Category Archives: Group 8
Nearly a Shakespearian Tragedy
Another of the biggest differences between the novel Frakenstein and the movie adaptations is, to a certain extent, the collateral damage caused by the drama between Frankenstein and his creation. In Volume III we see the death of Elizabeth, Frankenstein’s … Continue reading → Continue reading
Feminism, Frankenstein, Foccacia
With bread in the oven, I have started thinking about Frankenstein and his own, unnatural bun in the oven. I have been considering the role of the female and how it pertains to nature in the novel, and how Frankenstein himself takes away a woman’s natural power to give life. As Frankenstein “pursues nature to […] Continue reading
My Second Brog
I am happy to say that, after reading this book for the third time, I still enjoyed Shelley’s writing, probably even more so this time. I guess I really never noticed before how she can dive so deep into her … Continue reading → Continue reading
Comment on The Three Amigos: Victor, Shelley, Wretch by Professor Sample
I really like your focus on the word “animate” — its change throughout the novel is definitely worth a closer look. Continue reading
Frankenstein on Ice
The comparatively slow pace of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein comes as a surprise to anyone basing their image of the story with the iconic movies about the original Mad Scientist and his nightmarish creation. More than the pace alone the novel … Continue reading → Continue reading
Blog entry 1
It’s really hard for me to think of Frankenstein as a science fiction piece. I’ve always thought of it as some sort of gothic thriller or something. I mean, there are scientific elements and mentions throughout the book, especially pertaining … Continue reading → Continue reading
Just like Mary Shelley, Just like Frankenstein…
Clank your chains and count your change Try to walk the line -Hunter and Garcia Now that that is out of my system… When I first read Frankenstein in high school, I considered Shelley’s view of science as very black and white, good vs. evil, right vs. wrong. However with a few years under my […] Continue reading
Comment on “unbeing dead isn’t being alive” by erhull2
It kind of seems like you can't have one without the other. I think it goes back to the fact that she has consistent biblical and mythical references. Frankenstein is a modern Prometheus. Prometheus stole fire from the gods and was then chained to a rock to have his liver eaten by an eagle every day for the rest of eternity. He "stole" things that he was never meant to understand. It's both the manner and the development itself. She sees Frankenstein (as far as I can tell in the book) as messing with things he was never meant to understand in ways that he never should. Prometheus's "fire" wasn't wrong. It just was never meant to be his, just as Frankenstein's "monster" isn't an actual monster, but just something that was never actually meant to be in the world. The issue Shelley has isn't with the concept of the technology, but with the fact that it isn't something we were meant to have, and with the idea that we are going about finding it the wrong way.
I also think the abandonment issue goes back to the death of her daughter. Its reasonable that any mother that loses a child at birth would carry a certain amount of blame, regardless of it actually being their fault or not. Shelley probably carried guilt about the loss of an innocent, and is now reflecting that back through Frankenstein's mistreatment and misuse of the gift of life. Continue reading
Frankenstein, Vol. I
I feel the biggest difference in the first volume of the 1818 version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and most other versions, be it film or other media, is the creation of the monster itself. The details in the original text are very ambiguous. Frankenstein takes body parts from the charnel houses. Also he takes pieces […] Continue reading
The Three Amigos: Victor, Shelley, Wretch
It has been awhile since I’ve read Frankenstein, but it is refreshing to look at it from the science fiction perspective. For this first section of assigned reading, I kept in mind our discussion on the definition of SF as … Continue reading → Continue reading