1. Mary Shelley

2. A reaction to the Age of Reason (logic, science, rationality) Rejects rationality and replaces it with the subjective, imaginative, personal, spontaneous, emotional, visionary Romanticists Believe: Beauty of nature should be studied Control is dangerous Nature provides comfort Preoccupation with genius Focus on passion/inner struggles

3. Beliefs Continued Emphasized imagination and intuition Belief in supernatural Fascination with exceptional figures Ex: Hero, Genius Emphasize the strange and bizarre *The common have no place in art * Creative spirit is more important than adherence to rules and traditional procedures*

4. Genre of literature: Falls within Romantic category of literature Combines elements of horror and romance Invented in 1764 Popular from 1790-1830 Terrorizing writing Description of a fallen world Has a gothic hero Modern gothic writer: Stephen King

5. Supernatural forces Imaginative excess Delusions Religious and human evil Social transgressions Mental disintegration Spiritual corruption

6. Torturous, fragmented narrative Horrible images Life-threatening circumstances Monsters Demons Corpses Skeletons Evil aristocrats Scientists

7. Madmen Monks Nuns Fainting heroines Bandits Criminals Monstrous doubles

8. Promotes violence Celebrates criminal behavior Selfish ambitions beyond law, family duty, religion

9. 18 th and 19 th Century Obscure places Remote places Unknown places Rugged, natural settings New, different worlds

10. Born in 1797 Parents: Emotionally void but intellectually guided MOM: Mary Wollstonecraft- feminist DAD: William Godwin- atheist/ex-minister Both were anti-marriage but wed when Mary became pregnant Both of her parents were writers

11. Married Percy Shelley at 16 (also a writer) Gave birth to four children; three died as infants Mary’s sister committed suicide Wrote with themes of birth and death Origin of Frankenstein (Mary- age 18): A dream Mary dreamt she brought her baby back to life by rubbing it by a fire Rainy night; Told ghost stories Early Science Fiction

12. After the French Revolution, advances in machines and technology threatened to replace workers Low wages, terrible working conditions, no unions People went to desperate measures (like sabotaging machines) to keep jobs Experiments with electricity Erasmus Darwin (Charles’ grandfather) and evolution became popular Questions about the boundary between life and death

13. A man named Robert Walton is on a voyage and writes to his sister about the man he meets: Victor Frankenstein Frankenstein is a scientist who tells Walton the story of his creation: He created a monster from dead body parts (supernatural workings) The monster is intelligent and sensitive The monster tries to integrate himself socially Feels rejected and abandoned by society Seeks revenge on his creator

14. Man should not fool with nature Don’t play God Nothing in excess– live a balanced life Other Topics: Alienation and loneliness Nature vs. Nurture Appearance vs. Reality Duty and responsibility Justice and injustice