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Frankenstein: context
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Mary Shelley was only eighteen when she began Frankenstein. Its story is as famous as the novel.
How it began
In 1816 Mary Godwin (later Mary Shelley) stayed near Lake Geneva with Percy Shelley, Lord Byron and John Polidori. Stormy weather kept them inside, and Byron suggested they each write a ghost story.
Frankenstein was published anonymously in 1818. Its subtitle is *The Modern Prometheus*.
Frankenstein was published anonymously in 1818. Its subtitle is *The Modern Prometheus*.
Science and Romanticism
Scientists were experimenting with electricity. Galvanism, named after Luigi Galvani, showed that electricity could make dead muscles twitch.
The Romantic movement valued emotion, nature and the sublime, and feared the costs of reason and industry.
The Romantic movement valued emotion, nature and the sublime, and feared the costs of reason and industry.
Prometheus and family
In Greek myth, Prometheus stole fire from the gods for humans and was punished. Victor, too, takes a power that belongs to the gods.
Mary's mother, the writer Mary Wollstonecraft, died shortly after giving birth to her. Some critics link the novel's themes of motherless creation and abandonment to this.
Mary's mother, the writer Mary Wollstonecraft, died shortly after giving birth to her. Some critics link the novel's themes of motherless creation and abandonment to this.
Why is the subtitle The Modern Prometheus fitting?
- Prometheus stole fire from the gods and was punished.
- Victor takes the god-like power of creating life.
- He too is punished, through the loss of everyone he loves.
Answer: Victor, like Prometheus, steals a divine power and suffers for it.
Begun 1816 at Lake Geneva in a ghost-story contest; published 1818; subtitle The Modern Prometheus; galvanism; Romanticism and the sublime; Mary Wollstonecraft's death.
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