Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley was born in 1797 and she was the daughter of two important
people:
- Mary Wolstonecraft , a feminist, philosopher and novelist
- William Godwim, an anarchist and philosopher.
Both their parents had been influenced by the ideas of French Revolution, in
fact they were members of a radical group, which included other important
men of letters, and there was also William Blake.
After Mary’s mother died, her father married Mary Jane Clairmont, and she
and her daughter Claire, were the cause of Mary’s sufferings and troubles.
However, the intellectual stimulus were a lots. Godwin’s house was visited by
some famous writers of the day, like Coleridge and Percy Shelley, who was
immediately attracted by the beautiful and intellectual Mary.
In 1814 Mary and Percy fled to France, and later Shelley decide to rent a
country house on the bans of lake of Geneva, near Byron’s rented villa, Villa
Diodati. There, Mary started to write Frankenstein. This novel resulted from
a competition between Mary, Percy Shelley and Lord Byron to see who could
write the best horror story. However, the novel was also inspired by her own
anxieties and uncertainties.
In 1818, Mary published Frankenstein anonymously.
When Percy was founded drowned after embarking on a sea voyage, Mary
returned to England, where she continued to write, but the other stories were
not as successful as her first novel.
She died in 1851, at the age 54 years.

Frankenstein, or the Modern

Prometheus
The novel opens with the meeting between Captain Robert Walton and the
scientist Victor Frankenstein at Polo North. The scientist start to tell his story.
He was obsessed by the idea of creating life, and when he discovered that the
secret of life was electricity, he tried. So he started to create a man taking the
various parts of the body from corpses, opening the graves of the cimitery.
But, when the creature comes to life, Victor was frighted of his work and so he
runs away. The monster, feeling rejected by his creator and other people for
his appearance, become a murdered. In fact he killed victor’s brother to
revenge. After, this event, the monster met Victor on the mountains, and he
asked to the scientist to create a woman to runs away with her. He refused this
idea, and the monster sweared him revenge.
So Victor run away in Irlanda, but te monster followed him and killed his
friend Henry.
Victor returned to his homeland and married Elisabeth. But the same night of
the ceremony, the woman was killed by the monster.
Victor followed the monster to the Polo North, where there met Captain
Walton.

The novel isn’t told chronologically and is introduced through a series of

letters written by Walton to his sister Margaret Saville (same initials of Mary
Shelley). In fact the form of novel is epistolary, and the narrators are
different.
- At first, Walton informs his sister
- Then, Frankenstein informs Walton, who inform his sister
- Finally, the monster informs Frankenstein, who informs Walton, who inform
his sister.
Perharps, Mary wanted hide her famale voice, behind three male narrators.

The events sets all over the Europe, from Ginevra to Alps, to France, England
and Scotland and at the university of Ingolstadt. But the most important
setting is the North Pole, where Frankenstein meets Walton and tells to him
his story. This setting is used to show these two characters’ state of mind as
being depressed, empty and lonely.

Origins
This novel is inspired by her interest about ghost stories, speculation about the
re-animation of crops, but also by her anxieties and the memories of her sense
of loss at the death of her mother.

The influence of science

Mary decided to dedicate her novel to Godwin, in fact, in the novel there are
many ideas held by her parents, as education and sociale justice.
However, in Frankenstein there is tension between fear of revolution and
interest in revolutionary ideas, which have characterized the thought of the
England intellectuals.
Frankenstein is influenced also by the latest scientific theories and experiment,
and in particular, the discovery of electricity.

Literary influences
Frankenstein is influenced also by philosophy’s theories and literature.
- The monster represent the Rousseau’s natural man, that is, a primitive
man not influenced by civilization; but rapidly he discovers the limitations
both of the state of nature and civilization.
- There is also the influence of Lock that can be seen in the description of the
monster’s self-awareness and his education by experience.
- It’s important also the role of the ghost stories read at villa Diodati, even if
Frankenstein can’t be considered a Gothic novel, because isn’t set in a dark
castle and doesn’t deal with supernatural events.
- Another inspiration was given by Romantic poets, in particular by the
Coleridge’s ballad: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. This ballad and
Shelley’s novel are tales of a crime against nature: Frankenstein creation of
monster and the Mariner’s shooting of the Albatross.
- Obviously we have to consider the myth of Prometheus, that have inspired
the second name of the novel. Prometheus was a giant, who stole the fire
from Gods, in order to give it to men, so he freed men from gods’ power. It’s
an example of an overreach, like Dr. Frankenstein who want overcome
human limits.

Themes
The themes present in the novel are:
- the quest of forbidden knowledge, which is present throughout the novel
- The overreach in the characters of Walton and Dr. Frankenstein, which
theme is related to the theme of:
- The penetration nature’s secret
- The usurpation of the female role, since the creation isn’t generated by a
woman
- Social prejudice, because the monster looks like an outcast. He is rejected
by the society and by his creation. Initially, the monster wasn’t a bad person,
in fact, in a chapter, he saved a children, but his appearance and prejudices
of the other people, led people to turn him away. But is the DR Frankenstein
rejection to turn the monster into a murdered
- The double: this theme link all the three main characters of the novel.
Walton is the double of Frankenstein because they have the same ambition;
both want go beyond the human limits. Walton travels toward the unknown,
instead Frankenstein creates a life.
Also Frankenstein is the double of his creature because they are two aspects
of the same being. They both are lonely and suffer a sense of alienation, and
both want to be good but are obsessed by revenge. The creature represent the
bad part of Dr Frankenstein. The scientist refers to him with terms like
‘miserable’, ‘wretch’ ‘devil’.
The theme of double will be used also in later novels, as Dr. Jackie and Mr
Hide and in the Picture od Dorian Gray written by Oscar Wilde
 The creation of the monster
The creation of monster is described in the fifth chapter of the novel.
The creation opens with the description of the atmosphere: Dr Frankenstein is
working on his project in his laboratory, in a dreary night of November. There
is a mysterious and dark atmosphere: it’s one in the morning, the rain patters
against the panes and the candle is burning out.
Dr. Frankenstein is the narrator and he describes the creation of monster.
When he infuses the spark of being in his corp, and the monster takes life,
the scientist is a lot scared by the monster, because he is very ugly. He have a
yellow skin that scarcely cover the work of muscles and artiries beneath, his
hair is black,, his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but this characteristic formed a
more horrid contrast with his watery eyes and with the straight black lips.
Looking at this monster, he goes scared into the bedroom, where, due to
tiredness, he falls asleep.
While he sleeps, he has a nightmare: he dreams Elizabeth, the woman he
loves, but when he is kissing her, she turns into his mother’s corpse.
So, he suddenly wakes up, and find the monster next to him, which seeks to
communicate with his creator.
But Frankenstein is too scared by his ugliness, so he runs away and spends the
last hours of the night in the courtyard of the house, walking up and down in
the greatest agitation.

The Gothic Novel

In the 18th century, the interest in individual consciousness spread all over
the Europe. This was caused by a taste for the strange and mysterious and by
an impulsive for freedom and escape from the ugly.
This types of novel were called ‘Gothic novels’, and were common in all social
classes, thanks to circulating libraries.
The adjective Gothic was used for the first time in architecture. After, the water
Walpole was the first to linked the adjective also in literature. He was obsessed by
his miniature castle at Strawberry Hill, so he wrote ‘ The Castle of Otranto’, which
subtitle was ‘A Gothic Story’.

The Gothic novel wants create fear in the readers. This search of fearful is due to the
historical events: in fact there were, in that period, the bloody Revolutions in
America and France.
The Gothic novel was setting in ancient place, like castles, mysterious abbey and
convents with hidden passages and prisons. The events took place during the night
because the darkness create an atmosphere of gloom, so all characters perceived the
world all around them as hostile.
The main character is usually isolated and persecuted by a villains. The plots are
often complicated and there are a lot of supernatural elements: as monsters,
vampires, witches and ghosts.
The first nove of this kind is The Castle of Otranto.

Queen Victoria
In te 1837, Queen Victoria came to throne at the age of 18years. She ranged for 64
years and that’s period takes her name “Victorian age” for indicate a age of
economic and scientific progress and social reforms.
In 1840 she married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, with whom she had 9
children.
Since The Prince Albert helped the Queen several times, she gives to him, in 1857,
the title of Prince Consort.