The Historical and Literary Context of Frankenstein
Introductions:
Read the Introduction to Frankenstein, Third Edition (1831) by Mary Shelley pg 165-169, (available online)
1. What does Mary Shelley say inspired her to write the story?
2. What did she want her audience to experience from the story?
Watch Frankenstein the Preface by Providence Learning
3. What themes are present within Frankenstein (as per the video)?
Luigi Galvani’s experiments
Read the first four paragraphs of Luigi Galvani’s biography. Online Text
4. What parallels do you see with his experiments and Victor Frankenstein’s?
Romanticism and the Enlightenment
Note: The desciption of the Romanticism and the Enlightenment movements are generalizations that do not encompass every work or idea that was composed during these times.
The Romantic movement of the 19th century (1800’s) was a response to the Enlightenment movement that proceeded it. Here is outline of the major elements of both viewpoints.
(Adapted from Richard L W Clarke)
Enlightenment
Romanticism
Dominant View
Material world an imperfect reflection of an ideal world
Material world the manifestation or self-expression of God
Emerging view
mechanistic, dead universe (Ã la Isaac Newton)
Organic, living, vital universe
Hierarchical universe with God at the top, man somewhere in the middle
God expresses himself through man who is, as such, inherently divine
Moderation, Order, Preparation (admired city, cultivated gardens)
Excess, Disorder, Spontaneity (admired country-side, natural phenomena such as mountains)
Dominant metaphor
Mirror: to examine humanity
Core of Human Identity
Reason: common sense, logic, rationality its primary features
Imagination: emotion, feeling, passion its primary features
Universalism: human nature is everywhereand at all times the same
Cultural nationalism: Human beings differentiated by the social and historical context in which they live
Knowledge
Objectivity is possible (via great effort) and the absolute truth can be known about any and all things
Subjectivity is inevitable for which reason only perspectivism is possible
5. How does Victor embody the ideas of Enlightenment?
6. How does his description of his adventures seem more rooted in Romanticism?
The Modern Prometheus
Read the introduction to the wikipedia entry about Promethius. Online Text
7. How is Victor Frankenstein like Prometheus?
Within the myth, Prometheus is a hero that saves humankind by bringing them fire.
8. Should Victor be considered a hero?
Prometheus is punished by the gods for his act.
9. Who is punishing Victor? Is it God or is it the creature?
Reminder the painting, Prometheus Bound (Ruebens and Snyder), that was discussed in the The Heart of Empathy. Online
10. Does the suffering Prometheus is experiencing in the painting parallel to the suffering Victor is within the story?
The Gothic Novel and Science Fiction
Frankenstein has a mix of elements from both the gothic novels of the time and the science fiction novels that would come after.
Elements found in Gothic novels:
a castle, ruined or intact, haunted or not
ruined buildings which are sinister or which arouse a pleasing melancholy
dungeons, underground passages, crypts, and catacombs which, in modern houses, become spooky basements or attics
labyrinths, dark corridors, and winding stairs
shadows, a beam of moonlight in the blackness, a flickering candle, or the only source of light failing (a candle blown out or an electric failure)
extreme landscapes, like rugged mountains, thick forests, or icy wastes, and extreme weather
omens and ancestral curses
magic, supernatural manifestations, or the suggestion of the supernatural
a passion-driven, wilful villain-hero or villain
a curious heroine with a tendency to faint and a need to be rescued–frequently
a hero whose true identity is revealed by the end of the novel
horrifying (or terrifying) events or the threat of such happenings
11. Which of these do we see in the novel?
Robert A. Heinlein, “a handy short definition of almost all science fiction might read: realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific method.”
12. Given what you have learned about Mary Shelley’s influences above, does the novel, Frankenstein, fit Heinlein’s description of science fiction? How?
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