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·      ·      Frankenstein’s obsessive pursuit of knowledge

·      Nature as nurturer and punisher

·      Danger of knowledge – romantic versus enlightenment message

·      Nature as nurturer and punisher (creature versus Victor – illness)

·      Isolation – self-imposed or circumstantial

·      Abandonment of parental responsibility/obligation

·      Human desire for companionship

· Science transgressing natural boundaries

·      Societal values – superficial fixation on aesthetic beauty

·      Rigid patriarchies

·      Women instruments of revenge

·      Women’s maternity usurped and the consequences of this

·      Paradox – ugliness and beauty

·      Creature as a product of his experiences – tabula rasa

·      Corruption of innate goodness

·      Nature

·      Individual versus society

·      Shelley’s romantic message/authorial purpose

·      Foils – Victor and Henry

·      Foils – Safie and the Creature

·      Foils – Walton and Victor

·      Walton and Margaret Saville

·      Women as silenced – marginalized – consequence

·      Humanity – what it means to be human

·      Victor as monster

·      Creature as monster

·      Creature as human

·      Biblical allusions – Paradise Lost thread

·      Exploration and ambition; elitism (Walton and Victor)

·      Positives of progress

·      Promethean myth – thread

·      Dante’s Circles of Hell – ice

·      Ancient Marriner – Walton

·      Fathers

·      Safie and the creature

·      Fire

Narrative structure – embedded voices, cyclical, parallel

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·      The denouement of the texts

·      Emergent leaders

·      Distribution of power

·      Subversion of patriarchal power – gender and class

·      Binary religious lenses

·      Superstition used as justification for persecution

·      Mass hysteria driven by religious fervour

·      Mass hysteria driven by superstition and loss of faith

·      Scapegoating

·      Conformity versus individual autonomy

·      Danger of rigid conformity

·      Loss of faith: Mompellion/Anna & Hale/Proctor

·      Nature; fear versus comfort

·      Measures of goodness

·      Hypocrisy in leadership; words and action

·      Facades – public versus private

·      Punishment atonement/redemption (self and others) – punitive versus forgiving God

·      Evolution of self  - Anna and Proctor

·      Reputation – names

·      Isolation – geographical

Testing times/ordeals/ - crucible of crisis

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| ·      Jeff as emasculated and threatened by Lisa
·      Society as voyeurs but ultimately disconnected
·      Evolution of Jeff and Lisa’s relationship
·      Stella – Greek chorus, voice of reason
·      Communal paranoia
·      Social pressure and expectation ·      Freedom versus restraint
·      Isolation within society – willful and imposed
·      Immobilization
·      Hunger – desire – connection ·      Relationships –
·      Context – McCarthyism (accepted surveillance of others) ·      Panoptic setting
·      Trust/mistrust
·      Jeff’s cynicism
·      Women – expectations – change for a man, not the reverse
·      Women’s intuition – patriarchal attitude
·      Male gaze – objectification of women
·      Autonomy of Lisa
·      Cat/Dog motifs
·      Ethics
·      Justification – double standards around gender
·      Self-reflection – observation of others
·      Jeff and career
·      Envy versus admiration
·      Detachment from others
·      Evolution of viewing platform – eyes, camera, binoculars
·      What society has become – peeping Toms
·      Perfectionism – food as a symbol
·      Costume
·      Photographs – in the action versus being an observer of the action

·      Marriage – newlyweds

·      Setting – apartments, cloistered, city alternative

·      What it means to be a neighbor

·      Secondary characters – sculptress, lonely hearts, composer

·      Lisa – song/composition

·      Message – multiple
Fulfillment

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Frankenstein’s obsessive pursuit of knowledge

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Frankenstein’s obsessive pursuit of knowledge

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Shelley provides a cautionary tale to her readership about the dire consequences that can surmount from unbridled hubris. Utilising her anti-hero, Victor Frankenstein, as a device to illustrate the negative implications this has on humanity, providing his caution as he relates the tale to Walton. ‘…Have you drunk also of the intoxicating draught? Hear me- let me reveal my tale, and you will dash the cup from your lips!’

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Nature as a nurturer and punisher - Maddy + Grace

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Nature as a nurturer and punisher - Maddy + Grace

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In its “enchanting appearance”, nature serves as a source of rejuvenation to which its grandeur transcends concerns and instils a sense of peace. Such as Victor, his profound affiliation with the environment enables him to “forget the passing cares of life” and “aspire to become greater”. Although enduring countless impediments, its cyclical tendencies allow him to return to routine and largely ensure his ability to maintain sanity despite the ensued chaos. Shelley presents an image of nature that is at once benevolent and diabolic, breath-taking in its beauty and shattering in its brutality. The power and dominance exerted by nature to Frankenstein is also able to emulate its disapproval for his lack of recognition of his duty and consequences of hubris pursuit. Through natures role as a punisher, Shelley’s moral tale warns of what happens when intellectual pursuit is not supplemented with ethics and an awareness of responsibility. The punishment incurred by Frankenstein when he experiences ‘scenes of evil and despair’ as he seeks solace after his attempts to uncover the ‘secrets of heaven and earth’ reinforce Shelley’s message towards avoiding conquering an area of knowledge described as sacrosanct. Similarly, where nature gives Frankenstein a ‘moment of darkness’ in which he could dispose of the female creature, reflects Shelley’s message to surrender to nature and emphasis the hierarchy in which nature dominates. The reoccurring ‘eternal twinkling’ of the stars is able to ‘weigh upon; Frankenstein as a watchful heavens resembling God watching over acting as ‘witness and testimony’, the stars acting as a moral reminder of his imposing intentions onto nature. Yet, despite nature’s restorative influence on Frankenstein, his greatest desire is to subvert its natural laws and harness its prevailing power.

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Isolation - self imposed or circumstantial - Maddy + Grace

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Isolation - self imposed or circumstantial - Maddy + Grace

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Corrupted by his own physicality, the creature is subjected to externally imposed isolation enacted by the prejudice of humanity. “Alone and miserable”, he is condemned to eternal solitude in which “no man will associate with [him]”. Regardless of such devastating adversity, the creature remains largely optimistic in his assumed eventual reconciliation with his denouncers and thus perceives his circumstantial isolation as merely temporary. However, the progression of the novel unveils the mutability of his prior beliefs as he divulges into to raw animosity and eventual vengeance. Viewing his isolation as an unceasing punishment, the creature is compelled to escape the barbarity of man and inflict an equally vindictive retaliation to satiate his resentment of humankind having “sinned against [him]”. Conversely, the suffering endured by Walton and Frankenstein occurs only as a result of their self-induced isolation and hubristic desire to conquer the ‘natural world’. Their positions as white males afford them the privileged of being accepted in society, yet both feel isolated by their intellect that each arrogantly assumes elevates them beyond the normal sphere of man. The pursuit for ‘eternal glory’ supersedes the human necessity of connection and interaction. Walton is able to acknowledge the dangers involved with his isolation and quest and is able to adopt the learnings from the ‘Rime on the Ancient Mariner’ to apply a lense to his own experiences and reflect before the same mistakes are made, which embodies Shelley’s use of a warning tale. Frankenstein also self imposes his isolation as he disguises his egotistical pursuit for the ‘inestimable’ benefit to all mankind but is not immune to the consequences of being removed from society. Thus he loses the emotional interactions with his family which lead to his moral demise and engagement into unethical pursuits such as the creatures creation as he believes that the people around him who are imperative to his survival will only act as a hinder to his intellectual pursuits for glory.

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Nature as nurturer and punisher (creature versus Victor – illness)

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Nature as nurturer and punisher (creature versus Victor – illness)

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Shelley creates an environment where nature plays the role of God, as both nurturer and punisher. As exemplified through the suffering Victor encounters, after his undignified creation and the immediate abandonment after beholding the Creature’s ‘yellow eye’. Nature torments Frankenstein, as he mimics the role of God without considering the consequences of his actions.

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The disempowerment of women in, Shelley’s 18th century patriarchal novel, is illustrated as women are susceptibly employed as instruments of revenge. Having grown an understanding of the importance women in their society, the Creature begins his first deliberate act of ‘vengeance to all mankind’ , in the form of Justine. Competing in a continual cycle of revenge, Frankenstein, having initially realised ‘…as his maker, [that he] owe[d] all the portion of happiness that it was in [his] power to bestow?’, he unsympathetically destroys the female creature.

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Despite being in the same position, as foreigners and outsiders, Safie is accepted by the De Lacey’s due to her ‘angelic countenace’, whereas the creature is rejected due to his ‘grotesque visage’. Shelley critiques the superficial nature of society, who prioritise outward appearance over innate qualities.

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The Creature displays an affiliation to human qualities due to his ability to harbour paradoxical emotions, as exemplified through his relationship with his creator, whom he simultaneously despises and loves. Shelley depicts a creature who is both ‘benevolent’ and flawed, as is human nature.

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Biblical allusions- paradise lost thread 

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Biblical allusions- paradise lost thread 

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Allusions to John Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ is peppered throughout the text, used as a device to represent the relationship between Victor and his creation. As a central idea in her novel, Shelley quotes Milton in the epigraph; ‘Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay. To mould me man?’, reflecting the Creature’s self-loathing, longing for purpose in his initial creation. Despite this, Frankenstein’s flawed emulation of God this leads to the abandonment of his creation inducing the “wretched” Creature’s “forced solitude that [he] abhors” and thus creating two monsters.

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Shelley depicts a society in which all characters are flawed, however some demonstrate an ability to change and reflect on their mistakes. Initially harbouring sentiments of prejudice towards the Creature, Walton, having heard Frankenstein’s narration, despite ‘shielding [his] eyes’, listens to the Creature’s lamentations regarding his creator’s death. Henceforth, demonstrating positive progresses that can arise when individuals set aside their animosity when conversing with diverse individuals.

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Human desire for companionship - Maddy + Grace

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Human desire for companionship - Maddy + Grace

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Through her exploration of characters’ desire for companionship, Shelley highlights the necessity of social interactions for human fulfilment. Such as the creature, his corrupted physicality exempts  him from natural reciprocation, yet does not immunise him from the longing for connection. His motivations drive him towards the pursuit of attaining a female companion as “only someone as ugly as [him] could love [him]”. This would simultaneously allow Victor to fulfil his obligation as a creator by providing for the creature. Similarly, Walton desires a companion of equal intellectual capabilities. Despite being surrounded by innumerable opportunities for connection, he retreats to his sister in his lamentation for “a man who could sympathise with [him]” as he believes himself to “have no friend”. Thus, Shelley champions the importance of human connection and the unavoidable desire for its attainment.

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Abandonment of parental responsibility/obligation and Victor as a monster

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Abandonment of parental responsibility/obligation and Victor as a monster

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Through the exploration of fire and it's behaviour Shelley is able to present the omnipotence of nature. Caring for the creature while isolated in the forest, the fire provides warmth and comfort while remaining strong and menacing. The creature is warned of its power as he attempts to touch it and burns himself. The creature "lament[s] the loss of the fire which [he] had obtained through accident" as how to create it remained a mystery of nature to him. Shelley demonstrates through this powerful tool of nature how the secrets of nature can have benefit in human lives but also how they should not be abused. Use of the fire was allowed to the creature to experience some warmth whilst alone but knowledge on how to recreate it was not allowed to ensure it was not used for selfish reasons or to cause destruction.

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Utilising an extended allusion to Dante’s Inferno, Shelley depicts the paralleled journeys towards eternal punishment of Frankenstein as it relates to his “filthy mass” of a creation. Although the “abhorred” being, born by the unholy hands of his seemingly “noble and godlike” creator, was initially depicted as a pure and untainted reflection of humanity’s virtuous qualities, but as the superficial rejections  accumulated, his vengeful vices were fuelled. As their deeply entwined stories advance, as do their perverted desires worthy of merciless retribution; Frankenstein’s for his farcical imitation of Hod himself, and the Creature’s for his adopted ability “to work mischief”. Thus, condemning the vicious cyclical pattern of the shadow characters’ “rage and vengeance” as it feeds into further immorality, Shelley forces the punitive forces of Mother Nature upon their corrupted expeditions as she advocates for their downfall. At the denouement of the embedded narrative, both monsters are painted in a harsh landscape “surrounded by mountains of ice, which admit of no escape”, alluding to the ninth circle of Hell for the ultimate sin, treachery. As a result, there is partial offering of catharsis by their dual deaths “lost on darkness and distance” as the implied image of their punishments within the final ring of Hell, frozen in “dreary glaciers” is regarded as a deserved consequence for their atonement.

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The entrenched patriarchy is reflected in the domineering presence of male narrative voices. Confined to the domestic sphere, women are limited to submissive roles and thus, their vocal contribution to the progression of the novel is relatively insignificant. Conversely, male characters such as Walton and Frankenstein are admired and encouraged for their drive to seek eternal glory, whilst women are criticised should they engage in a similar pursuit. Thus, Shelley adopts her own milieu society to proffer the inability of characters to recognise their significance in society.

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-       Alphonse and Victor

-       Victor and Creature. à irony

Could also do:

-       Delacy and kids

-       Walton – no father figure (mother Margret) when sees Frankenstein becomes very attracted, and he becomes like a father figure to him.

Shelley explores the negative impacts a child can have without the guidance and support from their father due to their poor parental influence and skills. Victors narrative begins with an account boasting about his idyllic childhood filled with happiness and “filifal love”. He articulates his appreciation towards his parents who filled his childhood with happiness, support and love. His relationship with his parents thrived in his younger years with his father who raised him “possessed by … kindness and indulgence” along with his mother’s “tenderness caresses” filling his childhood.  While Frankenstein’s upbringing was positive, he saw this as his parents “duties towards [him]” as  this is what they “owed towards the being ..they had given life” to. After his mother’s tragic death we see a shift in Frankenstein’s relationship with his father to a more negative and rejectful one. As Frankenstein gained his passion for Natural Philosophy he started to feel rejected from his father as Alphonse saw his passion as “sad trash”. His fathers disproval of his studies left Frankenstein distant and eventually being sent way to school in Ingolstadt. When contrasted to the creatures upbringing there is a heavy sense of irony. Frankenstein when becoming a father did not adopt his own expectations and preform the “duties” a parent owes towards the being they created. He grew up with the expectation and understanding that it was his parents “hands to direct happiness or misery” yet failed to give the creature any sort of support or guidance instead just abandoned him. This failed fathering from Frankenstein left the creature desolate and vengeful.

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Shelley’s Authorial Message of Romanticism

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Shelley’s Authorial Message of Romanticism

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Amidst a transitional period abandoning primarily romantic values in favour of intellectual enlightenment, the 19th century text acts as Shelley’s caveat for the dangers of ignorance incited by extreme adherence to either movements. The core of romanticism, personified by Frankenstein’s foil, “a being formed in the very poetry of nature”, acts to provide a stark contrast with the “godlike” scientist devoting his life’s work to acquire “new and almost unlimited powers...command the thunders of heaven [and] mimic the earthquake”. Where Clerval remained synonymous to the emotional sensibilities of romanticism, Frankenstein’s “eyes were insensible to the charms of nature”, a stubborn quality condemned by Shelley as she advocates for virtuous facets of traditional values in domestic settings. Though a paralleled adversarial outcome from an innate hunger for leading, the Creature experiences the “dangerous acquirement of knowledge” as his “sorrow only increased with knowledge”, only further fostering his self-abhorrence. However, in equal respect, Shelley endorses for intellectual pursuits within controlled parameters. Although fleeting, the satisfaction Frankenstein successfully derived from his experiments did exist, and Shelley acknowledges that rather than regret, the outcome of his actions was able to prove useful as a warning to the enamoured Walton.