Mary Shelley and Frankenstein: An AP Introduction

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2. Mary Shelley and Frankenstein: An AP Introduction Prepared by Beth Dibble With help from the Internet 

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. The “Waking Dream” “The nature of the principle of life and whether there was any chance of its ever being discovered.”

7. Her Family’s Influence Her father, William Godwin,was a political thinker and writer. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was a feminist.

8. Her Love – Percy Shelley Met when she was 15. He was married. 1st wife drowned. They married two years later. She had already had 2 of his children by this time. He was a famous poet.

9. The Pre-Hippies • They were into nature, free love, and were not particulary bound by Christian ideals • Absinthe and opium • Shelley even had a mistress Jane Clairmont • Jane later became involved with Lord Byron and that’s how Mary and Percy met him.

10. A Suspicious Death Shelley’s first wife died by drowning. When she was found, resuscitation was attempted - smelling salts, vigorous shaking, electricity, and artificial respiration--using resuscitation bellows were used. These were all methods that had been used since the 1760s to revive drowning victims to life. Harriet, however, did not survive.

11. 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.

12. The Baby and The Dream Mary’s daughter 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.

13. More Bad News Her sister committed suicide Her son (William) died from malaria Her daughter next daughter died from dysentery. Lots of bad luck!!!

14. 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

15. Style: Gothic Novel • Gothic: genre of fiction that uses gloomy settings and supernatural events to create an 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 an attempt to explain why they react as they do and what drives them to make their decisions.

16. The Structure of the Story • The novel is constructed of three concentric layers, one within the other: • outermost--Robert Walton's letters to his sister; • 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'.

17. Robert Walton’s letters Structure and Point of View Frankenstein's story to Walton Frankenstein's story to Walton Creature's story Creature's story to Frankenstein Frame Story Epistolary – carried by letters

18. Themes • Consequences of irresponsibility in the pursuit of knowledge • Consequences of pride • Consequences of society’s rejection of someone who is unattractive • Destructive power of revenge • Parent-child conflicts • Sympathy

19. Other Literary Elements • Irony- 2 major ironies • Creature is more sympathetic, more imaginative and more responsible to fellow creatures • Creature has many pleasing qualities but is an outcast because he’s not physically attractive

20. Symbols • White/light = knowledge • Water = knowledge • Ice = Danger • Lightning = nature’s power • Nature = acceptance, nurturing, calm • Mountains = sublime in nature

21. Antithesis- contrasts of ideas, characters, themes, settings, or moods • Victor/creation • Passion/reason • Natural/unnatural • Known/Unknown • Civilized/Savage • Masculine/Feminine • Beautiful/ugly • Good/bad • Light/dark • Heat/cold

22. Allusions • Paradise Lost by John Milton • Story of a man’s fall from innocence to painful knowledge; Victor can be compared to Adam, Satan, and Eve • The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge • Like narrator, tells story as a warning and a confession

23. Modern Prometheus • Prometheus was the son of a Titan • the name means "forethought.“ • In the battle between Zeus and the Titans for control of Olympus he sided with Zeus and became his chief counselor. 

24. Don’t Irritate a god • Devised a plan man got the choices parts from the animals used as sacrifice to the gods • Made Zeus ticked off • Zeus denied man fire

25. Things go from bad to worse • Prometheus stole fire • Zeus gets mega-ticked • Chains him to rock and lets birds devour his liver • Liver grew back every night. • Next day, same deal. Not fun 

26. Another Version the fire stolen by Prometheus was also the fire of life with which he animated his men of clay. Doesn’t this seem even more Frankensteinish??

27. Moral of the Story??? • Don’t irritate the gods Moral of our story????? • Don’t play God

28. Historical Context • Ambigious Walton’s letters date “17-” with no reference to anything specific to pinpoint date. • It is set in the latter part of the 18th century (end of Enlightenment, beginning of Romantic) • Critiques the excesses of the Enlightenment and introduces the beliefs of the Romantics. • Reflects a shift in social and political thought- from humans as creatures who use science and reason to shape and control their destiny to humans as creatures who rely on their emotions to determine what is right.

29. Ideas of the Enlightenment • Scientific observation of the outer world • Logic and reason; science and technology • Believed in following standards and traditions • Appreciated elegance and refinement • Interested in maintaining the aristocracy • Sought to follow and validate authority • Favored a social hierarchy • Nature should be controlled by humans

30. Important Revolutions • American & French Revolution • Call for individual freedom and an overthrow of rigid social hierarchy. • Industrial Revolution • Social system challenged by change from agricultural society to industrial one with a large, impoverished and restless working class.

31. Characteristics of Romantic Period • Emphasis on imagination and emotion, individual passion and inspiration • Rejection of formal, upper class works and a preference for writing (poetry) that addresses personal experiences and emotions in simple language. • A turn to the past or an inner dream world that is thought to be more picturesque and magical than the current world (industrial age)

32. Continued • Belief in individual liberty; rebellious attitude against tyranny. • Fascination with nature; perception of nature as transformative.

33. Chalk it up • Romantics were: • Concerned with common people • Favored democracy • Desired radical change • Nature should be untamed

34. Paradise Lost – Referenced Often • Paradise Lost is John Milton's attempt to "justify the ways of God to man" by retelling of the story of Creation, the revolt of Lucifer and his fall from grace, and the story of Adam and Eve.