A design for life. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)

MAJOR THEMES IN FRANKENSTEIN

  • Nature: Both Victor and the monster find psychological peace in nature. In the book we find the sublime beauty of Nature and its power to heal the deepest wounds.

  • Death: Victor is fascinated by death and at the same time surrounded by death.

  • The Weather: Thunderstorms, winds, ice, cold,...they are all present in the book and they mingle with Victor's state of mind.

  • Alienation: The book talks about what can happen when people are deliberately excluded from society. In this sense, it teaches us a moral lesson.

  • Madness: From the beginning of the book, Victor finds it difficult to control his emotions and has several mental breakdowns throughout the story.

We are going to be working on this novel in the following way. You are going to be reading at home and in the dates specified below, you will be working, in pairs, on a series of questionnaires. Please bear in mind that there won't be an exam, but to be able to do the questionnaires successfully you MUST read the novel. The day of the final oral exam the teacher is entitled to ask you some questions about it. We will also be watching the film, once all the questionnaires have been done.

DATES:

  • Monday, 18th April: chapters 1-3.

  • Monday, 16th May: chapters 4-6.

  • Monday, 23th May: chapters 7-9.

THE BIRTH OF FRANKENSTEIN, A SHOCKING TALE

In 1816, Shelley and Mary spent the summer with Lord Byron in Switzerland, surrounded by the beauty and wilderness of Swiss nature. The summer was grey and wet. Lord Byron suggested writing ghost stories to keep them busy. Mary spent a long time thinking of a story which would make the reader afraid to look around. She had a frightening dream in which a man had created a horrible creature and horrified by the sight of it ran away. She woke up in sweat, but knew what her story would be about.

Mary Shelley was born on 30th August, 1797. Her father was a British philosopher who questioned whether government and marriage were necessary, radical ideas for the time. However, the Romantic poets (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Lord Byron and Percy Shelley) found these ideas interesting.

In fact, Percy Shelly was a regular visitor to Mary's father's house and in 1814 he and Mary ran away to Europe. She was only 16. Mary became pregnant, but the baby was born prematurely and died. This affected her greatly. It is said that she never recovered from this death and that her book was like her dead child.

CHAPTERS 1 - 3

CHAPTERS 4 - 6

CHAPTERS 7-9