Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds (The MIT Press)

by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

when I see a fellow-creature about to perish through the cowardice of her pretended friends,

The tortures of the accused did not equal mine; she was sustained by innocence, but the fangs of remorse tore my bosom, and would not forego their hold.

What solipsism. See me note at fn 60. .

sensations

despair

Percy Shelley poem Song: Despair Ask not the pallid stranger's woe, With beating heart and throbbing breast, Whose step is faltering, weak, and slow, As though the body needed rest.-- Whose 'wildered eye no object meets, Nor cares to ken a friendly glance, With silent grief his bosom beats,-- Now fixed, as in a deathlike trance. Who looks around with fearful eye, And shuns all converse with man kind, As though some one his griefs might spy, And soothe them with a kindred mind. A friend or foe to him the same, He looks on each with equal eye; The difference lies but in the name, To none for comfort can he fly.-- 'Twas deep despair, and sorrow’s trace, To him too keenly given, Whose memory, time could not efface-- His peace was lodged in Heaven.-- He looks on all this world bestows, The pride and pomp of power, As trifles best for pageant shows Which vanish in an hour. When torn is dear affection's tie, Sinks the soft heart full low; It leaves without a parting sigh, All that these realms bestow. JUNE, 1810 Fragment: Despair: And canst thou mock mine agony, thus calm In cloudless radiance, Queen of silver night? Can you, ye flow'rets, spread your perfumed balm Fragment: Despair Such hope, as is the sick despair of good, Such fear, as is the certainty of ill, Such doubt, as is pale Expectation’s food

none of our judges like to condemn a criminal upon circumstantial evidence, be it ever so decisive.”

Does Elizabeth have the longest speeches? Does Mary see herself in Elizabeth?

I gnashed my teeth, and ground them together, uttering a groan that came from my inmost soul.

How sweet is the affection of others to such a wretch as I am! It removes more than half my misfortune; and I feel as if I could die in peace, now that my innocence is acknowledged

I, the true murderer,

the never-dying worm alive in my bosom, which allowed of no hope or consolation.

Despair

Simile

amiable

Amiable

Lord George Gordon Byron (1788–1824)

Captain Walton

The links between electricity and magnetism were a major subject of scientific investigation during Mary’s lifetime,

Friedrich

Delacroix

Beet...

Be...

Tennyson

manifest destiny

the conquest of knowledge itself into a frontier that began to rival the conquest of land in importance—and

the endless frontier

the problem of companionship recurs for Walton, for Victor, and for Victor’s creature.

Friendship is one of the foundations for community because it connects the individual to a larger human endeavor—be

Throughout the novel, the failure to connect with a friend becomes a problem with serious consequences.

the word nobility,

In real life, Mary marries into a noble family that opposes her union with their son because of her father’s indebtedness.

Mary uses these letters strategically to emphasize the importance of the social bonds that give characters such as Victor and Captain Walton emotional sustenance during incredibly stressful times.

the investments of time, wit, and emotional energy that make human relationships functional and rewarding.

They contrast with the creature’s life and reveal precisely what he is missing. He has no one with whom to share his experiences and frustrations, so his life bec...

Walton narrowly avoids making the same mistake as Victor, pursuing scientific discovery without considering the safety and well-being of the people around him.

After people attain the goal they have been pursuing, those with a strong sense of efficacy set higher goals for themselves”

His intellectual isolation grows during this fateful voyage, with the need for finding a wiser, highly experienced, caring “companion” becoming of paramount importance.

he recognizes his paternity of the creature, but, like Lear, he still does not recognize his own full measure of culpability and responsibility.

He uses his scientific training to create a new life but then fails to take responsibility for loving and caring for that life.

he is also mostly unaware that his failure to take care of his creation in turn has created the creature he fears and rejects.

flouted - error question

is she calling attention to the propensity of those at the top to ignore the consequences of their actions?

Social status cannot fully protect individuals from unintended consequences.

Scientists and engineers who are often at the highest ranks of the academy need to be more mindful of the unintended ...

the past reconstructed from the viewpoint of the present always appears to have a structure, a momentum, and an obvious path.

optimism is both hubristic and dysfunctional.

lost in a haze of whimsical fantasy rather than to putting effort into the difficult and constantly changing challenge of dealing ethically, responsibly, and rationally with an ever-morphing, fundamentally unpredictable, real world.

Natural philosophy and natural philosopher

“our family was not scientifical,” says Victor in describing the Frankensteins (p. 22).

Alchemy

Cornelius Agrippa

the philosopher’s stone: