Mary Shelley and Frankenstein: An Introduction

Background information Born in 1797 and was the daughter of two “radical” parents: Her father, William Godwin, was a political thinker and writer. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was a pioneer in the women’s movement for equal rights and education.

Marriage…It’s Complicated Mary Godwin met poet Percy Shelley in 1812. Shelley was already married to Harriet Shelley. Mary and Percey ran off together in 1814, and in 1815 she gave birth to their first child, who died 12 days later. Harriet drowned herself in 1816; thereafter, Mary and Percey married. In five years, the couple had four children, three of whom died as infants. Critics believe that the infants’ deaths influenced the writer’s concepts on birth and death.

Medical advancements of the time During Mary’s time, scientists and physicians were fascinated by the elusive boundary between life and death. Galvanism was experimentation with electricity. Scientists explored electricity’s power to both kill and animate. Natural philosophy was also a type of science explored at the time, but it has since been discredited. Natural philosophy focused on uncovering the secrets of life ( a way to live forever, trying to turn dull metals into gold).

Novel Inspiration In the summer of 1816, 19 year old Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and her partner, the poet Percy Shelley, visited the Lord Byron at his villa beside Lake Geneva in Switzerland. Stormy weather frequently forced them indoors. Byron and the other guests sometimes read from a volume of German Gothic writers. One evening, Byron challenged his guests to each write their own horror stories. Mary's story, inspired by a dream, became Frankenstein.

The Baby and The Dream The inspiration for Dr. Frankenstein’s monster came from a dream Mary Shelley had. Following her daughter’s death, Mary dreamed that her daughter was brought back to life through vigorous rubbing and being held near a warm fire. Her journal reveals the original Frankenstein nightmare: Dreamt that my little baby came to life again; that it had only been cold, and that we rubbed it before the fire, and it lived. Awake and find no baby. I think about the little thing all day. Not in good spirits. (MWS, Journal, 70)

The Structure of the Story The novel is constructed of three concentric layers, one within the other: outermost--Robert Walton's letters to his sister; middle--Frankenstein's story as he tells it to Walton; innermost--Monster's description to Frankenstein of the development of his mind at the deLaceys'.

relating to or denoting the writing of letters or literary works in the form of letters.

Gothicism vs. Romanticism Romantic writers celebrated the beauties of nature. Gothic writers were peering into the darkness at the supernatural. Romanticism developed as a reaction against the rationalism of the Age of Reason. The romantics freed the imagination from the hold of reason, so they could follow their imagination wherever it might lead. For some Romantics, when they looked at the individual, they saw hope (think “A Psalm of Life”). For some Romantic writers, the imagination led to the threshold of the unknown—the shadowy region where the fantastic, the demonic and the insane reside. When the Gothic's saw the individual, they saw the potential of evil.

Purpose of Gothic writing To evoke “terror” versus “horror” in the reader because of situations bordering reality/unreality Often used to teach a message Will develop an atmosphere of gloom and terror Horror “An awful apprehension” Described distinctly Something grotesque So appalling, unrealistic Depends on physical characteristics Terror “A sickening realization” Suggestive of what will happen Depends on reader’s imagination Sense of uncertainty Creates an “intangible atmosphere of spiritual psychic dread”