Discussion 1: Preface -Chapter 13

[☯Emily , The First]

Since the book is relatively short, I will only have two threads open for discussion. Please discuss only the first part of the book in this thread.

[☯Emily , The First]

I have a link to a brief history of Mary Shelley who wrote Frankenstein, which was published 198 years ago: http://www.biography.com/people/mary-...

[☯Emily , The First]

Mary Shelley was the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. This might be a good book to read in the future. Mary Wollstonecraft died soon after giving birth to Mary. Wollstonecraft was a proficient writer, publishing novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, and a children's book. You can obtain more information on her here: http://www.biography.com/people/mary-...

[☯Emily , The First]

Mary Shelley's father was William Godwin, who was the founder of philosophical anarchism. You can learn more about him and his beliefs here: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/god...

[☯Emily , The First]

Last, but not least, Mary eventually married Percy Shelley. I say eventually, because Mary ran away with Shelley while he was still married to his first wife. Her father was not happy with their actions. However, Shelley's wife committed suicide in 1816, which enabled Percy and Mary to marry later that year. For more about Percy Shelley, read: http://www.biography.com/people/percy...

[Alexa]

Wow, so much information! Thanks!

[☯Emily , The First]

This link leads to a discussion of the social, historical and literary context of Frankenstein: https://www.heckgrammar.co.uk/index.p....

Now we can read the book!

[Alexa]

I just picked this up from the library - I was really surprised at how thin it is! Here I had been thinking of it all my life as a weighty tome....

[Anastasia Kinderman, The Only]

I've already read it so I won't be rereading it but I will join in on the discussion. I didn't care for it too much so it will be interesting to see if someone gives me insights that make me appreciate it more!

[Mizzou]

I found my jottings of things to think about when reading Frankenstein (from a book group some years ago)Here they are:
Appearances (esthetic notions of beauty, ugliness) as the basis for rejection, alienation, exclusion, discrimination; Victor's basic 'character flaw'--ambition, lust for power, fame, desire to be a benefactor of mankind---; a Master-Potter-Pot relationship, i.e. a flawed pot is smashed by its creator; a creator as 'parent' to his creation--did Victor "miss" seeing that?; this story's possible connection with the "mad scientist" stereotype in English; the "monster" as the ultimate "latch-key child"; how hubris figures in this story; the significance of the 3 books* which formed the creature's formal education; the degree to which Victor's enthralled reading of Paracelsus, Cornelius Agrippa, and Albertus Magnus shaped him; why the influence of the professors (esp. Krempe and Waldman) did not dissuade Victor from the project; and lastly, what to make of Hollywood's changing of the story to give Victor a helper who brought his "master" a "criminal" brain to replace the normal brain he had dropped when attempting to steal a brain for Frankenstein.
*The Sufferings of Young Werther, Plutarch's Lives, and Paradise Lost.

[Anastasia Kinderman, The Only]

Would this story have helped contribute/form the mad scientist stereotype that writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne later used?

Does Hollywood's change make Victor more sympathetic and perhaps absolve him of responsibility? I haven't seen any of the movies so I'm just guessing, my thoughts on your thoughts.

[Ginny]

As Victor heads into the mountains to escape his angst, I am vividly reminded of scenes in Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain, especially the chapter "Snow". (I read this just this past winter and it is still very vivid in my mind.) I find that I am thinking of Victor as "Hans". Even the rhythm of the language is reminiscent. Of course, it is very possible (even likely) that Mann was influenced by Shelley's book, but I was wondering if they are both hugely influenced by the German fairy tales that Shelley speaks of in her introduction? The dark, death-worshipping romanticism?

Shelley's prose is very "romantic" in this old German sense and is taking a bit of getting used to for me. It often seems over-the-top, so to speak, and I struggle a bit to take it seriously. I am finding the mountain scenes more evocative.