1. Mary Shelley and Frankenstein: An AP Introduction
Prepared by Beth Dibble
With help from the Internet 

3. When?
In the summer of 1816, 19 year old Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and her lover, the poet Percy Shelley, visited the Lord Byron at his villa beside Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

4. The Motivation
Stormy weather frequently forced them indoors, where they and Byron's other guests sometimes read from a volume of ghost stories. One evening, Byron challenged his guests to each write one themselves. Mary's story, inspired by a dream, became Frankenstein.

5. Her Family’s Influence
Her father, William Godwin, was a political thinker and writer.
Her mother, Mary WollstonecrafT, was a feminist.

6. Her Love – Percy Shelley
Met when she was 15.
He was married. 1st wife drowned.
They married two years later. She had already had 2 of his children by this time.
He was a famous poet.

7. The “Pre-Hippies”
They were into nature, free love, and were not particulary bound by Christian ideals
Absinthe and opium
Shelley even had a mistress Jane Clairmont
Jane later became involved with Lord Byron and that’s how Mary and Percy met him.

8. A Suspicious Death Shelley’s first wife died by drowning.
When she was found, resuscitation was attempted - smelling salts, vigorous shaking, electricity, and artificial respiration--using resuscitation bellows were used.
These were all methods that had been used since the 1760s to revive drowning victims to life.
Harriet, however, did not survive.

9. What was Science Up to at this Point?
During Mary’s time, scientists and physicians were fascinated by the elusive boundary between life and death.
Experimented with lower organisms, performed human anatomical studies, attempted to resuscitate drowning victims, and performed experiments using electricity to restore life to the recently dead.

10. Scientific Research of the Time
In the Victorian period, “[s]cience begins to dominate public discourse, and even, according to some writers, partially displaces religion as a coherent world view. A[n outcome] of scientific dominance is the belief that when science advances, so does human society: science and progress, in other words, go hand in hand. Through most of the Victorian Era science is not so specialized into isolated disciplines that the ordinary, well-educated citizen cannot follow its movements” (Drake).

11. Scientific Research of the Time
The Industrial Revolution led to massive leaps forward in engineering.
Formalization of the study of science at university; many men focused on the study of natural history.
Concept of Electricity and warmth led to the discovery of the Galvinization process (term for current electricity produced by Volta's battery invented in 1799)--key to the animation of life.
Scientist Johann Konrad Dippel ( ) a mad scientist who studied human anatomy.
The late 18th century saw a revolution in Chemistry—change from alchemy to Chemistry (atomic theory of matter). This new theory suggested that elements could be put together to create matter.

12. The Baby and The Dream Mary’s daughter had died.
Mary dreamed that her daughter was brought back to life through vigorous rubbing and being held near a warm fire.
This inspired her to write Frankenstein.

13. More Bad News Lots of bad luck!!! Her sister committed suicide
Her son (William) died from malaria
Her daughter next daughter died from dysentery.
Also lost her husband in a boating accident after only 8 years of marriage.
Lots of bad luck!!!

14. Mary’s Contest Submission
Not intended to be a tale of the supernatural – she even made her main character a scientist so that his building of a man would seem logical.
Was a combo of Gothic elements and science
Might be considered early sci-fi

15. The Structure of the Story
The novel is constructed of three concentric layers, one within the other:
outermost--Robert Walton's letters to his sister;
middle--Frankenstein's story as he tells it to Walton;
innermost--Monster's description to Frankenstein of the development of his mind at the deLaceys'.

16. Modern Prometheus Prometheus was the son of a Titan
the name means "forethought.“
In the battle between Zeus and the Titans for control of Olympus he sided with Zeus and became his chief counselor. 

17. Don’t Irritate a god
Devised a plan man got the choices parts from the animals used as sacrifice to the gods
Made Zeus ticked off
Zeus denied man fire

18. Things go from bad to worse
Prometheus stole fire
Zeus gets mega-ticked
Chains him to rock and lets birds devour his liver
Liver grew back every night.
Next day, same deal. Not fun 

19. Another Version
the fire stolen by Prometheus was also the fire of life with which he animated his men of clay.
Doesn’t this seem even more Frankensteinish??

20. lesson of the Story??? Considerations of our story?????
Don’t irritate the gods
Considerations of our story?????
Should we fool around with nature?
Are there laws (natural/godly) that should be off limits to humanity?

21. Paradise Lost – ALLUDED TO Often
is John Milton's attempt to "justify the ways of God to man" by retelling of the story of Creation, the revolt of Lucifer and his fall from grace, and the story of Adam and Eve.

22. Characteristics of the Gothic Novel
Writing style is filled with: innovation, spontaneity, freedom of thought and expression, idealization of nature, etc.
A lot of mysterious disappearances as well as other supernatural occurrences.
The main protagonist is usually a solitary, egocentric character.
Nature is used frequently to create atmosphere.
Evoke terror.
Show the dark side of human nature.