1. FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley

2. MEET MARY SHELLEY

3. EARLY LIFE  Born: 1797  Daughter of two of England’s leading intellectual radicals –William Godwin – influential political philosopher –Mary Wollstonecraft – author and pioneer in promoting women’s rights and education  Mother died when Mary was only 10 days old

4. EARLY LIFE CONTINUED  Distant stepmother  No formal education  Learned to read very young  Many writers, philosophers, politicians, and scientists visited the home  Encouraged to participate in discussions

5. MARRIED LIFE  Eloped at 16 to France with Percy Shelley, –21, writer (already married with children) –Switzerland, Germany, and Italy –Studied literature, languages, music, art –5 children in 4 years;1 lived  Widow after only 8 years  Returned to England  Supported family by writing

6. FRANKENSTEIN – THE NOVEL Height of the Romantic movement Mary was 18 Ghost story writing competition between herself, her husband, Lord Byron and John Polidori First published anonymously Time: late 1700’s Setting: Switzerland, Germany and Arctic

7. NEOCLASSICISM  Classical tastes in literature and art  Respected order, reason, and rules  Viewed humans as limited and imperfect  Valued the intellect over emotions  Valued society over the individual  Authors – Dryden, Swift, and Pope

8. ROMANTIC MOVEMENT  Reaction to the Neoclassicists, 1798 – 1832  Looked to nature for inspiration  Valued emotion over reason  Celebrated the individual over society  Romantic hero: –passionate, uninhibited, unconventional –Often a social rebel or a melancholy outcast from society  Authors – Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, and Byron

9. Gothic  Subcategory of Romanticism  Dark, mysterious  Forerunner of science fiction and horror stories

10. MYTH OF PROMETHEUS –A Titan (giant gods who ruled the earth) –Created man from clay and water –Wanted to provide mankind with fire but Zeus forbade it –Prometheus stole the god’s sacred fire and hid it in his cloak

11. PROMETHEUS CONTINUED –Gave fire to man and taught how to use it –Zeus ordered Prometheus chained forever to a rock in the Caucasian Mountains –Every day an eagle would peck his liver out and every night his liver would grow back –Punished for sympathy for mankind and providing needed technology to advance

12. PROMETHEUS Ended –12 generations later Hercules released him –Prometheus found the eagle, killed it and ate its liver

13. Frankenstein: The MODERN PROMETHEUS  Prometheus created man – Victor creates man (monster)  Prometheus rebels against the rules of Zeus and is punished –Victor rebels against the laws of nature and is punished  Prometheus: a devil who brought fire to man/hunting/killing –Industrial Revolution – great promise with known and unknown horrors