Riassunto della trama, personaggi e contesto di Frankenstein, Dispense di Letteratura Inglese

Scarica Riassunto della trama, personaggi e contesto di Frankenstein e più Dispense in PDF di Letteratura Inglese solo su Docsity! FRANKENSTEIN Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus (1818) Frankenstein is set in the latter part of the 18th century. There are some references to principles of the Enlightenment and criticizes its excesses; it shares many of the views of the Romantics. Romanticism was originated in the late 18th century Europe, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity and the primacy of individual expression. It came also as a reaction against the order and restraint of Classicism and Neoclassicism and a rejection of the rationalism which characterized the Enlightenment. Writers representing the movement include Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Percy Shelley, and Keats; painters include William Blake, J. M. W. Tumer, Fuseli, and Goya. The inspiration of the novel: The Myth of Prometheus (subtitle of the novel). Prometheus in Greek mythology is the rebellious Titan against the Gods who steals fire to save humankind. But another version is In Ovid's Metamorphoses: Prometheus is creates and manipulates men into life. Both these aspects of the myth are taking into account. Other models and literary sources are Percy Shelley as a model for Victor, the ultra-ambitious hero and overreacher “drink[ing] deep of the fountains of knowledge and is still insatiate” (Percy Shelley, “Alastor”). An ambitious hero who wants to go beyond the knowledge. Another one is Paradise Lost (1667), an epic poem by John Milton revisiting the Fall from Eden: (Adam to God) “Did | request thee, Maker, from my clay To mould me man, did | solicit thee From darkness to promote me...?” A sense of rebellion and also a challenge that we can find in Victor. Frankenstein is a Gothic novel, for its use of settings, the occurrence of supernatural events and its atmosphere of mystery that inspires terror. Innovations: a) Doppelgànger motif throughout the novel b) Psychological depth added to the characters Shelley interacts with huge scientific discoveries at the time. There were questions about what was acceptable and what was not, a moral question raised throughout the novel regarding the using of science. Morally probing explanation of responsibility and the body of knowledge known as “science”. Dangers cast into society by experimental science. 1790's Erasmus Darwin and Luigi Galvani's experiments on Galvanism and “bringing to life of organisms through electricity” A clear reference to the experiments in the Introduction of 1831: “Perhaps a corpse would be re-animated; galvanism had given token of such things: perhaps the component parts of a creature might be manufactured, brought together, and endued with vital warmth. [...] When I placed my head on my pillow, | did not sleep, nor could | be said to think. My imagination, unbidden, possessed and guided me, gifting the successive images that arose in my mind with a vividness far beyond the usual bounds of reverie. | saw—with shut eyes, but acute mental vision, —I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. | saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion...” New perspectives and uncertainties with prophetic speculation. Another context that needs to keep in mind is the intense activity of the explorations: in the 18° century towards the Arctic; early 19° century Royal Navy expedition to search the Northwest Passage. Along the west coast of Greenland to and met the Inughuit (inuit) of Cape York, the population of this parts. Something that i challenging in the novel is the structure: we have a complexity of fiew points. A series of circles that represent the different narratives and narrators. We start with the author circle (Walton's letters to his sister, an explorer to the North Pole). Then we have the narrative that involves Victor, and within this narrative we also have the narrative of the creature. And then we move back to Victor's pov and at the end we hear the Creature's final words. A complex narrative that shapes the plot. PLOT It starts with Walton's story (letters 1-4) when he rescues Victor Frankenstein in the North Pole and Vicor told his story. Victor's story (ch.1-10): we learn about Victor's early life in his family and in the company of orphaned Elizabeth; he has an interest in science, studies at university where he creates and immediately rejects the monster. We learn about death of Victor's young brother William and Justine (a long time friend) is convicted. Victor's encounter with the Creature in the Alps who forces him to listen to his story. The Creature's story (ch. 11-16): learning about the world and being forced to hide from society; he leams a language and observes the de Lacey family, but is chased away; he is an outcast and he blames his creator for this. He decides to look for his creator and murders young William in revenge; when he finally meet Victor he asks to create a female companion. Victor's story (ch. 17- middle of ch. 24): Victor refuses the request and the creature kills Victor's friend Clerval and Victor's wife Elizabeth on their wedding night; Victor's father dies; Victor decides to pursue the creature. Walton's story (final letters, second half of ch. 24): Victor dies and Walton meets the monster who mourns his creator; Creature disappears “in darkness and distance”. What is also extraordinary is the use of Europe in Frankenstein's travels. The main themes: *Pursuit of knowledge and consequences of excessive ambition *Society's attitudes towards the “Other” *Self-destructive power of revenge «Parenthood - motherhood Justice and social corruption Imagery and symbols: «Light = knowledge, reason creation *Water = knowledge and life *Lightning= nature's power *Nature = nurturing, development *Moon = sensibility, mothering (Creature) *Mountains = sublime in nature, challenge *Ice= danger, isolation (Walton-Victor) Antitheses — binary oppositions *Male/female *Beautiful/ugly(normal-abnormal) *Good/evil eLight/dark *Heat/cold eNatural/unnatural creation *Reason/emotion *Known/unknown *Civilized/savage *Master/slave There is an Idea of Europe: Agility, resistance to hard work define the creature. He tells Victor: “Follow me; | seek the everlasting ices of the north, where you will feel the misery of cold and frost, to which | am impassive” (Ch. 24 But notice that in this chapter Victor takes on some of the features of the Creature). Shelley envisioned a creature who does not fully show features from one specific region, but rather a combination of features from diverse regions. The creature is rejected and denied acceptance and access to the European world and lifestyle due to physical disparities. He is constantly viewed as an unwanted outsider with no potential for society. Birth of the creature in Europe could be said to represent cultural fears of the invasion of the primitive in civilized society or the arrival of the colonized, in search of revenge, on the shores of the colonizer.” In the early nineteenth-century, colonial expansion led to the ethnocentric theory that darker skinned people were less than human. As Shelly worked on her novel, a sequence of slave rebellions shocked the British Empire. “The enormous threat posed by what Britain perceived to be legions of non-white peoples insisting on independence parallels the monstrous threat posed by Victor's creation” Jessica Hale: Constructing Connectedness: Gender, Sexuality and Race in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (2002) The novel depends “..on the coded language of contemporary racial prejudice.” The rejected creature evokes the racially excluded subjects in the face of imperialism. H.L. Malchow, “Frankenstein's Monster and Images of Race in Nineteenth-Century Britain” (2007) The creature acknowledges his place in society, yet abhors it, saying, “Mine shall not be the submission of abject slavery. | will revenge my injuries: if | cannot inspire love, | will cause fear” (Ch.17). Shelley's portrayal of the creature reflects nineteenth-century attitudes toward non- whites as inferior and innately prone to slavery. Victor fears a new species growing out of control based on his actions, the Eurocentric world fears the reaction of the subjugated slaves. Slave rebellions are reflected in the creature's acts of vengeance. 23/04 COMMENTING THE EXTRACTS: Chapter 11 We see the opposition between dark/light and cold/heat, both threatening for the creature. He's seen as a first born, he has to manage these new feelings and sensations. The reference to the sun, not a comforting type of light, may also be read as the opposite of a more comforting light provided by the moon (feminine and mother referment). There is also a tension between the known and the unknown: the creature has to learn to live in the world. Nature has a very complex role: it provides a shelter and water, it nurtures him and provides instruments to survive. A character names Caliban, from Shakespeare, was an inspiration for Shelley to write the creature. There are a lot of similarities between the characters: both missing a mother figure, both have a kind of monster/slave/dominator relationship with their fathers. In these early days where he is abandoned he learns to appreciate the nature around, with its sounds, lights, darkness, animals. We have a very contrasting being with the description that Victor gave us at the beginning. He also starts to master some of the elements that surround him like the fire, he's testing his abilities and experiments with different materials. Chapter 13 There is a progression from the creature as a baby child to the creature as more mature and adult. The device that Shelley uses to let the creature acquire an education is by placing him outside a village where he spends a long time hiding there and by coincidence he's blessed by the fact that the stranger arrives in the family and they need to educate her. Following from a distance he receives the same education. The end product is a fairly sophisticated education that not many people would receive. We can also think that this is what happened to women in Shelley's time, they could only get bitten and pieces of education and in a way the creature is doing exactly that. Safie, the one who actually received the education, looks beautiful. She looks different from the others but she doesn't have a threatening figure. Felix, her fiancé, teacher her a lot of things from the book “The Ruins”, which describes the world's most important religious., condemns the corruptions of the Christian Church, discusses the wealth, proprieties and analyse the fall of civilization. The first book was translated to English by the president Thomas Jefferson. This novel is the vehicle of education for both the creature and Safie. There is also a question of identity. He's aware that he's different from the men he sees. This is the complete opposite of Roxana and Robinson Crusoe, where they knew exactly who they were and they had money. Victor himself describes his background and says exactly where he came from, a contrast with the creature. The creature is good but this constant rejection will eventually turn him into an evil being. Chapter 17 The theme is rejection. Victor has contrastive feelings towards the creature, he sees an horrible mess but he also gradually feels a compassion for him. He is accepting this role of father figure towards the creature and at the beginning he accepts to create a female figure for the creature but then he changes his mind. Victor realizes that he created a creature that lives in Europe but he's not from Europe. Chapter 24 Victor describes his chase for the creature as an explorer surrounded by the ice in the environment. We are in a far away place in Russia. At the end of this extract Viktor himself has become less European like the creature, he has assimilated some features of the monster because he's braving the elements like the creature.