...As a myth about procreation, the maternal imagery in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is clear, evident, pervasive. Yet, while the novel suffers no shortage of mother figures, Shelley’s interpretation of the maternal archetype in her seminal work is unique in its focus. The theme of the maternal finds itself in a paradox wherein its absence becomes evidence for its ubiquity; it is everywhere in that it is nowhere. One can therefore conclude that the concept of motherhood in Frankenstein does not require a mother, but only demands the notion that there was once a maternal presence where there is now none. By promptly abandoning his role as his monster’s creator, Victor seems to have perfectly complied with Shelley’s aforementioned definition of the maternal archetype. Still, some argue that the fact of Victor’s sex precludes him from ever fulfilling the theme of motherhood in Frankenstein. Victor is a man; the evident conclusion would be to declare Victor a paternal force in his creation’s...
Words: 1196 - Pages: 5
...“IT’S ALLIIIIIVE!!!” Everyone knows the famous line from pop culture’s Frankenstein where, surrounded by fantastical science equipment, Dr. Frankenstein, aided by his hunched assistant, Igor, zaps life into a grotesque monster within medieval castle under the cover of a dark and stormy night. At the epicenter, a creature awakens while the mad scientist cackles maniacally. It would be equally shocking for most, however, to find that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the original, poses a quite different, almost anti-climatic, scene–void of any shouting, Igors, and with no clear depiction of the creature’s endowment of life-giving forces. In fact, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein contrasts heavily to the pop culture Frankenstein in many aspects, namely,...
Words: 1483 - Pages: 6
...Reading Between the Lines: An analysis of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or, the Modern Prometheus, using Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto as an example of male discourse about women Louise Othello Knudsen English Almen, 10th semester Master’s Thesis 31-07-2012 Tabel of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 5 Historical Context .............................................................................................................................. 10 The View on Women and Their Expected Roles in the late 18th and 19th Century ....................... 11 - Mary Shelley disowns herself .................................................................................................. 11 - Mary Shelley’s Background .................................................................................................... 12 Women’s Role in Frankenstein ..................................................................................................... 13 Men’s Role in Frankenstein ........................................................................................................... 13 - Women in Society and Women as Writers .........................................................
Words: 30015 - Pages: 121
...What do I want? Consider the role that the narrative/performance have in the questioning the true nature and real origin of the monstrous within the National Theatre’s 2011 production of Frankenstein. How? Dear’s narrative approach will be explored in relation to the problematizing and redefining of the monstrous; the shifting of the perspective to the created creature rather than that of the creator and the subsequent effects this has on an audience’s perception. The impact of the performance approach taken will also be considered: how the actors shared body of Frankenstein and his creature, the result of their alternating both roles, raises further questions creating various and yet carbon copies of the monstrous. The focus of this analysis...
Words: 3202 - Pages: 13
...Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Key facts full title · Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus author · Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley type of work · Novel genre · Gothic science fiction language · English time and place written · Switzerland, 1816, and London, 1816–1817 date of first publication · January 1, 1818 publisher · Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones narrator · The primary narrator is Robert Walton, who, in his letters, quotes Victor Frankenstein’s first-person narrative at length; Victor, in turn, quotes the monster’s first-person narrative; in addition, the lesser characters Elizabeth Lavenza and Alphonse Frankenstein narrate parts of the story through their letters to Victor. climax · The murder of Elizabeth Lavenza on the night of her wedding to Victor Frankenstein in Chapter 23 protagonist · Victor Frankenstein antagonist · Frankenstein’s monster setting (time) · Eighteenth century setting (place) · Geneva; the Swiss Alps; Ingolstadt; England and Scotland; the northern ice point of view · The point of view shifts with the narration, from Robert Walton to Victor Frankenstein to Frankenstein’s monster, then back to Walton, with a few digressions in the form of letters from Elizabeth Lavenza and Alphonse Frankenstein. falling action · After the murder of Elizabeth Lavenza, when Victor Frankenstein chases the monster to the northern ice, is rescued by Robert Walton, narrates his story, and dies tense · Past foreshadowing · Ubiquitous—throughout...
Words: 51140 - Pages: 205
...Warning: Beware of Creature On this, the night before Halloween, there are no more appropriate novels than Frankenstein to read. Although Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s original intent was simply to participate in a horror story contest with her friends (which she rightfully won), she ended up crafting a well-known, full-length masterpiece. Frankenstein is famous not only for being spooky, but also for its commentary on the themes of dangers of knowledge and hubris, and monstrosity via playing God and losing innocence. “‘I imagine you may deduce an apt moral from my tale...nor can I doubt but that my tale conveys in its series internal evidence of the truth of the events of which it is composed’” (19). Through Frankenstein’s voice Shelley describes the greatest moral she has to offer from the suffering depicted in her story: the dangers of discovery and knowledge, which is that sometimes, however well-meant and innocent the intent may be, the expected result of scientific pursuits can turn out completely different than expected. Shelley’s prime example of this is the Creature and all the destruction he brings in his wake. So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein -- more, far more, will I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation (33). This is the epiphany that leads to the creation of the Creature, undoubtedly a somewhat naive and enthusiastic motivation...
Words: 1499 - Pages: 6
...comparison of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner? The concerns that composers challenge in their texts not only reflect the ideals and perceptions of their time, but the same issues are also found to transcend through the decades. This has been demonstrated through the comparative study of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein and Ridley Scott’s feature film Blade Runner in which their 150 year contextual difference could not create a barrier in exploring related issues. Despite Shelley’s Frankenstein being written in the early 19th century Romantic era, while Blade Runner was created in the period of late 20th century America influenced by Reaganomics, both texts delve into the concerns of the overpowering need for glory, the dichotomy between humanity and monstrosity, and the lack of parental responsibility. Through Frankenstein and Blade Runner, the desire for ultimate success is represented through the pursuit of knowledge and the application of science and technology. The underlying intention behind the project is of utmost importance as there will be dire consequences if the purpose of the creation is of a superficial motive. Through Victor, Shelley has portrayed humans as deeply ambitious yet also deeply flawed. Victor dreams of transforming society and bringing glory to his name through his scientific achievements yet his desire also makes him fallible. In writing Frankenstein, Shelley had challenged the Enlightenment ideal of knowledge, invention...
Words: 1348 - Pages: 6
...In Mary Shelley's book ¨Frankenstein,¨ Victor creates a monster whose appearance is put off as dangerous. Even though the monster tries so hard to make a friend, he is consecutively being rejected by every human he comes in contact with besides a blind man from the DeLacey family. In society your physical appearance is being judge by someone everyday. Who is too fat, who is too thin? Who wears too much makeup, who doesn't wear any at all? Who is too tall, who is too short? Everyone is not being judged just in our time period but the same thing was happening in the time period of Mary Shelley's book ¨Frankenstein.¨ Throughout the monsters multiple denials of acceptance by society and Victor, Mary Shelley shows that social rejection alters negative...
Words: 986 - Pages: 4
...The worlds of Frankenstein and Blade Runner are effective representations of their context and the values which were catalysts for their composition. How has your study supported this? Throughout time, literature has served well as a window into the schools of thought and social concerns of any given era of human history. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (Director’s cut), 1986, continue this trend. Frankenstein is a typical example of Gothic literature that engages with issues commonly raised during the Enlightenment and Romantic Movement. Blade Runner was composed in the early 1980’s, a time of radical change and development in areas of science and business. Despite their differing social contexts, both texts question similarly ethically driven issues. The question over man’s right to push the boundaries of science in the creation of life has transcended time, growing increasingly relevant with recent advancements in technology. The contentious issue was predominant throughout the Enlightenment period, an era characterised by significant change where reason was valued over religious faith. This contextual significance is mirrored in Shelly’s condemnation of Frankenstein’s experiment through the loathing tone of “now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” She furthers her argument through the monster’s description of Frankenstein as an “unfeeling, heartless creator!”, reflective...
Words: 1159 - Pages: 5
...In her 1818 preface to Frankenstein, Mary Shelley wrote that Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron sojourned into Nature leaving her behind at Villa Diodati near lake Geneva. After weeks of rain, the weather suddenly clears and she writes “my two friends left me on a journey among the Alps, lost, in the magnificent scenes…” (8) This would be the first of many excursions from which she would be left out. Though exceptionally educated and progressive, Shelley was a woman trapped by the mores of the nineteenth century. She was no stranger to the social constraints placed upon her sex. Her experiences as a woman of her time are mirrored in her portrayal of men and women and their relationship to nature in the novel. While creation, pregnancy and birth, were intrinsically the provenance of women, the quest for a rational, scientific method for understanding and conquering Nature was the objective of men. This...
Words: 3576 - Pages: 15
...how they function. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dr. Victor Frankenstein is an inspiring scientist that studies the dead. He wants to be the first person to give life to a dead human being. He spends all of his time concentrating on this goal, and gives up his family and friends. When he finally accomplishes this, everything falls apart. So, Victor Frankenstein is to blame for the tragedy, not the monster he has created, because he is the mastermind behind the whole operation, and he is supposed to have everything under control, working properly as a good scientist should do. Although some critics say that the monster Victor has created is to blame for the destruction and violence that follow the experiment, it is Victor who is the responsible party. First, Victor, being the scientist, should have known how to do research on the subject a lot more than he had done. He obviously has not thought of the consequences that may result from it such as the monster going crazy, how the monster reacts to people and things, and especially the time it will take him to turn the monster into the perfect normal human being. This is obviously something that would take a really long time and a lot of patience which Victor lacks. All Victor really wants is to be the first to bring life to a dead person and therefore be famous. The greed got to his head and that is all he could think about, while isolating himself from his friends and family. In the play of Frankenstein, when Victor comes home...
Words: 1471 - Pages: 6
...Introduction Frankenstein was Mary Shelley's (1797-1851) first published novel, written when she was only eighteen years old in 1818. In her preface to the 1831 edition, Mary Shelley tells the reader that she was asked by her publisher: "How I, then a young girl, came to think of, and to dilate upon, so very hideous an idea?" Explaining where and why the idea for Frankenstein came to Mary Shelley could answer it Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (living with but unmarried to the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley); Shelley; George Gordon, Lord Byron; and Dr. John Polidori spent the summer of 1816 in Switzerland. According to a 1 June 1916 letter by Mary Shelley, "almost perpetual rain confines us principally to the house." Lord Byron (a friend of Shelley's) and his physician John Polidori, resided nearby at the Villa Deodati. Persistent heavy rains kept them indoors, the four finally resorted to telling familiar and recently published horror and ghost stories. For days they told tales which included gothic elements: graveyard and convent, burial vaults, mysterious trap doors and passages, wild locations, secluded spots, and pursuits by moonlight. Finally, one evening at Byron's villa, they made a pact to see who could write the most frightening ghost story. Both Percy Bysshe Shelley and George Gordon, Lord Byron, had earned widespread fame; even Mary had first published a book at the age of eleven (Mounseer Mongtongpaw). Each undertook the task eagerly. It is said that Mary had a nightmare...
Words: 2679 - Pages: 11
...Frankenstein/Bladerunner In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) humanity’s manipulation of nature paradoxically erodes the human spirit and compromises integrity. Although contextually disparate, both texts explore a creator’s need to take responsibility for his creation, cautioning responders of the dangers of unrestrained scientific progress and conveying humanity’s severed relationship with nature. Where Shelley communicates with a certain ambiguity characteristic of the contradictory Age of Reason and sets her tale against a backdrop of a sublime natural world, Scott portrays a society fuelled by ecological destruction and 1980s corporate abuse. This reflects each composer’s anchoring of their visions in the socio-cultural realities of their time; a fundamental transgression of human values over time. Both texts explore the dangers of uninhibited scientific progress. In Frankenstein, Shelley fashions a gothic world where nature is tampered with and a ‘hurricane of enthusiasm’ drives the protagonist towards abandoning his conscience, prompting Shelley’s valuing of moderation. Underpinned by the Industrial Revolution and an era of scientific change, Victor embodies the obsessive passions and Romantic ego-identities of 19th century scientists. The epistolatory narrative framework adds a disquieting sense of truth to Victor’s retrospective dialogue, “how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge,” reflecting his Promethean disobedience...
Words: 1263 - Pages: 6
...It is not an uncommon theme for man to try and gain as much knowledge as possible. This desire for knowledge blinds one from seeing the possibly fatal consequences of their actions. In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, Samuel Taylor’s poem Rime of The Ancient Mariner, and Percy Shelley’s poem Ozymandias character’s all exercise the matter of knowledge and it’s correlation with nature. Knowledge is defined as one’s understanding of a topic or information. By this definition, the acquirement of knowledge therefore can apply to virtually anything that a character questions or wants to know more about. In these three stories the main characters use the acquirement of knowledge to push the boundaries of nature, resulting in personal downfall...
Words: 889 - Pages: 4
...Sympathy in Relation to Frankenstein In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, the monster becomes easy to sympathize with, as he becomes a symbol of abandonment and has a lack of knowledge of the world. Although Frankenstein was born a “monster”, he was still new to the world just like any other newborn baby. He had a lack of understanding of what it meant to speak, how to use his legs, what body language was, and how to understand people. Most babies are taught from the very beginning how to learn all of those concepts, although it may take some time, they are still supported and encouraged every day. Frankenstein never received this love and attention. He was neglected from the start, which led him to a life of anger, criminality, and loneliness. “The list of problems that stem from neglect reads like the index of the DSM: poor impulse control, social withdrawal, problems with coping and regulating emotions, low self-esteem, pathological behaviors such as tics, tantrums, stealing and self-punishment, poor intellectual functioning and low academic achievement.” (APA, Kirsten Weir) Neglect at birth leads to copious amounts of problems as stated above. Frankenstein was taught time after time that he was repulsive and unlovable, teaching him the feeling anger. The article written by Kirsten Weir proceeds to explain the damaging effects of being left alone at birth. In the article a few doctors are quoted. The doctor’s had first hand experience and visited children in an orphanage...
Words: 2475 - Pages: 10
