Style in Frankenstein A PowerPoint

Framing Device Framing Device—is created when one character is telling a story from one character to another, and the reader is privy to the information. Framing device was a creative literary device in the Victorian Period. Some Romantics used it because they were trying to take back literature from the dogmatic Dead White Guy Club. However, does the device (form) damage the function of the novel? Telephone? Validity?

Epistolary Novel Epistolary Novel—novels that incorporate letters. Because Shelley sets the novel in various locales across Europe, she is obliged to keep her characters communicating in the mode that was common during the day. The use of letters to explain Captain Robert Walton’s expedition establishes the first person point of view with multiple perspectives. Are the letters necessary? Why or why not?

Travel Literature Travel Literature—obviously, a text detailing one’s travels. They were commonplace during the Victorian Period when the middle class began to read and required knowledge from abroad. Charles Dickens, D.H. Lawrence, John Steinbeck, Mary Wollstonecraft herself, and even Mary Shelley all wrote travel stories. Many readers believed Frankenstein to be a non- fictional piece, terrifying the readers. Would the story be better if it were set in one location?

Mary Shelley’s Style Romanticism Lyrical–Beauty Romantic thinkers asserted the potential of all men and women to be limited neither by nature nor tradition. Romanticism is often associated with the primacy of imagination, the worship of nature, and the use of natural imagery and symbolism in mythmaking. Many of the Romantics looked at the inner person, thus jilting the hypocrisy and superficiality that lasted into and through the Victorian Period. Therefore, they believed style to be somewhat personal and ornate. “The weight upon my spirit was sensibly lightened as I plunged yet deeper in the ravine of Arve. The immense mountains and precipices that overhung me on every side, the sound of the river raging among the rocks, and the dashing of the waterfalls around spoke of a power mighty as Omnipotence — and I ceased to fear or to bend before any being less almighty than that which had created and ruled the elements, here displayed in their most terrific guise.” Victor, Chapter 9, Page 89

Mary Shelley’s Style Minimalist—Simplicity Maximalist—Complexity “As he said this he led the way across the ice; I followed. My heart was full, and I did not answer him, but as I proceeded, I weighed the various arguments that he had used and determined at least to listen to his tale.” Victor, Chapter 10, Page 98 Why do you think it is difficult to find minimalism within Frankenstein? “To be a great and virtuous man appeared the highest honour that can befall a sensitive being; to be base and vicious, as many on record have been, appeared the lowest degradation, a condition more abject than that of the blind mole or harmless worm. For a long time I could not conceive how one man could go forth to murder his fellow, or even why there were laws and governments; but when I heard details of vice and bloodshed, my wonder ceased and I turned away with disgust and loathing.” The Creature, Chapter 13, Page 119

Does the Form Equal the Function? Do you believe Mary Shelley’s style contributed to the text, thus her form equals its function, or that the style actually hindered the text? Perhaps a bit of both. Since she was discussing the complexity of the situation, becoming a god through science, Shelley’s long, ornate sentences helped elaborate some of the text’s meanings. However, the lyrical style is somewhat befuddling when it is discussing murder, hatred, and fear, regardless if it were a convention of that day. Criticism: Some critics have ripped Shelley’s style to threads, but they have also complimented her at getting to themes that resonate with all of us.

Created by Brian Blankenship 2014