Introduction to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, focusing on contextual background

1. Mary Shelley’s
FRANKENSTEIN

2. The original title was
Frankenstein; or, The
Modern Prometheus .
Prometheus was a mythological
god who according to
one story, steals fire from
Jupiter to help
the mortals on earth.
A her v sion of t myt
not er his h
is t t Pr heus a ual
ha omet ct ly
cr t ahuma being bybr t l int acl y
eaes n eahing ife o a
body.
1945

3. The author, Mary Shelley,
was born Mary Wollstonecraft
in London in 1797 and died in
1851 at the age of 54 from a
brain tumor.
Shelley was 19 years old
when she wrote this Gothic
novel in 1816. At the time she
was married to a poet, Percy
Shelley, who helped her with
the editing process of this
novel.
1931

4. Mary wrote the novel
one summer while she
vacationed at Lake
Geneva in Switzerland.
The weather was
unseasonably cold. For
entertainment, Mary
Shelley, her husband
(poet) Percy Bysshe
Shelley, (poet) Lord
Byron, and Jane
Clairmont would sit 1931
around reading ghost
stories.

5. On June 15, 1816,
a challenge was
issued among the
four of them to see
who could write
the most terrifying
story.
Mary Shelley’s
story is based on
her life
experiences, her
dreams, and
scientific research
and experiments
of that time period.
1931

6. Mary Shelley had
previously suffered
with nightmares in
1815 after her
daughter died two
weeks after birth.
Repeatedly Mary
dreamt her baby was
just cold, and that she
herself brought her
daughter back to life
after messaging the
infant’s lifeless body
while sitting next to a
warm fire. 1931

7. On June 15, 1816,
Mary experienced a
different nightmare in
which she dreamt, “a
pale student of
‘unhallowed arts’
creates a living being
from dead parts.”
(Frankenstein p.x)
[unhallowed: against
what is considered holy
and sacred; immoral
and unethical according
to society’s standards]
1931

8. That dream was the
basis for her gothic story.
Ironically, Mary Shelley
was the only one out of
the group to finish her
tale of terror.
Mary Shelley’s gothic
novel was published in
1818 when she was just
21. She went on to
publish other works, but
none ever matched the
popularity of
FRANKENSTEIN.
1931

9. Mary Shelley’s novel
wasn’t based on her
dreams alone. In the early
1800’s, scientists were
obsessed with finding a
way to bring the dead back
to life. Mary found this idea
fascinating and kept
current with all new
science experiments taking
place during her time.
Luigi Galvani was one
scientist that believed that
“electricity” was the life
force for living beings.

10. He would take dead
animals and shock their
bodies with high currents
of electricity. The corpse
would jolt when shocked
with electrical currents.
Luigi’s nephew, Giovanni
Aldini, took the experiment
one step further. In
London, on January 17,
1803, he publicly
performed this experiment
on the corpse of a human
being, a prisoner that had
been executed by
hanging.

11. Giovanni attached live
wires to the corpse: 120
plates of zinc and 120
plates of copper.
Giovanni reported, “the
jaw began to quiver, the
adjoining muscles were
horribly contorted, and the
left eye actually
opened.”(Frankenstein, p.
xx)

12. The muscles of the corpse were
shocked to such a degree that
the corpse appeared “animated”
to the public.
With Frankenstein , the sci-fi era
began. The novel contains the 3
elements essential for all
science fiction work: (1)“it’s
based on valid scientific research;
(2)gives a persuasive prediction of
what science might achieve in the
future; (3) and it offers a
humanistic critique of the benefits
and dangers of either the
achievement or scientific
thought.” (p. xx)

13. Romantic Movement: (1770-1870)
This movement is not about “romance or love” but
about disillusioned liberals who were tired of
the common people being oppressed by tyrant
rulers. This time period happens simultaneously
with revolutions around the world: the
American R. 1776, the French R. 1789, the
Ma ry French Reign of Terror 1793, Napoleon is
S M a rl ye y
he l crowned Emperor--1804.
S h e lle y Nature imagery is a key element in Romantic
literature because human tyranny could not
control nature. For the Romantics, nature
represented peace and they believed that all
emotional healing came from nature.
[Nature imagery is abundant in Frankenstein.]

14. Go t h ic L it e r a t u r e : It’s
an offshoot of Romantic literature.
“Along with nature having the
power of healing, Gothic writers
gave nature the power of
destruction. Many storms arise in
the book, including storms the
night the creature comes to life…
The most common feature of
Gothic literature is the indication of
mood through the weather. When
bad things are going to happen in
a Gothic novel, the reader knows it
because there is inevitably a storm
outside.” (Grudzina)
1997

15. In addition, Gothic literature is “a style of
fiction, especially in the late 18th
century and early 19th century, with
historical and picturesque settings, an
atmosphere of mystery, gloom and
terror, supernatural or psychological
plot elements, with violent, gruesome
deaths.” (Webster)
The setting is usually in medieval castles
built in the Gothic style (like McMurry
University) of architecture—with
secret passageways, dungeons, and
towers.

16. Works Cited
• Art.com. 1995. Online October 5, 2003.
http://www.art.com
• “Frankenstein.” U.S. National Library of Medicine. 13 February
2002. Online. <
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/frankenstein/frank_celluloid.html>5
October 2003.
• Grudzina, Rebecca. Teaching Unit: Individual Learning Packet.
Cheswold: Prestwick House Inc., 2004.
• Hamberg, Cynthia. “My Hideous Progeny: Mary Shelley’s
Frankenstein. Google Images. October 27, 2004. 3 October 2006
<home-1.worldonline.nl/~hamberg/home2.html>
• Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Pocket Books. 1995.