victor Frankenstein, Robert Walton, Elizabeth Lavenza, and Henry Clerval

18. Victor Frankenstein He 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 Victor's creation is referred to as the monster or the demon. He is created on a dark, dreary night in November.

19. Robert Walton Henry Clerval Henry is Victor's best friend and follows him to Ingolstadt to help Victor recover from an illness. The novel opens with letters from Robert Walton to his sister. It is through these letters that Walton narrates the tale of Dr. Frankenstein.

20. Elizabeth Lavenza Frankenstein Elizabeth 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.

21. Minor Characters

22. Justine Moritz - Justine comes to live with the Frankenstein family and cares for the dying Mrs. Frankenstein. • The 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. • Alphonso Frankenstein - Victor's father unwittingly encourages Victor's study of science by a disparaging remark regarding Cornelius Agrippa. • Margaret Saville - Mrs. Saville is the audience for Robert Walton's tale. • Caroline 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. • William Frankenstein - Victor's youngest brother, murdered by the monster. • Professors Krempe and Waldman - Two professors at Ingolstadt who influence Frankenstein's work.

23. Literary Allusions Paradise Lost, Prometheus, and Rime of the Ancient Mariner

24. Literary Allusions • Allows the reader to garner information in only a title or a character name. • All 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.

25. The Creation of Adam and Eve • This story is one that is well known in Western culture, especially Milton’s version. • Shelley wanted to bring the back story of Paradise Lost to Frankenstein. • She 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.

26. The Monster and Adam • The 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.” • The monster's petition evokes sympathy, highlighting the guilt of his creator. • If Frankenstein would only have loved his creation, the tragedy could have been avoided.

27. 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?”

28. Victor as Adam • The roles are reversed. Here Dr. Frankenstein compares himself to Adam. • The 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.”

29. Rime of the Ancient Mariner • An epic poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in which a sailor kills an albatross and learns (through spiritual and supernatural events) to respect the sea (the natural world). His disregard for nature and tradition leads to his and every other sailor’s demise.

30. Greek Myth: Prometheus • Prometheus was a Greek god who was in charge of giving out gifts to the various creatures on Earth.

31. Prometheus • He gave out speed and instinct and such, but 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 (partly because now man was too godlike). • Prometheus’ punishment was that he was chained to a rock. Every day for 30,000 years, a vulture came and devoured his liver. Every night the liver grew back to be devoured the next day. • In several obvious ways, this ancient Greek story is very closely connected to Frankenstein.

32. Victor as Prometheus • The 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. • In Greek mythology, Prometheus created man. As a modern Prometheus, Victor creates a new species. • Much like Prometheus suffers eternally, so must Victor Frankenstein.

34. Rime of the Ancient Mariner • Coleridge'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. • The ancient mariner travels the world, unburdening his soul, telling his story to whomever needs to hear it. Shelley alludes to the poem several times.

35. Victor as the Ancient Mariner • Robert Walton in Frankenstein is similar to the Wedding Guest from "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," with Victor Frankenstein playing the role of the mariner. • As the mariner feels compelled to share his story to one who needs to hear it, so does Victor. • The 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.

36. Victor Frankenstein’s Science • 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 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.

37. Mary 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 • 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 was eventually to take.

38. Cornelius Agrippa • A Renaissance philosopher and scientist whose works reflect a strong interest in the occult and ancient, mystical “sciences” of the near East • His 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. • In terms of “real science,” his ideas have all but been discredited by later thinkers and by the processes of observation and experimentation.

39. Paracelsus • Introduced a new concept of disease and the use of chemicals rather than herbs to treat diseases. • Paracelsus 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.

40. Albertus Magnus • Advocated the search into the natural causes of things apart from the church’s position that God was the cause of all effects. • In 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.

41. Roger Bacon • Roger 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.

42. Letters I-IV (Prologue) • Epistolary • The narrator Robert Walton writes to his sister, Margaret Saville • Walton embarks on a Romantic Quest • Wants to discover a passage near the North Pole to Asia • Wants to discover the secret of the compass magnet

43. Letter I • December 11th • Walton is far north of London in Saint Petersburg, Russia • Imagines the North Pole not as the “capital of frost and desolation” but the “region of beauty and delight” • Reveals his Romantic Quest • Has dreamed of being an explorer since he was a boy, but his father forbid it • Inherited cousin’s fortune, which allowed him to pursue exploration

44. Letter II • March 28th • Surrounded by frost and snow • Expresses desire for friendship • Surrounded by people, but no one is his equal • Wants someone who is gentle, courageous, educated, intelligent, well-mannered, and with similar tastes • Alludes to the Rime of the Ancient Mariner • “…I shall kill no albatross. Therefore, do not worry about my safety or about my coming back to you as scornful and woeful as the ‘Ancient Mariner’…I have often attributed my attachment to—my passionate enthusiasm for—the dangerous mysteries of the ocean to that poem by Coleridge” (13).

45. Letter III • July 7th • Writes to assure Margaret of his safety • Mentions floating sheets of ice that continually pass—indicating dangers ahead • Tells her that he will be “cool, persevering, and prudent” (15).

46. Letter IV • August 5th • A week prior, nearly surrounded by ice and fog, which was dangerous • Mist cleared and Walton and crew saw low carriage, fixed on a sleigh and drawn by dogs, moving north, half a mile away. • “Being” that had the shape of a man, but was gigantic, sat on the sleigh. • Disappeared among the distant glaciers • Two hours later, ice broke and freed ship • Spent night at location to be safe

47. Letter IV (Continued) • Next morning, found someone else in a sleigh • Drifted toward ship on slab of ice • Only one dog remained alive • Human being inside the carriage • Not savage, like other “being” on previous sleigh, but European • Spoke English, but with foreign accent • Man was on brink of death

48. Letter IV (Continued) • Man inquired where Walton was headed; satisfied with Walton’s response of North Pole and agreed to come aboard • Man’s limbs nearly frozen, body emaciated by fatigue and suffering • Man slowly recovered, under Walton’s care • Two days later, stranger finally spoke • Walton describes him as having eyes which express wildness or madness, but whose face lights up when someone is kind to him. Stranger is generally melancholy and despairing, crush by weight of woes

49. Letter IV (Continued) • Stranger tells Walton that he has traveled upon the ice “‘To find someone who has run away from me’” (19). • Walton tells the stranger that the crew had seen the man whom the stranger pursued the previous day • Stranger asked questions about where the “demon,” as he called the giant, had gone • From then on, stranger was eager to be on deck, watching for the sleigh • Walton describes the stranger as being polite and gentle, and though he is a wreck, appealing and friendly. • Remarks that the stranger must have been a noble creature when he was better off • Says that he has begun to love the stranger as a brother, and feels sympathy and compassion for the stranger

50. Letter IV (Continued) • August 13th • Walton says that his affection for the stranger grows, as the stranger stirs his admiration and pity • Stranger speaks eloquently and listens attentively • Walton confides in him • Walton mentions how he had sacrificed everything for the sake of discovery, even his life or death • This displeased the stranger greatly • Stranger burst into tears • Said, “‘Unhappy man! Do you share my madness? Have you drunk from the cup of your imagined power? Let me tell you my tale, and you will throw the cup from your lips!’” (21). • Stranger says that he has lost everything