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What is Gothic Romanticism? Famous authors/works

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What is Gothic Romanticism? Famous authors/works

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Gothic Romanticism is a genre of literature that combines elements of both Gothic and Romantic literature. It can be dark and grotesque like the creation and appearance of the monster in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It can be macabre but also romantic like Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe. In this poem a man is so infatuated by his dead love that he lays next to her in her "sepulchre there by the sea".   Another famous work is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. In this short story, Dickens combines elements of horror and the supernatural but achieves an overall happy ending.

poetryfoundation.org, Wikipedia

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Why did Mary Shelley choose to write Frankenstein as a "ghost story"?

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Why did Mary Shelley choose to write Frankenstein as a "ghost story"?

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While at Lord Byron's estate for the summer, the Shelley's and Lord Byron had a ghost story contest. Mary Shelley conceived the idea of a corpse being reanimated. Mary Shelley believed that if humans imitated the Creator and created life it would come out hideous and deformed not beautiful. Mary Shelley had a "waking dream" about the corpse and she built her story around that premise.

Arthur (TV series), Wikipedia

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The Industrial Revolution is no doubt the greatest historical event in this time. From beautiful countryside homes, people rushed to the city to find jobs in factories. Cities quickly became overburdened by exploding populations and as a result became filthy and crime ridden. Advances in sciences challenged the political and religious structures. The common person's aspirations and feelings were stifled in the assembly line. The Romantic movement and writers like Mary Shelley came as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Frankenstein served as a warning to taking science too far.

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In 1818, Percy Shelley died along with the first two of their children causing a great shift in Mary Shelley's life. From a life of ease and vacationing, Mary Shelley found herself a single mother. To provide for herself and child she turned her hobby, writing, into a career. During her time as a writer Mary Shelley also worked to publish poems from her late husband. Mary Shelley was able to support herself and child with writing until the final years where she was sick with headaches and paralysis. She died at the age of 53.

Wikipedia, Brittanica

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What are the literary qualities that comprise Gothic Literature?

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What are the literary qualities that comprise Gothic Literature?

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Gothic Literature is literature that involves horror, death, and other macabre themes. The stories usually involve a noble person like Jonathan Harker in Dracula who faces off against an evil person who is sometimes aided by the supernatural. There are young beautiful maidens who are in need of saving from evil and religious figures like priests are usually depicted as weak and/or evil. The settings of these stories are often dark, spooky castles and forests.

Wikipedia, filepicker.io

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Was Mary Shelley identified as a Romantic writer? How?

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Was Mary Shelley identified as a Romantic writer? How?

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Mary Shelley is considered a romantic writer. Romantic writing and poetry was a rejection of Enlightenment ideals and so focused more on imagination and feelings. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein  is considered an example of Gothic romanticism where horror and the grotesque like the the monster is combined with romantic themes like the self exploration of Viktor Frankenstein. The soul searching that takes place within Frankenstein after he creates life mirrors the questions Romantics ask about God, creation, and life. In her other work, Mary Shelley criticizes the increasing conformity in society and stresses the importance of returning to individualism.

literarydevices.net, Shmoop, Wikipedia

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Born in a well off family to William Godwin a political philosopher and Mary Wollstonecraft who was also a philosopher and feminist. Mary Shelley was raised and taught mostly by her father. Being a big influence on her early life, Shelley's father's political philosophies can be seen in Shelley's Frankenstein in ideas like "nature vs nurture". Mary Shelley fell in love with poet and philosopher, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and they had three children together. In 1816, the Shelley's spent a summer with Lord Byron, another famous Romantic writer. Mary began work on Frankenstein while staying with Lord Byron.

Wikipedia, Brittanica