1. Introducing Frankenstein
Senior English
Introducing Frankenstein
Before reading any of the novel

2. Facts about the author
Archetypical settings
Frame Story
Essential questions

3. Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin)
Daughter of two intellectual radicals
Early women’s rights activist
Mother died ten days after Mary’s birth
William Godwin: political philosopher and novelist
Admired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
As a child, Mary heard him recite “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” in her living room.

4. More about Mary Ran away with Percy Shelley when she was 16
Percy was married at the time and left his wife.
He and Mary married when she was 18 after the death of his legal wife (who had been 16 when they married).
Percy Shelley was well-known literary figure in England.

5. Publishing Frankenstein
Mary Shelley did not attach her name to the novel, so many people assumed her husband wrote it.
The story was inspired by a trip to the Swiss Alps when she, Percy, and Byron challenged each other to tell ghost stories.
She wrote the novel in a year, and it was published when she was 19.

6. Turn and talk
Turn to someone nearby and tell him/her something about Mary.

7. Setting
Switzerland
Germany
The Arctic

8. Archetypical Setting Mountains Obstacles/knowledge/
better vantage point
Snow
Ice
Death, dying, waiting for rebirth

9. Scarlet Letter was a frame story
“Custom House”
The Scarlet Letter

10. Frame Story The first part you read is the letters.
This is actually the END of the story, but you read it FIRST.
The second part you read is Victor Frankenstein's story.
It’s the BEGINNING of the story, but you read it SECOND.
The third part you read is the monster’s tale.
It’s the middle of the story,
but you read it LAST.

11. Walton’s Letters to his sister
Frankenstein’s Story to Walton
Creature’s Story
Frame Story

13. Turn to someone new What is a frame story?
What is archetypical about the settings in this novel?

14. Age of Enlightenment Scientific observation of the outer world
Logic and reason; science and technology
Belief in following standards and traditions
Appreciation of elegance and refinement
Interest in maintaining the aristocracy
Follow and validate authority
Favored a social hierarchy
Nature should be controlled by humans

15. Gothic Novel
Frankenstein is generally categorized as a Gothic novel, a genre of fiction that uses gloomy settings and supernatural events to create an atmosphere of mystery and terror.
Shelley adds to her development of the plot the use of psychological realism, delving into the psyches of the characters in an attempt to explain why they react as they do and what drives them to make their decisions.

16. Genre
Watch for elements of Gothic literature (this is the type of lit that inspired Hawthorne and Poe)..
Eerie and supernatural events
Melancholy atmosphere
Reflects wild, unpredictable aspects of nature
Desolate and harsh landscapes

17. Return and talk What is one trait value from the Age of Enlightenment?
Identify two characteristics of the Gothic genre.