Mary Shelley Wollstonecraft (1797–1851) Biography

     Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, born in London on August 30, 1797, to feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, moved in the most radical literary circles of her day. At sixteen, she became the mistress of the poet Percy Shelley and a close personal friend of George Gordon, Lord Byron. The death of her mother when she was ten days old haunted her all her life. Mary Godwin, as the daughter of two intellectuals, was well educated and self-taught, able to hold her own against some of the best minds of her time. In the summer of 1816, Mary Godwin, her lover Percy, and her stepsister Claire traveled to Switzerland, where they took up residence near Lord Byron on Lake Geneva. It was here that the well-known ghost story competition among the young literati produced Mary Shelley’s best-known novel, Frankenstein. In December of 1816, Percy Shelley and Mary Godwin married. Six years later, Percy Shelley died by drowning in the Ligurian Sea. Mary Shelley died in London from a brain tumor on February 1, 1851. Her work continues to exert influence on contemporary fiction and criticism.

Gothic Literature c. 1764

Gothic literature, a movement that focused on ruin, decay, death, terror, and chaos, and privileged irrationality and passion over rationality and reason, grew in response to the historical, sociological, psychological, and political contexts of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Stock conventions of the genre: 

• an intricate plot
• stock characters
• subterranean
• labyrinths
• ruined castles
• supernatural occurrences

     In its attention to the dark side of human nature and the chaos of irrationality, the Gothic provides

for contemporary readers some insight into the social and intellectual climate of the time in

which the literature was produced. A time of revolution and reason, madness and sanity, the 1750's

through the 1850's provided the stuff that both dreams and nightmares were made of.

Frankenstein

     Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was published in 1818. The novel does not fit neatly into any generic designation, but many critics suggest that it is the first modern work of science fiction. However,

Shelley’s emphasis on isolation, wild landscapes, supernatural occurrences, and the haunting

presence of the double places the novel within the context of the Gothic. 

     Ironically, it is through the pen of a woman that this novel transforms the Gothic from a feminine form of literature. That is, most earlier Gothic novels featured heroines fleeing for their lives and honor. In Shelley’s novel, there are virtually no female characters, and Victor is a cold and hard scientist. Indeed, Shelley brings together both the rationality of science and the irrationality

of the will to power. Victor is the model of a man seduced by the power of science, unable to see until it is much too late that there are some things, such as the creation of life, that belong to God alone.

What is Romanticism?

Romanticism is an 18th and 19th century movement that is frequently characterized by the following:

• A depiction of emotion and imagination
• A depiction of the beauties of nature
• Setting that are in exotic or remote locations. Old castles or mansions frequently play a big role
• A hero or heroine who rebels against the social norms of his or her society
• An intense interest in nature and its beauty and/or fierceness
• An interest in the irrational realms of dreams, folk superstitions, legends and ghosts
• Language and characters that are frequently marked by emotional intensity

Characteristics that make Frankenstein a Romantic Novel

The following is a list of characteristics that make Frankenstein a Romantic Novel. "Romantic" does not refer to a romance in the sense of men and women, but to the qualities the novel possesses and the time period in which it was written. Below each characteristic listed are quotes from the text that support them.

LOVE OF NATURE

"...I feel a cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks, which braces my nerves, and fills me with delight." (Pg. 9)

"I may there discover the wondrous power which attracts the needle; and may regulate a thousand celestial observations that require only this voyage to render their seeming eccentricities constant forever." (Pg. 10)

"I have often attributed my attachment to, my passionate enthusiasm for, the dangerous mysteries of the ocean, to that production of the most imaginative of modern poets." (Pg. 15)
"Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the seam and every sight afforded y these wonderful regions seem still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth." (Pg. 23)

BELEIF IN THE POWER OF THE INDIVIDUAL

“Six years have passed since I resolved on my present undertaking. I can, even now, remember the hour from which I dedicated myself to this great enterprise.” (Pg. 10)

“…do I not deserve to accomplish some great purpose? My life might have been passed in ease and luxury; but I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my path.” (Pg. 11)

“…I feel my heart glow with an enthusiasm which elevated me to heaven; for nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose…” (Pg. 10)

“I am practically industrious – painstaking; - a workman to execute with perseverance and labour…” (Pg. 15)

DESIRE TO EXPLORE THE UNKNOWN

“This breeze, which has traveled from the regions towards which I am advancing, gives me a foretaste of those icy climes. Inspirited by this wind of promise, my day dreams become more fervent and vivid.” (Pg. 9)

“I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited…” (Pg. 10)

“I have read with ardor the accounts of the various voyages which have been made in the prospect of arriving at the North Pacific Ocean through the seas which surround the pole.” (Pg. 10)

“…when shall I return?…If I succeed, many, many months, perhaps years, will pass before you and I may meet. If I fail, you will see me again soon, or never.” (Pg. 11)

Themes in Frankenstein

Forbidden knowledge: learning things that one has no natural right to have dealings with

Nature vs. Nurture: the question of fate verse free will

Duty and responsibility: doing the right thing regardless of public awareness and difficulty

Appearances and reality: perception differs when facts are left out or fabricated

Alienation and loneliness: social interaction as a basic human need, not simply a desire