Mary Shelley e Frankenstein, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica Mary Shelley e Frankenstein e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! BIOGRAPHY Mary Wollestonecraft (Godwin) Shelley was born on August 30, 1797 in London, England to philosopher William Godwin and feminist Mary Wollestonecraft; both her parents were noted writers in the 1800s. Her father's most famous book was Political Justice (1793), which is a critical look at society and the ethical treatment of the masses.When their daughter Mary was born, William and Mary had only been married for five months. Four weeks after giving birth, Mary Wollestonecraft died of complications. Thus, Mary Shelley never knew her mother. Her father remarried a woman by the name of Mrs. Clairmont when the young Mary was four years old. Mary's learned father, who had frequent guests in their home all through her formative years, guaranteed her education. A voracious reader, Mary borrowed books from her father's extensive library. She enjoyed writing at a young age, and her passion was to write stories intended for a very limited audience. The influence of her famous father's home cannot be understated with a constant stream of writers, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It was at home that Mary developed into a person of letters, following in the family tradition of writers and thinkers. Between June 1812 and March 1814, Mary lived with relatives in Scotland. It was upon her return visits to London when she met Percy Bysshe Shelley, who idolized her father, and their relationship began. Mary and Percy left England for France in June 1814 to begin a life together. Shelley was still married to his first wife, Harriet Westbrook. Within four years of being married, Percy met Mary, and a new marriage was proposed as soon as the first marriage was dissolved. In late 1814, Mary and Percy returned to England and lived in hiding to avoid his first wife and previous back debts. It was at this time that Percy petitioned Mary's father William for relief of his debt. In February 1815, Mary gave birth to a daughter, who was born prematurely and who subsequently died in March of the same year. The couple settled in Bishopgate, England and a second child, William, was born. In the summer of 1816, a tour of continental Europe was proposed and they rented a house near another British writer, Lord Byron . The summer proved wet and unseasonable; Byron suggested the group take to writing ghost stories to pass the time. It was during this summer that the form for Frankenstein was to take shape. The story was first only a few pages, but with the encouragement of Percy, the tale took on a greater length. In November 1816, Fanny, Mary's half-sister, committed suicide. A few weeks later, in December 1816, Shelley's first wife Harriet also killed herself. Within two weeks, Percy and Mary were married. On July 8, 1822, Mary's life was forever altered when her husband was drowned at sea in a boating accident off the coast of Livorno. By now, her life was seemingly connected to tragedy, with the deaths of three children, her mother, and her husband, and the suicides of Percy's former wife and Mary's half-sister. She spent the rest of her life writing original works and tending to the works of her late husband. She became the keeper of Percy Bysshe Shelley's fame and was editor of his posthumous works. This was done to raise the necessary funds to support herself and her son. THEMES Mary Shelley makes full use of themes that were popular during the time she wrote Frankenstein. She is concerned with the use of knowledge for good or evil purposes, the invasion of technology into modern life, the treatment of the poor or uneducated, and the restorative powers of nature in the face of unnatural events. She addresses each concern in the novel, but some concerns are not fully addressed or answered. For instance, how much learning can man obtain without jeopardizing himself or others? This is a question that has no clear answer in the novel. Victor Frankenstein symbolizes Satan in Prometheus and Paradise Lost. He creates life by rebelling against traditions and tries to shape his own destiny. These traits are not portrayed as something positive. The masterpiece of Mary Shelley “Frankenstein” contains a mixture of alienating and instinctual subject matter with thought-provoking and notional themes. Instead of dealing with the twist and turns of the events, the novel primarily deals with the moral and mental struggle of the protagonist. Shelley saturates the text with her own romanticism that criticizes the egotism and individualism of traditional romanticism. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a 19th-century epistolary novel associated with both the Romantic and the Gothic genres. The novel, which follows a scientist named Frankenstein and the horrifying creature he creates, explores the pursuit of knowledge and its consequences, as well as the human desire for connection and community. Shelley depicts these themes against the backdrop of a sublime natural world and reinforces them using symbolism. Shelley wrote Frankenstein in the midst of the Industrial Revolution, when major breakthroughs in technology were transforming society. One of the central themes in the novel—man’s pursuit of knowledge and scientific discovery—explores the subsequent anxieties of this period. Frankenstein is obsessed with uncovering the secrets of life and death with ruthless ambition; he disregards his family and ignores all affection as he pursues his studies. His academic trajectory in the novel seems to mirror mankind’s scientific history, as Frankenstein begins with the medieval philosophies of alchemy, then moves on to the modern practices of chemistry and mathematics at university. Frankenstein's efforts lead him to discover the cause of life, but the fruit of his pursuit is not positive. Rather, his creation only brings sadness, misfortune, and death. The creature Frankenstein produces is an embodiment of man’s scientific enlightenment: not beautiful, as Frankenstein thought he would be, but vulgar and horrifying. In opposition to the pursuit of knowledge is the pursuit of love, community, and family. This theme is most clearly expressed through the creature, whose singular motivation is to seek human compassion and companionship. Frankenstein isolates himself, puts aside his family, and ultimately loses those dearest to him, all for his scientific ambition. The creature, on the other hand, wants precisely what Frankenstein has turned away. He especially wishes to be embraced by the De Lacey family, but his monstrous physique bars him from acceptance. He confronts Frankenstein to ask for a female companion, but is betrayed and cast away. It is this isolation that drives the creature to