Mary Shelley & Frankenstein:

Introduction/Context
 “The Modern Prometheus”
• Prometheus
– In Greek mythology, he
was a titan who created
man in the image of the
gods
– Stole the gift of fire from
Mt. Olympus and gave it to
man
– Punished by Zeus and
chained to a rock on a
mountain. Every day for
30 years, Zeus’ eagle
would eat his liver
Based on our knowledge of Prometheus, what
predictions can we make about the novel?
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.
When?
In the summer of 1816, 19
year old Mary
Wollstonecraft Godwin and
her lover, the poet Percy
Shelley, visited the Lord
Byron at his villa beside Lake
Geneva in Switzerland.
 The Motivation

Stormy weather frequently forced them indoors, where

they and Byron's other guests sometimes read from a
volume of ghost stories. One evening, Byron challenged
his guests to each write one themselves. Mary's story,
inspired by a dream, became Frankenstein.
 The Baby and The Dream
Mary’s daughter Clara had
died.
Mary dreamed that her
daughter was brought
back to life through
vigorous rubbing and
being held near a warm
fire.
This inspired her to write
Frankenstein.
 Mary’s Contest Submission
• Not intended to be a tale of
the supernatural – she
even made her main
character a scientist so
that his building of a man
would seem logical.
• Was a combo of Gothic
elements and science
• Might be considered early
sci-fi
Gothic literature is a genre that emerged as one of the
eeriest forms of Dark Romanticism in the late 1700s, a
literary genre that emerged as a part of the larger
Romanticism movement.
 Society’s Influence: Educational
Theories of the 1800s
Nature vs. Nurture
• John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human
Understanding (1690) argued that a child is a
“blank slate” (tabula rasa) that is formed only
through experience.

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s’ Emile, or On

Education (1762) promotes the idea that a child’s
upbringing is responsible for his nature.
Other Historical Events
• 1789—Start of the French Revolution;
British were happy that French were trying
to rid themselves of an absolute monarchy
and common people were standing up for
themselves. They, however, became
disillusioned with bloodshed and the
common leaders who turned to tyrants
themselves.

• 1793-1794 French Reign of Terror

• 1804 Napoleon crowned Emperor

 Romanticism
• 1798-1865
• Movement contrary to Enlightenment and
Industrialization which emphasized how man’s reason
and logic can improve society—science and reason
• Emphasized the importance of the individual,
subjectivity, imagination, and expression of emotions
• During this time of bloodshed and turmoil, Romantic
writers were turning to nature as an escape from the
harsh realities of the world.
• Nature was a place where human tyrannies did not exist
or reign.
 The 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
 Writing Style:
Elements of the Gothic Novel
In Frankenstein, Shelley adds a psychological component by delving into the psyches
of the characters in an attempt to explain why they react as they do and what drives
them to make their decisions.

• Setting in a castle • High, even overwrought

• An atmosphere of mystery emotion
and suspense • Women in distress
• An ancient prophecy • Women threatened by a
• Omens, portents, visions powerful, impulsive,
• Supernatural or otherwise tyrannical male
inexplicable events • Metonymy of gloom and
horror
• Vocabulary of the gothic
What was Science Up to at this Point?

During Mary’s time, scientists and

physicians were fascinated by the
elusive boundary between life and
death.
Experimented with lower
organisms, performed human
anatomical studies, attempted to
resuscitate drowning victims, and
performed experiments using
electricity to restore life to the
recently dead.
 The Structure of the Story
The novel is constructed of
three concentric layers, one
within the other:
A Framework Narrative
– outermost--Robert Walton's
letters to his sister (MWS);
– middle--Frankenstein's story as
he tells it to Walton;
– innermost--Monster's
description to Frankenstein of
the development of his mind at
the deLaceys’
Allusion-Indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of
historical, cultural, literary, or political significance

Main allusions in Frankenstein:

•Prometheus (Greek myth)- Gods made man out of
clay; creation gave humans fire; Punished by Gods
•Paradise Lost (John Milton)- creation of Adam
and Eve; lost place in Garden of Eden by eating
forbidden fruit/being tempted by Satan (extension
of story in The Bible—Book of Genesis)
• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
(Samuel Taylor Coleridge)-sailor kills an
albatross; learns (through spiritual and
supernatural events) to respect the sea
(natural world); disregard for nature and
tradition leads to demise
 Allusions Continued:
• Cornelius Agrippa: German mystic and alchemist.
Lived 1486-1535, and best known for his writings
defending “hidden philosophy” or magic, drawing on
diverse mystical traditions such as alchemy,
astrology, and Kabbalah and fusing them with
scientific study.

• Adam and Eve: biblical story about the original

human couple (“parents” of the human race). God
created Adam, gave him the Garden of Eden, and
created Eve so Adam wouldn’t be lonely.
• Paracelsus: Swiss physician, alchemist, and astronomer
of the German Renaissance. Pioneer in the “medical
revolution” of the time, and felt the university did not
teach all things, so he sought out other mystical
solutions to answer questions

• Albertus Magnus: German Catholic friar and bishop

well known for his writings on philosophy and
alchemy; referred to as a magician, and said to have
found the philosopher’s stone.
 Monstrosity
• The monster is only the most literal of a number of
monstrous entities in the novel, including the knowledge that
Victor used to create the monster.

• One can argue that Victor himself is a kind of monster, as his

ambition, secrecy, and selfishness alienate him from human
society. Ordinary on the outside, he may be the true
“monster” inside, as he is eventually consumed by an
obsessive hatred of his creation.

• Finally, many critics have described the novel itself as

monstrous, a stitched-together combination of different
voices, texts, and tenses.

Ready to read what some call the first major science fiction
novel...the book that established the genre of horror fiction?