Context- Frankenstein

Context- Frankenstein

1. Old Testament Reference

   • Monster can be identified with Adam, in that he is a new creation.
   • Also be identified with Satan in that he turns against his creator
   • Frankenstein= Satan in that he defies God, usurping God's power as the creator of life

2. Scientific links

   • Written at a time of intense debate about science
   • Galvanism
     • Galvani- physican believed that you could almost create life from an electric current. Shelley perhaps was influence by this, in creation of Monster
   • Erasmus Darwin
     • Write about nature of organic life and evolution.
       • Victor is too impatient and self centred to accept the slow pace of evolution
         • His intervention in natural processes- usurps the power of creation reserved for God.

3. Humphry Davy

   • Davy was conscious of the negative potential in the increase of human knowledge
     • important to use knowledge carefully and responsibly- not for personal glorification

4. Masculine and Feminine

   • Mary believed, as Anna. K. Mellor has argued.
     • There is both good and bad science.
       • They can be associated with masculine and feminine attitudes
   • Nature= feminine Scientist= masculine
     • In Scientific language

5. Nature vs Science

   • Frankenstein completely disrupts this natural process
     • Removes female contribution to monster creation
     • denying the monster any opportunity for maternal love

6. Background

   • Literary style to influence the novel was Gothic Horror
     • German ghost stories
     • Samuel Coleridge- The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
     • Paradise Lost- John Milton