Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)

Attachments:

• Frankenstein research

1. Daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft (Vindication of the Rights of Women)
2. Married to Percy Bysshe Shelley (Romantic poet - Ozymandias)
3. Close friend of Lord Byron (Romantic Poet - Don Juan)
4. Father was political philosopher William Godwin
5. Wrote Frankenstein in 1818, when she was only 18 years old!
   1. Originally published anonymously

1. Victor Frankenstein

   Attachments:

   • Victor Frankenstein
   1. Walton (first narrator)
   2. William (brother), killed by the creature
   3. Justine, accused of William's murder
   4. Elizabeth (adopted sister/fiance)
   5. Clerval (best friend)
   6. The Creature
      1. The De Lacey family
         1. Safie

Attachments:

• Frankenstein Critic Quotes

1. 1931 Frankenstein, Boris Karloff as the creature
2. 1974 Young Frankenstein, developed by Mel Brooks
3. 1994: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, directed by Kenneth Branagh

1. Ambition/ hubris

   Annotations:

   • Walton's quest for discovery Frankenstein's desire to create life Danger of this - the Modern Prometheus...
2. Knowledge/ education

   Annotations:

   • * Victor's study at college and Independent research * The creature learns from observing the De Lacey family and reading * Safie learns language from the De Laceys * Walton's quest of discovery
3. Nature vs Society

   Annotations:

   • Nature is sublime: beautiful and restores health, but also dangerous. Creature wants to be part of society but  it is corrupting and leads to loss of innocence.
4. Family

   Annotations:

   • Family relationships are very important: * Victor and Elizabeth * The impact of William's death on Victor * The effect of seeing the De Lacey family on the Creature * The Creature's lack of family and desire for a mate * The narrator, Walton, writes to his dear sister
5. Prejudice

   Annotations:

   • The only person who doesn't judge the creature negatively is the old man De Lacey who is blind so can't see him
6. Revenge

   Annotations:

   • The creature takes revenge on Frankenstein by killing Elizabeth on their wedding night.

1. Fire

   Annotations:

   • The Creature discovers fire: it warms him, but also burns him. Fire as a source of punishment, e.g. the Creature's description of Hell (influence of Milton's Paradise Lost)
   1. Subtitle: The Modern Prometheus

      Annotations:

      • Prometheus: Greek God who stole fire from Mount Olympus and gave to humans-
2. Light

   Annotations:

   • * Symbolises enlightenment * Walton's quest to the Arctic: "a country of eternal light" * Victor refers to light when he discovers natural philosophy and when he feels his study is advancing ***Light can be blinding as well as illuminating***

Attachments:

• Structure, form and language (Frankenstein)

1. Epistolary form (Walton's letters)

   Attachments:

   • Frankenstein-Letters 1-4
2. Gothic

   Attachments:

   • Gothic
3. Romantic

   Attachments:

   • Romantics/ Romanticism
4. Developed while competing with Byron, Percy Shelley and John Polidori to make a scary horror story at Lake Geneva
5. Narrative frame (Victor's story within Walton's, the creature's story within Victor's)