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== Mary Shelley == | == Mary Shelley == | ||
* her mother was the famed writer and women | * her mother was the famed writer and women's rights thinker, Mary Wollenstonecraft | ||
** Wollenstonecraft is considered the "first feminist" | ** Wollenstonecraft is considered the "first feminist" | ||
* her father, <nowiki>'''William Godwin'''</nowiki>, was a famous political philosopher and novelist | * her father, <nowiki>'''William Godwin'''</nowiki>, was a famous political philosopher and novelist | ||
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== Writing of Frankenstein == | == Writing of Frankenstein == | ||
=== The Year Without a Summer === | |||
* it was on a trip to Switzerland in 1816 w/ Shelley, the poet Lord Byron, and William Polidor that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein | * it was on a trip to Switzerland in 1816 w/ Shelley, the poet Lord Byron, and William Polidor that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein | ||
* Mary wrote of her time in Switzerland, | |||
"It proved a wet, ungenial summer, and incessant rain often confined us for days to the house" | |||
* there were unusual, frequent thunderstorms that summer | |||
** in 1815, Mt. Tombora, in Indonesia, had exploded, the largest volcanic eruption in 1,300 years | |||
** the volcano emitted an enormous amount of ash and particles into the sky | |||
*** caused agricultural disasters and famines across the northern hemisphere | |||
** the summer of 1816 was known as "The Year Without a Summer" | |||
** worldwide temperatures dropped 1 degree Celsius | |||
** in Switzerland ice formed in the mountains during the summer and reddish snow fell during the summer in the Alps regions of northern Italy (bordering Switzerland) | |||
** and rain across Europe flooded major rivers | |||
** in Hungry, the volcanic ash mixed with snow and fell as "brown snow" | |||
* during the gloomy summer, to amuse one another, the friends told ghost stories to one another | |||
* Byron suggested they each write one of their own | |||
* Mary was unable to think of one, until her thoughts moved towards "galvanism" and the re-animation of a corpse. | |||
=== Galvanism === | === Galvanism === | ||
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** the term "Galvanism" was actually coined by Alessandro Volta, who built the first chemical electric battery | ** the term "Galvanism" was actually coined by Alessandro Volta, who built the first chemical electric battery | ||
*** for Volta, "Galvanism" referred to generation of electricity via chemical reactions | *** for Volta, "Galvanism" referred to generation of electricity via chemical reactions | ||
* '''James Lind''', 1736-1812 | |||
** a physician who taught Galvanism and demonstrated it to Percy Shelley with dead frogs and reptiles by making them jump by applying electricity | |||
*** he suggested the use of electricity to treat the insane (called today "electroshock therapy") | |||
*** and he may have revived a cardiac arrest patient with electrical shocks | |||
** Mary Shelley had nightmares about these sessions | |||
** Lind was likely the inspiration for the characters De Lacey and Dr. M. Waldman in ''Frankenstein''. | |||
== Technological change == | |||
* during the early 19th century, the world saw tremendous technological and scientific change and advance | |||
* new technologies and inventions excited and scared the world | |||
* religion was challenged as the sole explanation of the natural world | |||
=== exploration === | |||
* the world was first circumnavigated in the 1500s | |||
* a part of northern Australia was only discovered in 1606 by the Dutch, who never settled it | |||
* the British mapped and settled Australia in the 1780s after losing the American colonies | |||
* explorers were still mapping the Arctics in the late 1700s | |||
=== electricity === | |||
* in the 1740s and 1750s Benjamin Franklin astounded the world by discovering the nature of electricity and lightning | |||
* other scientists and inventors studied and experimented with electricity | |||
=== steam engine === | |||
* the first steam engine was invented in the mid-1700s | |||
* the first steam boats were employed in the late 1700s | |||
* the first steam-powered land vehicles (trains and tractors) were used in the early 1800s | |||
=== medicine === | |||
* along w/ the telescope, the microscope was invented over a long period of time | |||
* in 1676, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek | |||
== Science, knowledge & acting like God == | |||
* the overall theme of Frankenstein is the danger of knowledge | |||
* "science" originally means "knowledge" or "acquiring knowledge" | |||
** thus "science" is taking on knowledge | |||
* the novel poses questions about Dr. Frankenstein's experiments and about science itsefl: | |||
** ''was he trying to gain knowledge that he should not possess?'' | |||
** ''was he acting like a god or God?'' | |||
** ''is there such as thing as "dangerous knowledge"'' | |||
** ''should there be limits upon scientific experiments?'' | |||
== Literary, mythological & religious inspirations and references == | |||
=== Adam and Eve === | |||
* in the Hebrew bible (Christian "Old Testament"), God created man in the form of Adam and Eve | |||
** they were to live in peace with God and all the animals in the "Garden of Eden" | |||
** the only rule was that they should not eat the fruit of the "tree of knowledge" | |||
* Satan (the devil) appeared to them as a serpent (snake) | |||
** and convinced Eve that God was unfair and cruel to not let them eat from the "tree of knowledge" | |||
** and that they could become like God if they ate the fruit of that tree | |||
** by eating the fruit, they lost their innocence and were kicked out of the Garden of Eden for it | |||
* while God created Adam and Eve, is God responsible for their decisions? | |||
** or do Adam and Eve exercise free will (make decisions on their own)? | |||
*** or is He? | |||
=== Paradise Lost === | |||
* by the English poet, John Milton | |||
* tells the Biblical story of the "fall of man" through the narrative of Adam and Eve and their "temptation" by Satan | |||
=== Prometheus === | |||
* ''Frankenstein'' is also called, or sometimes uses the subtitle, "The Modern Prometheus" | |||
* = Greek myth of "Prometheus" | |||
** he was a Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans in order to help them | |||
** = giving humans knowledge of the gods | |||
* the gods were angered and punished Prometheus to eternal torment | |||
** by being tied to a rock and having his liver eaten by an eagle every day | |||
** then it would grow back to be eaten again the next day | |||
** eventually the hero Heracles rescued him | |||
=== Problems for Dr. Frankenstein === | |||
so a question for Dr. Frankenstein is if he is acting like God, the Greek gods, or Adam & Eve or Prometheus? | |||
* ''if Dr. Frankenstein is acting like God, is Frankenstein responsible for the actions of the monster?'' | |||
* ''if, instead, Dr. Frankenstein is acting like Adam and Eve or Prometheus, is he not then responsible for his actions, as he stole "knowledge" from God/gods?'' | |||
* ''is some knowledge dangerous?'' | |||
* ''should there be limits upon knowledge?'' | |||
* ''is there responsibility with knowledge?'' | |||
[[Category:British Literature]] | [[Category:British Literature]] | ||