Mary Shelley: Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus

Mary Shelley Mary Shelley 1797-1851 Life Mary had a life full of trouble and suffering. Her mother died a few days she has born and after two years her father married. William Godwin was a philosopher and his house was visited by some of the most writers of that period like Coleridge and Shell. The last one falled in love of Mary thanks to her beauty and her intelligence. An year after that te coupled has fle to France, Mary had a baby that died very early. Then Shelly decided to go to live in a country hose on the banks of Lake Geneva where Mary began to write Frankenstein, her masterpice. She finished it in England and it was published anonymously in 1818. Mary had a son but her husband was foun drowned after a storm. She return to England and she continued to publish untill her death in 1851. Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus The origin of the model Probably “Frankenstein” is born from a Mary's anxieties abouth her role of mother, from the death that surrounded her life, but also from other ghost stories. Influences Shelly influenced mary because they both read a lot of scientific book and they were very interested in chemistry. When Mary wrote Frankenstein she knew the latest scientific theories. So It results the firstembodiment of the theme of science. Mary is influenced by Rousseau infact the monster is the typical man of the state of nature, not influenced by civilization. Although there is the taste of gothic, this novel didn't respest the traditions: there isn't a castle and there aren't supernatural ecìvents. May is also influenced by Romantic poems like Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. That is a story of a phisical and psycological travel but it is also the tale of a crimeagainst nature. Narrative structure We can find three different point of view in the narration: Walton to his sister Frankenstei to Walton Monster to Frankenstein Frankenstein is written in a epistolary form and probably Mary disguised her voice behind male narrators. Characters Most important characters are few. Walton, a double of Frankenstein, had some Romantic elements. He tries to go beyond human limits and at the end is punished. Frankenstein and the monster are complementary because they live in alienation and isolation. The protagonist in the third part is the monster.First he tries to comunicate with people but after to be rejected he becomes an outcast, a killer, against humans. Themes Forbidden knowledge The double: Frankenstein and the moster seem to be two parts of the same being, in anticipation of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Stevenson Social injustice “The creation of the monster” It was on adreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes,