Frankensteinor

The Modern Prometheus

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An Introduction to Mary Shelley’s:

The Birth of Mary Shelley’s

“Hideous Progeny”

“‘We will each write a ghost story,’

said Lord Bryon; and his proposition was

acceded to.

“I busied myself to think of a story, - a story to rival

those which had excited us to this task. One which

would speak to the mysterious fears of our

nature and awaken thrilling horror – one to

make the reader dread to look around, to curdle the

blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart. If I did not accomplish these things, my ghost story

would be unworthy of its name.”

- Mary ShelleyAuthor’s Introduction to

1831 Version

Historical Background

The Enlightenment

akaThe Age of

Reason1670 – 1770

Characteristics of the Enlightenment• The Enlightenment was a cultural

movement of European and American intellectuals in the 18th century.

• Its purpose was to reform society using reason (rather than tradition, faith and revelation) and advance knowledge through science. It promoted science and opposed superstition.

• Sir Isaac Newton’s 1687 masterpiece, The Mathematical Principles of the Universe, detailed the laws of gravity, transformed the scientific and intellectual communities, and ushered in the age of Enlightenment.

Characteristics of the Enlightenment• Nature should be controlled

by humans• Favored a social hierarchy• Sought to maintain the

aristocracy• Valued logic and reason• Valued science and

technology• Sought to achieve a

secularist society (separation of church and state)

The Romantic Period1770 – 1870

Characteristics of the Romantic Period• The Romantic Period came about

as a reaction to and a rebellion of the Age of Enlightenment.

• The Romantics revolted against the aristocratic social and political norms of the Enlightenment.

• Placed great emphasis on imagination, emotion, individual passion, and inspiration.

• Concerned with the common people and favored democracy.

• The American (1776) and the French (1789) Revolutions take place during this time period.

Characteristics of the Romantic Period• The Romantics reacted against the

scientific rationalization and “control” of nature.

• They sought solace in nature.• Nature is healing and transformative.• Believed that nature, in its most natural,

untamed state was sublime.• Would see more beauty in a field of

wildflowers than in a perfectly manicured English garden.

• Saw the industrial revolution as destructive and harmful to nature, creating an ugly gray world.

• The Romantics preferred the past or an inner dream world that they felt was more picturesque and magical than the ugly industrial age they lived in.

• Could be considered the first “tree huggers” or “hippies.”

Characteristics of the Romantic PeriodA Child’s Sense of Wonder

• The term romantic signifies a fascination with youth and innocence, particularly the freshness and wonder of a child’s perception of the world.

• The perception seemed to resemble the age’s sense of a “new dawn” and as “human nature being born again.”

Source: Holt Elements of Literature Sixth Course

Characteristics of the Romantic PeriodSocial Idealism

• The term romantic also refers to a view of the cyclical development of human societies. This is the stage when people need to question tradition and authority in order to imagine better – that is happier, fairer, and healthier – ways to live.

• Romantic in this sense is associated with idealism.

Source: Holt Elements of Literature Sixth Course

The “Big Six” Romantic

Poets

The Romantic Poets• The Romantic Poets were more than simple “nature poets.”

They were “mind poets” who sought a deeper understanding of the bond between human beings and the world of the senses.

• The Romantics saw the imagination as power – a faculty superior to human reasoning.

• They believed that the imagination is also a kind of desire – a motive that drives the mind to discover things that it cannot learn by rational or logical thinking.

• To the Romantics, the poet was the most elevated person in society; he is someone human beings cannot do without.

William Blake

A Poison Tree

I was angry with my friend; I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I waterd it in fears, Night & morning with my tears:

And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night. Till it bore an apple bright.

And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine.

And into my garden stole, When the night had veild the pole;

In the morning glad I see; My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

William Wordswort

hThe World is Too Much With Us

The world is too much with us; late and soon,Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:

Little we see in nature that is ours;We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;The Winds that will be howling at all hours

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;For this, for every thing, we are out of tune;

It moves us not--Great God! I'd rather beA Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus coming from the sea;Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Sonnet to the Autumnal Moon

Mild Splendour of the various-vested Night!Mother of wildly-working visions! hail!

I watch thy gliding, while with watery lightThy weak eye glimmers through a fleecy veil;And when thou lovest thy pale orb to shroud Behind the gather'd blackness lost on high;

And when thou dartest from the wind-rent cloudThy placid lightning o'er the awaken'd sky.

Ah such is Hope! as changeful and as fair!Now dimly peering on the wistful sight;

Now hid behind the dragon-wing'd Despair:But soon emerging in her radiant might

She o'er the sorrow-clouded breast of CareSails, like a meteor kindling in its flight.

John Keats

O Solitude

O Solitude! if I must with thee dwell,Let it not be among the jumbled heap

Of murky buildings; climb with me the steep,--Nature's observatory--whence the dell,

Its flowery slopes, its river's crystal swell,May seem a span; let me thy vigils keep

'Mongst boughs pavillion'd, where the deer's swift leapStartles the wild bee from the fox-glove bell.

But though I'll gladly trace these scenes with thee,Yet the sweet converse of an innocent mind,Whose words are images of thoughts refin'd,

Is my soul's pleasure; and it sure must be

Almost the highest bliss of human-kind,When to thy haunts two kindred spirits flee.

George Gordon,

Lord Byron

She Walks in Beauty

She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes; Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express, How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent!

Percy Bysshe Shelley

A Dirge

Rough wind, that moanest loadGrief too sad for song;

Wild wind, when sullen cloudKnells all the night long;

Sad storm, whose tears are vain,Bare woods, whose branches stain,

Deep caves and dreary main, - Wail, for the world’s wrong!

More Writers of the

Romantic Period

British and American Romantic Period Writers

• Mary Shelley• Edgar Allan Poe• Emily Bronte• Washington Irving• Mark Twain• Walt Whitman

• Emily Dickinson• Herman Melville• Victor Hugo• James Fennimore

Cooper• Walter Scott

Gothic Literature

Elements of Gothic Literature

• Story is usually set in a castle, ancestral family home, vault or crypt.

• Set in an exotic locale, often in a country other than that of the story's origin.

• A vendetta or vengeance against the protagonist and/or his family by the antagonist.

• Includes supernatural beings: monsters, vampires, ghosts, werewolves, and such.

• Plot includes a “damsel in distress.”

• Women in the story are threatened by tyrannical male/patriarchal figures.

• Story will have unexplainable events.

• There is usually an unrequited love, or illicit love affair or romance.

• Often includes a prophecy foretelling the doom of the protagonist and/or his family.

• The atmosphere is one of suspense and/or terror.

• Gothic architecture evokes the sense of humanity’s division between a finite, physical identity and the often terrifying and bizarre forces of the infinite.

• The Gothic aesthetic also embodies an ambition to transcend earthly human limitations and reach the divine.

Gothic Architectur

e

• Gothic literature focuses on humanity’s fascination with the grotesque, the unknown, and the frightening, inexplicable aspects of the universe and the human soul.

• The Gothic creates horror by portraying human individuals in confrontation with the overwhelming, mysterious, terrifying forces found in the cosmos and within themselves.

• Gothic literature pictures the human condition as an ambiguous mixture of good and evil powers that cannot be understood completely by human reason.

Gothic Literature

• The Gothic perspective conceives of the human condition as a paradox, a dilemma of duality—humans are divided in the conflict between opposing forces in the world and in themselves.

Gothic Duality

• The Gothic themes of human nature’s depravity, the struggle between good and evil in the human soul, and the existence of unexplainable elements in humanity and the cosmos, are prominent themes in Frankenstein.

Gothic Themes

• The hero in Gothic literature is often a "villain." He is isolated from others by his “fall” (usually due to his hubris), and he either becomes a monster or confronts a monster who is his double.

• He becomes a "Satanic hero" if, like Satan, he has courageously defied the rules of God’s universe and has tried to transform himself into a god.

• The mad scientist, who tries to transcend human limitations through science, is a type of Satanic hero that is popular in Gothic literature (examples include Dr. Jekyll and Frankenstein).

Gothic Monster /Satanic Hero / Fallen Man:

• The story is frequently told through a series of secret manuscripts or multiple tales, each revealing a deeper secret, so the narrative gradually spirals inward toward the hidden truth.

• The narrator is often a first-person narrator compelled to tell the story to a fascinated or captive listener (representing the captivating power of forbidden knowledge).

• By revealing to us their own souls’ secrets, these narrators reveal the secrets of humankind’s soul.

Gothic Narrative

Gothic Dreams/Visio

ns

• Terrible truths are often revealed to characters through dreams or visions.

• The hidden knowledge of the universe and of human nature emerges through dreams because, when the person sleeps, reason sleeps, and the supernatural, unreasonable world can break through.

• Dreams in Gothic literature express the dark, unconscious depths of the psyche that are repressed by reason — truths that are too terrible to be comprehended by the conscious mind.

Gothic Signs / Omens• Reveal the intervention

of cosmic forces and often represent psychological or spiritual conflict (e.g., flashes of lightning and violent storms might parallel some turmoil within a character’s mind).

Mary Wollstonecraft

Godwin

Shelley

Mary Shelley’s Parents• Mary’s Mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was a pioneering feminist and author. Her most noted work is an essay entitled “A Vindication of the Rights of Women.”

• Mary’s Father, William Godwin, was a radical social thinker. He was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist.

• He is most famous for his works An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, an attack on political institutions and Things as They Are which attacks aristocratic privilege, but also is the first mystery novel.

• Based on the success of both works, Godwin featured prominently in the radical circles of London in the 1790s.

Mary Shelley’s Childhood• Born: August 30, 1797• Mary’s mother died 10 days after Mary was

born due to a fever.• Mary felt guilty about her mother’s death and

often visited her grave.• Mary’s father remarried when she was four.

However, she did not get along with her stepmother, as her stepmother was jealous of Mary.

• Mary did not receive much formal education, however, she was an inquisitive child and an avid reader.

• As a young child she kept journals and wrote short stories to amuse herself.

• She published her first poem at the age of 10.

Mary Shelley• In 1814, at age 16, Mary fell in love with the poet, Percy

Bysshe Shelley, who was 21.

• Although Percy was already married, and his wife was pregnant with their second child, Mary and Percy ran away together.

• Mary became pregnant with Percy’s child, and she gave birth to a daughter who died less than two weeks after birth.

• Mary’s father, William Godwin, refused to speak with Mary or have anything to do with her.

• Mary and Percy moved to Italy to escape public scrutiny.

• During the summer of 1816, Mary and Percy spent the summer with friends and fellow writers Lord Byron and John Polidori at Bryon’s estate near Lake Geneva, Switzerland.

• Mary begins writing Frankenstein. She is only 18.

Mary Shelley• In December 1816, Percy’s wife committed

suicide by drowning, and on December 30, 1816 Percy and Mary were officially married.

• In 1818, Frankenstein is first published.• In 1818, Mary gives birth to a second child,

Clara, who also dies as a young infant.• In 1819, Mary gives birth to a third child,

William, who also dies as a young infant.• In 1819, Mary gives birth to a fourth child,

Percy Florence. He is the only Shelley child to survive.

Mary Shelley• In 1822, Mary suffers a miscarriage and almost dies

as a result of hemorrhaging. • Shortly after the miscarriage, Percy Shelley dies in a

storm at sea.• In 1836, Mary’s father dies.• On February 1, 1851, Mary dies at the age of 53.

The Birth of Frankenstein:

The Summer of 1816

The Summer of 1816• Mary spends the summer

of 1816 (known as the “year without a summer”) with Percy, her sister, and their friends at Lord Byron’s villa near Lake Geneva, Switzerland.

• Frequent stormy weather that summer forced them indoors most of the time.

The Summer of 1816• The guests spent most of their time reading and conversing. Particular

topics of conversation included the early evolution theories of Erasmus Darwin, as well as the new science of galvanism.

• Also contributing to the entertainment of the group was a book of German ghost stories called Fantasmagoria, which the friends took turns reading aloud.

• The combination of the macabre tales and the isolating weather seemed to have strange effects on everyone present.

• Percy Shelley, at one point, succumbed to visions that sent him screaming from the room.

• Most likely, these “visions” were a result of the use of opium, which they were all using that summer.

The Summer of 1816• Some time after this incident, a challenge for a ghost story contest was

issued, and each person decided that they would each try to write their own ghost story.

• Most set to work immediately and produced tales of varying quality. • Byron wrote a story fragment titled “The Burial.” • Percy Shelley wrote a tale called “The Assassins.” • Dr. Polidori wrote “The Vampyre,” later expanded to novel length, which

was the first vampire story published in English and which some speculate might have been an inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, written 78 years later.

• But the “winner” of the ghost story contest would have to be Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein.

The Summer of 1816• The idea for Mary’s story began one night when she had a terrible nightmare.

She woke violently amid the sounds of the storm howling outside. The dream had been so vivid that she had a difficult time believing it hadn’t been real. Since she was too shaken to sleep, she began writing down her dream, in which– “a pale student of the unhallowed arts” used bits of corpses to create a

man. “By the glimmer of the half-extinguished light,” she wrote, “I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs.”

• Mary’s terrifying dream was described verbatim in the story she presented to the others. Though the first draft was only about 100 pages long, Percy loved the story and encouraged Mary to flesh it out. She did, and two years after the strange events at Lake Geneva, the story was published as Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, thus introducing one of literature’s most frightening figures to the world at large.

Literary Influences

and Allusions

Metamorphoses by Ovid

• Part of Metamorphoses includes the myth of Prometheus, the creator of man who defies the Gods by stealing fire and giving it to humans.

• The full title of Mary Shelley’s novel is:

Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus

Paradise Lost by John Milton

• This epic is the story of how Satan was banished by God, suffers eternal punishment, and seeks vengeance against God by tricking Adam and Eve into sinning. Adam and Eve are then kicked out of the Garden of Eden, and lose Paradise.

• Like Mary, the creature in her story Frankenstein reads Paradise Lost and is deeply affected by it.

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge• Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the

story of a mariner (sailor) who commits a sin against nature by rashly, and for no explainable reason, killing an albatross (seen as a bird of good omen by the sailors).

• Through his actions, he brings a curse upon himself and his ship's crew, whereby all suffer great punishment.

• He must wander the world and tell his tale to those who need to hear it. In Frankenstein, Victor will recognize Robert Walton as a person who needs to hear his tale.

The Novel

rankenstein is a Gothic novel with elements of Romantic literature, set in late 1700’s Europe. As the novel opens, the reader is first introduced to an Arctic Explorer named Robert Walton. He is on a journey of exploration to the North Pole, and he is writing letters to his sister telling her about his journey. In the fourth letter, Walton records in his letter that the ship’s crew came across a man who is near death out on the frozen sea. They bring him on board and Walton soon learns his story.

The man is Victor Frankenstein.

F

Main Characters

Victor Frankenstein

• Protagonist• Product of an idealistic

Enlightenment education• Fueled by possibilities of

science and a desire for acclaim

• Becomes obsessed with creating life

• Rational demeanor dissolves, and by story’s end, he is consumed by primitive emotions of fear and hatred

The Creature• Never given a name• Antagonist• Victor’s doppelganger• Wants to be a part of a

family / society• Repeatedly faces

prejudice and rejection

Elizabeth• Adopted by the

Frankenstein family as a young child

• Victor’s love• Represents the

Romantic Period Ideals

Henry Clerval• Victor’s best friend.• Together since childhood• Henry is a true romantic:

wants to leave a mark on the world, but never loses sight of the “moral relations of things.”

• He is closer to Victor than any other character.

Robert Walton• Arctic Explorer• Obsessed with acquiring

knowledge and fame• Rescues Victor in the

Arctic.• Listens to and records

Victor’s story.

Major IdeasSymbols

Antitheses

Major Ideas• Promethean Ambitions• Nature v Nurture• Responsibility v Irresponsibility• Alienation and Loneliness• Prejudice• Revenge

Symbols• Light & Fire = Knowledge• Ice = Danger• Lightning = Nature’s Power• Nature (Mountains, Lakes, etc.) =

Nurturing; Healing

Antitheses (Contrasts)

• Victor / Creature• Beautiful / Ugly• Known / Unknown• Responsibility / Irresponsibility• Passion / Reason• Civilized / Savage• Masculine / Feminine• Light / Dark• Heat / Cold

Romantic Poetry

Sonnet-To Science Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!

Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.

Why preyest thou thus upon the poet's heart,

Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?

How should he love thee? or deem thee wise?

Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering

To seek for treasure in the jeweled skies,

Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?

Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car?

And driven the Hamadryad from the wood to seek a shelter

in some happier star?

Has thou not torn the Naiad from her flood,

The Elfin from the green grass,

And from me

The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?

-Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849)

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer

WHEN I heard the learn’d astronomer; When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me; When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them; When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick; Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

-Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Frankenstein Today

Why Has Frankenstein Endured?

• Shelley’s novel is a warning of the possible destruction that may be created through man’s misuse of imagination and science.

• Can you think of any scientific discoveries, advancements, technology, etc. that were developed (or are in the process of being developed) with the intent to “help mankind” that have actually hurt or could hurt mankind? What are they?

Why Has Frankenstein Endured?

Frankenstein presents the philosophical question:

Just because we CAN, does it mean that we SHOULD?