The Romantics & Frankenstein

1. The Romantics & Frankenstein Revolutionary idealism in Europe & England

2. Origins of the Romantic Period • The Romantic Period in English literature lasted from around 1785–1830. • This time was marked by a period of revolution (the American Revolution, the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars). • The ideals of revolution became a defining feature of Romantic thought. • Additionally, the Industrial Revolution began as early as the mid-1800s. This meant the development of the working-class, as farmers and more rural families began to move to cities where industrial labor was available. • This would found a class divide in England, of “Two Nations,” or the “two classes of capital and labor, the rich and the poor,” which still exists in England to this day.

3. Romantic Beliefs & Ideals • Intellectual exploration • Individual consciousness • Spirituality (seeing God’s consciousness in reflected in humankind) • Rejection of the industrial/technological in favor of the natural • “The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” • The supernatural, mystical, or psychological • Glorification of the ordinary • Emphasis on the hopefulness of human potential

4. Traits of Romantic Era Literature • Romanticism broke with the intellectual conventions of writing—they believed that feeling was the foremost quality of written expression. • The lyric poem was often composed in first person, and there is no longer an emotional distance between the speaker and the poet— “the experiences and states of mind expressed by the lyric speaker often accord closely with the known facts of the poet’s life and the personal confessions in the poet’s letters and journals.” • Inspired by contemporary German philosophy, Romantics believed that poetry is almost never perfected and can be considering and ongoing draft. Thus, Romantic poets often wrote at length, allowing for meanderings and mistakes, providing a “first-draft” feel to their work. • The poems about nature sought to capture scenes where “the individual could find freedom from social laws,” so the poems are most often about uninhabited, rugged landscapes unchanged by humans.

5. Best-Known Romantics • William Blake (1757–1827), lower-class, mostly self-educated. Published Songs of Innocence and Experience, detailing scenes of everyday urban life in rapidly growing London. • Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), collaborated on the founding Romantic text, Lyrical Ballads (1798). Most famous poem is “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” • William Wordsworth (1770–1850), largely founded the Romantic movement with collaborator Coleridge. Best known for long poems like “Tintern Abbey,” included in Lyrical Ballads. Also coined the “spontaneous overflow of feelings” description in the preface to Lyrical Ballads. • John Keats (1795–1821), wrote lyrical poems that heavily incorporated Classical themes from Greek and Roman mythology. Wrote several famous odes (also a Greek form), and famous sonnets. Died only four years after his poems were published, at age 25.

6. John Keats Portrait by William Hilton.

7. Terms & Vocab • Lyricism: a quality that expresses deep feelings or emotions in a work of art, artistically beautiful or expressive (think: song lyrics) • Ballad: a poem or song that tells a story, most often written in verse (like iambic pentameter) • Pastoral: portraying or expressive of the lives of shepherds and country people especially in an idealized manner; pleasingly peaceful and innocent • Elegy: a poem or song that expresses sorrow for someone who is dead

8. Romantics Visually Knight’s Castle by Karl Friedrich Lessing, 1828

9. Origins of Frankenstein • Mary Shelley was the daughter of prominent proto-feminist author Mary Wollstonecraft and the wife of Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. • In 1818, the Shelleys were on holiday staying with their friend (another poet) Lord Byron in Geneva. One rainy day, Byron came up with a game for the three writers to play—writing a gothic story. • Mary Shelley was the only person to finish her story. She named it Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. • Prometheus was the figure from Greek mythology who brought fire to the humans by stealing it from the gods on Mount Olympus. He was imprisoned for the rest of his life, chained to a rock and disemboweled by birds of prey over and over again for eternity.

10. Impact of Frankenstein Actor Boris Karloff in his famous portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster (1931).

11. What Frankenstein Actually Looked Like Robert De Niro as Frankenstein’s Monster in Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation (1994).

12. Major Themes • One of the reasons Shelley’s creation probably looked more like the 1994 monster than the 1931 version is because of the concept of “the uncanny.” • The uncanny refers to the concept of “having a supernatural character or origin; being beyond what is normal or expected.” Think of the phrase “uncanny resemblance.” This is a major aspect of gothic fiction. • Other themes include famous fathers & sons / creators & creations (God and Adam in the Bible) • Accessing a forbidden knowledge (Adam & the Tree of Knowledge, Prometheus) • The corruption of the natural order (a man “birthing” a child) • How science and technology corrupt humanity

13. The First Sci-Fi Novel • The last theme, as to whether or not scientific advancement and technology corrupt humans or nature is largely why this novel is considered the first science fiction novel written in English. • Because the concepts in it are seemingly plausible by imagined scientific study, critics believe that Shelley was making a comment about what harm technology can do to nature and humankind. (Think back to Romantic ideals.) • As a result, the best science fiction works attempt to use innovations in science, technology, and fictitious futuristic settings to criticize the present day. • Think of some examples of sci-fi books or films and what their plots and characters might represent about the time period in which they were created.

14. Examples of Sci-Fi Commentary Nazi Nazi Sturmabteilung

15. Examples of Sci-Fi Commentary Stormtrooper Corps from Star Wars (1977)

16. Examples of Sci-Fi Commentary Katniss being selected for competition in The Hunger Games (2012)

17. Examples of Sci-Fi Commentary A view of Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, TX

18. Characters in Frankenstein • Victor Frankenstein: The protagonist of the story who narrates his tale of creating the monster. • The monster: The creation made up of various corpse body parts, composed and given life by Victor. • Elizabeth Lavenza: Victor’s cousin who he grows up with. She becomes one of his closest friends and his romantic interest. • Henry Clerval: Victor’s childhood friend who comes to visit him at college just after the creation of the monster, bearing bad news. • William Frankenstein: Victor’s younger brother who is tragically murdered.

19. Structure of Frankenstein • Because the novel itself was such a new form of writing at the time, the story is told through a series of letters. • Robert Walton is a sailor in the North Pole who discovers and rescues Victor. Most of the novel is told through Walton’s letters to his sister. • This is called an epistolary format. • So, ultimately, the story is told by Victor to Walton, who is writing it down and telling it to his own sister. This can feel complicated at times. • For instance, there are scenes told from the monster’s perspective, which are really the monster telling Victor about something that happened to him, and Victor is telling this to Walton, who is writing it down in a letter to his sister Margaret.

20. Works Cited • "Actors behind Frankenstein’s Monster." Bucks and Corn. N.p., 24 Jan. 2014. Web. 03 Jan. 2016. • "Frankenstein Published." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2016. • "John Keats." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2016. • "Nazi Stormtroopers." N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Jan. 2016. • Platter, Stephanie. "HUNGER GAMES (2012) Movie Review." Splatter on FILM. N.p., 25 Mar. 2012. Web. 03 Jan. 2016. • Rank, Adam. "Must-see Stadiums." NFL.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2016. • "SA | Nazi Organization." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2016. • Stableford, Brian. "Stableford, "Frankenstein and the Origins of Science Fiction"" Stableford, "Frankenstein and the Origins of Science Fiction"N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2016. • "Stormtrooper Corps." Wookieepedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2016. • "William Wordsworth." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2016.