Frankenstein/Poems/Romanticism

a time period in which a number of writers write in the same style, and their writing shares certain characteristics

beginning of nineteenth century (1797-1832)

-portrays/depicts an emotion
-avoids “poetic discussion” (overused expressions; can only be used when subject matter of the poem prompts such use; language of the common people aka rustic language)
-goodness of the natural man; something special about being close to nature; society prevents closeness
-pastoral/rural images (Ex: Shepherd boy)
-imagination over reason (NOT cold/analytical like 17th and 18th century; often “I” in imagination)
-highly personal esp work by Wordsworth; based on personal experiences; highly autobiographical (WW)
-references “English Classics” esp Will Shake & John Milton (British saw themselves as descendants of Shake and Milton)

-French Revolution in 1797
-Industrial Revolution 1760-1820ish

14 lines; Petrarchan = Italian; Shakespearean = English

-William Wordsworth
-Petrarchan; First generation

-William Wordsworth
-Milton (Puritan): famous English poet (16th century)

-Samuel Taylor Coleridge
-pure imagery
-Chinese emperor who lived during the Middle Ages; vicious conquerer

-George Gordon/Lord Byron; second generation poet; very descriptive; woman is the wife of his cousin

nature elements/imagery; people don’t appreciate nature because they are too preoccupied on materialism

Greek gods, a Pagan (somebody who has a religious belief besides the main one), and he personifies nature

capitalizes Nature and Sea, which are natural elements. He probably thinks they’re important to him and he sees them as “people”

They don’t see the beauty of nature and they waste all the things nature offers. Industrial Revolution

The problem is that people aren’t appreciating nature. He says that he rather be a Pagan, rather than being one of those people who doesn’t appreciate the beauty of nature. He knows that he can appreciate the beauty of nature, but he doesn’t think other people would be able to

British society lacks virtues/selfish; society needs help; England is in need of Milton so it can be fixed

-altar: religion
-sword: military
-pen: gov

Milton, an English poet; high level of respect for him; references England as a person, who has a lot of problems

believes that England is in poor shape, and it needs manners, virtue, freedom, and power

sacred river, greenery, brooks, hills, walls and towers, large fountain, incense bearing tree, caves with ice, forests, gardens, sunny, (nature images)

The actually poem takes place in an imaginary place in China (far away from the machinery). CHINA in the middle ages. Exotic, a place far far away

both use natural imagery and the exact words of “fertile ground”. Coleridge elaborates a lot and exaggerates the details.

It taps into a person’s imagination. He has to show how reality is so far from the ideal. IMAGINATION IS BASICALLY THE WHOLE POEM
(Imagination in Wordsworth: Greek gods)

Byron’s subject is an actual living person. The other two poets used subjects that were not living and had to be personified. SHE is a starry sky with no clouds. Not traditional that you describe people as beautiful

both use natural imagery to describe their subject. Also, their subject, whether living or not, is always described as beautiful

Mary Shelley

-frame tale (two in the novel)
(Letters)-Present → Past (V.F.’s story) → Present → Future

Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, Creature

They’re both driven towards achieving their own goals. They are also curious because they want to discover something new and they’re also proud. They are also away from there families and they both appear have trouble meeting new people (anti-social). They’re AMBITIOUS. When Walton resembles Frankenstein, he resembles a future person of himself (Walton meeting the consequences of his choices) -Walton can make choices still, Frankenstein can’t. Loneliness-the quest for scientific knowledge tears them away from their family

negative as of now, because she shows how this creature has the power of killing, especially innocent William

Too much curiosity can be dangerous

doesn’t mention details about how he created life, because people might say things (shows he possibly regrets what he did)

*****Ambitious*****
-Curious
-Proud
-Not suspicious
-Irreligious
-Irresponsible
-Sense of guilt (situation with Justine)
-Selfish
-Dedicated
-Values and loves family
-Obsessive
-Judgmental
-Passionate

abandons his own “child” (obviously wasn’t thinking about taking responsibility…didn’t think about the consequences)

frames justine TP actions; De Lacey incident TP attitude (story also pivots when Frankenstein sees his creature open his eyes; at this point his attitude towards the creature changes)

Tree that gets struck by lightning: knowledge can be dangerous

makes him obsessive and his determination ruins his health. It starts off as something that he enjoys, but then the obsession gets too strong

imagined the creature to be beautiful, but then when the creature is brought to life it seems horrific

blames his dad, because his dad never warned him that the scientists he was studying were outdated and total nonsense. He also blames his professors for teaching him the stuff he knows. He isn’t right to place the blame on his dad or professors, because his dad told him not to waste his time on the stories. Shelley might be saying that too much knowledge can be dangerous

Frankenstein’s story

the Creature’s story

curious, smart and good-natured. Everything in nature is good (until society ruins it), and since the creature was initially made from nature he must be good

he was passionate about creating life. Victor had to take care of the creature, but instead he abandons it. He abandons the Creature because it looks really terrifying

hates Frankenstein for abandoning him, but respects him as a creator. He thinks that Frankenstein owes him a female companion; Unlike God, Frankenstein isn’t ready to fulfill his responsibilities to his creation. Shelley’s theme: Don’t act like God.

The turning point is when he kills William, because it was the first time he ever fought back and killed an innocent life

She has the Creature narrate the volume so we can see his point of view and sympathize with him

they are isolated from others, they both long for relationships, they’re both curious, both are mad at their “dads,” they both aren’t satisfied with their lives; Frank is created from nature; Creature created from science

learned how to interact with humans, how to read books, he learned French. He was practically raised by a family that doesn’t even know him, since Frankenstein abandoned him and taught him nothing

Both Safia and the Creature were born into bad situations and they’re both learning from this family (the language & culture). She wants to highlight his human qualities, because they are both similar except one is human and one is a creature. We also saw this between the characters of Walton and Frankenstein

Creature realizes that he wants a companion that’s just like him

people often judge others based on physical appearance. The old blind man is not judgmental and does not judge the creature based on appearance, which is what society should be like

reader gets to see the creature’s life through his own perspective. The reader understands the emotions, reactions, and feelings that the creature went through; Emotions: sadness because we know that he is abandoned and we see that he was rejected by humans various times

goodness of natural man, is shown by the De Lacey family’s kindness towards the creature (before they see him). It also portrays/depicts an emotion (the creature’s point of view)

Frank was really excited to make the creature the first time, but the second time he wasn’t able to overcome the grotesqueness of making the second creature. This shows that he changes his opinion about science because the second time he knows it can be bad. As a person, he’s starting to think about the consequences of his actions

Clerval is full of life and he really appreciates nature unlike Frankenstein who is depressed about life constantly and is isolated. Nature brings happiness. Frankenstein goes against the laws of God and nature by his use of science. It causes a lot of trouble for him. Knowledge requires responsibility

He abandons both of them and as a consequence people get killed. He is scared of the creature both times also. Parallels are used to compare and contrast what is good from bad

Since Frank killed the creature’s wife, the creature kills Frank’s wife in revenge. The creature realizes how important are, but then he also is taking away human life. It’s the climax because now the creature finally gets revenge on Frank and both are unhappy now. Now all Frankenstein wants is revenge in return.

They’re both unhappy, chasing each other, revenge ends up killing them. The pursuit of revenge has caused this. Revenge = bad.

Whenever Frank gets revenge on the creature, the creature in return tries to get revenge on Frank. Neither one of them want to forgive the other person. It stops when Frank dies, because the Creature wants forgiveness from Frank.

A monster is someone who is extremely judgmental, inflict pain on innocent people to hurt them on purpose, and lacks responsibility

Frank: tragic flaw is his lack of responsibility and AMBITION & he is responsible for his downfall; Creature: tragic flaw is his vengefulness

It can be considered tragic because a lot of people die including the protagonist, the main characters have a downfall, and the main characters die. Society will decline if they continue to judge and not accept.