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Summary Frankenstein context notes
These are Grade A context notes for Frankenstein (1818) they discuss all the key Context ideas
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Ultimate context resource: Frankenstein (1818)Concepts Summary and relationship to ‘Frankenstein’
Mary Shelley biography (1797- 1816: Married Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley
1851) She published her most famous novel, Frankenstein, in
1818
After her mother died and her father remarried, her
stepmother did not consider Mary to be one of her own,
her two step sisters always coming first, she was neglected
by her mother and her father was not really capable of
looking after her. This is similar to how Frankenstein
neglects his creation due to fear.
Mary Shelley never received formal education - taught by
her father and his friends - like Frankenstein who had to
read books and poems to become educated.
Mary’s first child died, and during the eight years to follow
she would have miscarried five children. This could have
fueled the idea she implemented into Frankenstein, and
him being able to create life without the risk of it dying.
Gothic melodrama It is a hybrid of melodrama and drama, stories often
revolving around an impressionable woman and a strong
man.
Gothic melodramas tend to take place in grand settings
They also contain some element of the supernatural
Prometheus in Greek mythology He was a titan (a person or thing of great strength,
intellect or importance) who stole fire from the gods and
gave it to humans; this was a selfless act and as a result of
this, Zeus punished him eternally.
He was credited as the creator of mankind.
He was an important figure for those with Romantic
mentalities; he became the ideal of a creative rebel who
was cruelly persecuted for his vision and achievements.
Mary Shelley’s concept of Prometheus is different to that
of her husband’s. To her, Prometheus is an equivocal
(ambiguous) figure; who created but rejected his creation,
becoming a haunted and hunted man.
She used her concept of Prometheus to model the
character of Victor Frankenstein who created but rejected
his creation out of fear and horror in what he had created.
The novel Frankenstein received the subtitle of “The
Modern Prometheus”
Milton’ s ‘Paradise Lost’ (1667) It is an epic narrative poem by John Wilton.
He presented his true feelings through the arguments put
forth by characters in the poem; it could be argued that it
is a form of puritanical (having a very strict attitude
towards sex) work.
The poem revolved around the genesis story and what
caused the fall of Adam and Eve
It relates to ‘Frankenstein’ the creature being a parallel
to Adam himself, questioning the reason of his creation.
Also, VF himself can be argued to represent Satan by
playing God. Just like Satan was punished for his arrogance
and thirst for forbidden knowledge, VF attempts to take
, Ultimate context resource: Frankenstein (1818)
over God’s role as creator and loses his loved ones as a
punishment for his crime.
The Alps as a setting (the A lot of Frankenstein’s story takes place in Switzerland, the
mountains) same place Mary Shelley was at the time it was being
written.
The Swiss and arctic settings deliver the message that one
should respect the worlds dangers as well as the beauty it
holds in nature.
The Alps are first described as a place of beauty;
Frankenstein travelling there in seek of new knowledge,
but as he keeps climbing, what he initially saw as a place
of beauty becomes a place of danger and allows him to
come to the conclusion that not everything in nature is fit
for humans to discover and experience.
The double/doppelganger in The doppelganger is a double set in opposition to one of
Gothic the characters in the story: this can be either literal or
symbolic.
The monster could be argued to be a doppelganger of
Frankenstein
The monster is the embodiment of Frankenstein’s
conflicting personality and his evil side
The creature acts as evidence that Frankenstein is no
longer the person who could have used his intelligence for
the better.
Villa Diodati and Mary and Percy Shelley visited Lord Byron (an English
Fantasmagoriana Romantic poet) at Villa Diodati.
Their stay was prolonged due to a storm and Lord Byron
https:// proposed a challenge; to write a ghost story.
thegothicwanderer.wordpress.c They read a book of ghost stories called Fantasmagoriana
om/tag/fantasmagoriana/ – French anthology which was later translated as ‘Tales of
the Dead.’ It contained 6 ghost stories – The family
portraits, The fated hour, The deaths hand, The death
bride, The storm, The spectre barber
These readings inspired them to write their own stories
Mary Shelley wrote ‘Frankenstein’
John Polidori wrote ‘The Vampyre.’ (He was Byron’s person
physician)
Romanticism Frankenstein himself as a character is a romantic
character – He represents the romantic ideas of
imagination and innovation.
Romanticism is also portrayed through Shelley’s use of
imagery of nature.
The setting and nature are also used as a means to reflect
the feelings and emotions of characters – e.g. the icy
setting that Walton describes emphasizes his loneliness.
Romantics often travel to far away places: Walton being an
example of this, travelling to the North Pole in his desire to
find new places.
A Romantic hero is one who rejects norms and
conventions, and has been rejected by society. This makes
the monster a romantic hero in Frankenstein, being
rejected by society for looking hideous and different
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