Frank Background Contextual Resource Full2

8/12/2019 Frank Background Contextual Resource Full2

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Frankenstein Contextual Background Study and Intertextual links1.

Frankenstein, Or the Modern Prometheuswas published inEngland in 1818

1. Settings

Waltons letters are sent from northern Russia,close to and within theextreme weather of the Arctic Circle. He mentions St Petersburghandthen Archangel before launching into the unknown.

Victor comes from Switzerlandin Europe and travels to Northern Scotlandand the Arctic.

2. iterary In!luencesand Intertextual

allusion"

#. $ercy Shelley%s sia%"Fro' &$ro'etheus(nbound%

M soul is an enchanted boat!Which! like a sleeping swan! doth float"pon the silver waves of th sweet singing#

And thine doth like an angel sit$eside a helm conducting it!Whilst all the winds with melod are ringing.%t seems to float ever! for ever! &."pon that man'winding river!
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/europe/ch.htm


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$etween mountains! woods! absses!A paradise of wildernesses()ill! like one in slumber bound!$orne to the ocean! % float down! around!%nto a sea profound! of ever'spreading sound* Wikipedia

Prometheus Unbound is a four-act play by Percy Bysshe Shelleyfirst published in

1820, concerned with the torments of the reek mytholo!icalfi!ure Prometheusandhis sufferin! at the hands of "eus# $t is inspired by %eschylus&sPrometheus Boundand

concerns Prometheus& release from capti'ity# (nlike %eschylus& 'ersion, howe'er,

there is no reconciliation between Prometheus and Zeus# $nstead, )upiter*"eus+ is

o'erthrown, which allows Prometheus to be released# Shelley&s play is closet drama,

meanin! it was not intended to be produced on the sta!e# $n the tradition of omantic

Poetry, Shelley wrote for the imagination, intendin! his play&s sta!e to reside in the

ima!inations of his readers#Like Prometheus, both Walton and Victor claim to

benefit mankind.

Percy Shelley was Mary Shelleys lo!er, ins"iration and later husband.

B. the )reek $ro'etheus by *onathan +adakethu

Prometheus was the son of $apetuswho was one of the itans# .e tricked the !ods into

eatin! bare bones instead of !ood meat# #e stole the sacred fire from Zeusand the

gods.Prometheus did not tell Zeus the "ro"hecy that one of Zeus$s sons will

o!erthrow him. $n punishment, "eus commanded that Prometheus be chained foreternity in the /aucasus# here, an ea!le would eat his li'er, and each day the li'er

would be renewed# So the punishment was endless, until .eraclesfinally killed the

bird#

hubris +hyoo'bris!hoo', noun excessive pride or self'confidence# arrogance.Also!hybris Origin: -/01# 2 3k hbrisinsolence

C. &,he -i'e o! the #ncient ariner%/ Sa'uel ,aylor Coleridge

/olerid!e was a omantic poet and friend of ary and Percy# %n

albatross is a lar!e sea bird that often follows ships to sca'en!e for food

scraps# $t was considered na'al superstition and a moral crime for a

sailor to shoot an albatrossfor either sport or food#

/hristian symbolism abounds in the poems moral lesson that all

creatures !reat and small3 were created by od and should be lo'ed, not

abused#
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Bysshe_Shelleyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeschylushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_Boundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closet_dramahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_Poetryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_Poetryhttp://www.pantheon.org/articles/i/iapetus.htmlhttp://www.pantheon.org/articles/t/titans.htmlhttp://www.pantheon.org/articles/z/zeus.htmlhttp://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/heracles.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Bysshe_Shelleyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeschylushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_Boundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closet_dramahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_Poetryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_Poetryhttp://www.pantheon.org/articles/i/iapetus.htmlhttp://www.pantheon.org/articles/t/titans.htmlhttp://www.pantheon.org/articles/z/zeus.htmlhttp://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/heracles.html


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/olerid!e may also ha'e intended the poem as a commentary on the ways in which 4#

"eo"le inter"ret the lessons of the "astand that the past, no matter how hard we try,

is sim"ly unknowable# (Sparknotes)

Here is a short excerpt:

he ice was here, the ice was there,

he ice was all around5

$t cracked and !rowled, and roared and howled,6ike noises in a swound7

%t len!th did cross an %lbatross5

horou!h the fo! it came

%s if it had been a /hristian soul,

We hailed it in od&s name#

$t ate the food it ne&er had eat,%nd round and round it flew#

he ice did split with a thunder-fit

he helmsman steered us throu!h7

%nd a !ood south wind sprun! up behind

he %lbatross did follow,

%nd e'ery day, for food or play,

/ame to the mariners& hollo7

$n mist or cloud, on mast or shroud,

$t perched for 'espers nine

Whiles all the ni!ht, throu!h fo!-smoke white,

limmered the white oon-shine#

%&od sa!e thee, ancient Mariner'

(rom the fiends, that "lague thee thus' ))Why look$st thou so*% )) With my cross)bow

+ shot the L-/0SS.

0.


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. $aradise ost/ *ohn ilton

09 ans 9irst :isobedience, and the 9ruit

;f that 9orbidden ree, whose mortal task

Brou!ht :eath into the World, and all our woe,

With loss ofEden, till one !reater an

estore us, and re!ain the blissful Seat, < = >

Sin! .ea'&nly use, that on the secret top

;f Oreb,or of Sinai, didstinspire

hat Shepherd, who first tau!ht the chosen Seed,

$n the Be!innin!how the .ea'&ns and ?arth

ose out of Chaos5 ;r if Sion.ill < 10 >

:eli!ht thee more, and Siloa'sBrook that flow&d

9ast by the ;racle of od $ thence$n'oke thy aid to my ad'entrous Son!,

hat with no middle fli!ht intends to soar

%bo'e th&Aonian ount, while it pursues < 1= >

hin!s unattempted yet in Prose or hime#

%nd chiefly hou ; Spirit, that dostprefer

Before all emples th& upri!ht heart and pure,

$nstruct me, for hou know&st hou from the first

Wast present, and with mi!hty win!s outspread < 20 >

:o'e-likesatstbroodin!on the 'ast %byss

%nd mad&st itpre!nant5What in me is dark

$llumin, what is low raise and supporthat to the hi!hth of this !reat %r!ument

$ may assert ?ternal Pro'idence, < 2= >

%nd @ustifie the wayes of od to men# http5AAwww#paradiselost#or!A

$n the mid-se'enteenth century, )ohn ilton was a

successful "oet and "olitical acti!ist# .e wrote scathin!

pamphlets a!ainst corruption in the %n!lican /hurch and its ties to in! /harles who

was /atholic# $n iltons day Puritanism meant ha'in! "olitically radical !iews# %nd

at one point ilton was actually @ailed for recordin! them on paper#Paradise Lostis aseries of ar!uments put forth by the characters, which in turn ultimately eCpresses

iltons personal truth# $t is, in that sense, a Puritanical work#

9or this poem he chose the fundamentals of /hristianity# he central story line is built

around a few para!raphs in the beginning of &enesis1the story of dam and 2!e.

he epic also uses elements from many other parts of the Bible, particularly in'ol'in!

Satans role# 9ocusin! his poem on the e'ents surroundin! the fall of %dam and ?'e,

ilton =# intended, in his words, to @ustify the ways of od to men#3

Paradise 6ost has epic form features# $t is a lon!, narrati'e poem it follows the

e3"loits of a hero 4or anti)hero56 it in!ol!es warfare and the su"ernatural6 it

begins in the midst of the action, with earlier crises in the story brought in later by
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#woehttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#woehttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#messiahhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#musehttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#musehttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#musehttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#Orebhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#Orebhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#seedhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#beginninghttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#chaos2http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#chaos2http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#chaos2http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#Sionhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#openinghttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#openinghttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#openinghttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#aoniahttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#aoniahttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#aoniahttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#aoniahttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#orlandohttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#orlandohttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#orlandohttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#orlandohttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#dovehttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#broodinghttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#pregnanthttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#pregnanthttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#woehttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#messiahhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#musehttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#Orebhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#seedhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#beginninghttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#chaos2http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#Sionhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#openinghttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#aoniahttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#orlandohttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#dovehttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#broodinghttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/notes.shtml#pregnant


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flashback6 and it e3"resses the ideals and traditions of a "eo"le. $t has these

elements in common with the %eneid, the $liad, and the ;dyssey#

he poem is in blank 'erse, that is, non-rhymin! 'erse# $n a note he added to the

second printin!, ilton eCpresses contempt for rhymin! poetry# Paradise 6ost is

composed in the 'erse form of iambic pentameterDthe same used by Shakespeare# $n

this style, a line is composed of fi'e lon!, unaccented syllables, each followed by a

short, accented one#

Controversy over Mintons views that he was a:

1. Christian who read and believed in the Hebrew Scriptures. ???2. Christian who read and believed the New Testament. ???

3. Protestant Christian. ???

4. Reformed Protestant. ???

5. Independent thinker. ???

6. Heretic pol!"am!# Re$ected theTrinit!% &r!ian herac! '''

. #lche'y and the $hilosopher%s StoneAlchemy was a e!ie"al philosophy which #elie"e! thatthro$%h &chemistry' it was possi#le to turn base metals

into "old and find the eli(ir of life and lon"evit!. tcom#ine! what we know o earl! chemistr! withspiritualism and the occult.

Paracelsuswas Swiss physician who

died in 1=E1 who was an occultist and

alchemist# .e understood the healin!

power of nature and psycholo!ical illness

7ornelius gri""awrote about the sorcerers apprentice who unleashes

power beyond his control

3.


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lbertus Magnus- Bishop, :ominican, ystic, brou!ht the teachin!s of %ristotle and

the /hurch closer to!ether

0. Science4 edicine and eath in the 1566s/1866s

a. Science")al7inis'Scientific discovery of electricity led to the beliefthat electricity was the origin o! li!e.Luigi Galvani in 1780s sent electriccurrent through frogs legs, activating them. It as !ust a short lea" inlogic to thin# that electricity could reani'ate dead hu'ans that it wasthe secret to li!e itsel!

b. edicine" little faith in doctors, bloodletting, discoveries such ascirculation

c. Early death"$igh mortality rate, "overty as ides"read, bodysnatching for medical research

9. :istorical and Social E7ents

#. Exploration4 E'pires andColoni;ation

o %uro"ean countries e&"lored the orldto colonise ne lands and

exploit indigenous people through con


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3. Ideas" ,he #ge o! Enlighten'ent

#. ogic is 7alued e'otion and superstition are not

*e%an in the mi!!le o the 1+thcent$ry with Descartes' Discourseon the Method, p$#lishe! in 1,3+

-r perhaps ater *ritains /lorio$s0e"ol$tiono 1,

-r with the p$#lication o IsaacNewton's Principia Mathematicawhich irst appeare! in 1,+

ey thinkers #e%an a critical )uestionin" of traditional institutions#customs# and values

Some #elie"e that it en!e! with the *rench Revolutionof +,-or the#e%innin% o the apoleonic ars(14615) htt"899ieet.org9inde3."h"9t"wiki92nlightenment

7hese thinkers aime! to understand the natural world andhumankind/s place in it solel! on the basis of reason and withoutturnin" to reli"ious belief

t #ecame a conlict #etween reli%ion an! the in8$irin% min! that wante!to know an! $n!erstan! thro$%h reason #ase! on e"i!ence an! proo.

n 9rankenstein 0ictor *rankenstein the main character learnsenli"htened thinkin". He is a st$!ent o the $ni"ersity who tries to!e"elop a creat$re thro$%h science not the natural process ofprocreation.

He says ;n rather philosophical an! connecte! a strain perhaps ha"e%i"en an acco$nt o the concl$sions ha! come to concernin% them in myearly years. As a chil! ha! not #een content with the res$lts promise!#y the mo!ern proessors o nat$ral science. ith a con$sion o i!easonly to #e acco$nte! or #y my extreme yo$th an! my want o a %$i!e ons$ch matters I had retrod the steps of the knowled"e alon" the pathsof time# and e(chan"ed the discoveries of recent en)uirers for thedreams of modern natural philosoph!.1

B. -enee escartes 8
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descarteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_the_Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_the_Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newtonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newtonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophi%C3%A6_Naturalis_Principia_Mathematicahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_Warshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descarteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_the_Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_the_Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newtonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newtonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophi%C3%A6_Naturalis_Principia_Mathematicahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_Wars


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:escartes is often re!arded as the first thinker to

pro'ide a philosophical framework for the natural

sciencesas these be!an to de'elop# $n hisDiscourse

on the Method, he attempts to arri'e at a

fundamental set of principles that one can know astrue without any doubt# o achie'e this, he employs

a method called hyperbolicalAmetaphysical doubt, sometimes also referred toas methodological ske"ticism8he re@ects any ideas that can be doubted, and

then reestablishes them in order to acFuire a firm foundation for !enuine

knowled!e#

$nitially, :escartes arri'es at only a sin!le principle5 thought e3ists.hou!ht

cannot be separated from me, therefore, $ eCist# ost famously, this is known

as cogito ergo sum*?n!lish5 %+ think, therefore + am%+# herefore,:escartes concluded, if he doubted, then somethin! or someone must be

doin! the doubtin!, therefore the 'ery fact that he doubted pro'ed his

eCistence# Ghe simple meanin! of the phrase is that if one is ske"tical of

e3istence, that is in and of itself "roof that he does e3ist.Gwww.crystalinks.com/descartes.html

5. -o'anticis'

E'otion is 7alued logic is not

ll about /Iindi7idualis'4 i'aginati7e4 irrational4 illogical4

independent4 identity4 ingenuity4 intuiti7e4 e'otional4exotic>

'he social fear that the ge of %nlightenment led totechnologicalad7ance'ent4 the mass movement of the "o"ulation to the cities

and the destruction of natureled to a reaction againstrationalis' and logic in !a7or o! -o'anticis'"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_scienceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_scienceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_the_Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_the_Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodological_skepticismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogito_ergo_sumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_scienceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_scienceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_the_Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_the_Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodological_skepticismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogito_ergo_sum


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H#

www.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/romanticism.html

$f the ?nli!htenment was a mo'ement which started amon! a tiny elite and slowly

spread to make its influence felt throu!hout society, omanticism was morewidespread both in its ori!ins and influence# $t sou!ht to change !aluesby shiftin!

from a logical rational way of thinking to the !aluing of imagination and emotional

e3"eriences.$t chan!ed cultural emphasis from the technology and de!elo"ments of

the +ndustrial /e!olution to an a""reciation of nature and human e3"erience.

Be!innin! in ermany and ?n!land in the 1II0s, it tra'eled Fuickly to the rest of

?urope and %merica# When )ohn Williams created the sound of the future in Star

Wars,it was the sound of 1Hth-century omanticism--still the most popular style forepic film soundtracks#

-eginning in the last decades of the :;th century, it transformed "oetry, the no!el,

drama, "ainting, scul"ture, all forms of concert music 4es"ecially o"era5, and

ballet# $t was deeply connected with the politics of the time, echoin! people&s fears,

hopes, and aspirations# $t was the 'oice of re'olution at the be!innin! of the 1Hth

century and the 'oice of the ?stablishment at the end of it# 6ike the ?nli!htenment,

omanticism tri!!ered numerous counter)mo!ements, like /ealism and

+m"ressionism leading to the Modernist mo!ement.

2ffects of /omanticism are seen in8

. (olklore and Po"ular rt

Some of the earliest stirrin!s of the omantic mo'ement arecon'entionally traced back to the mid-18th-century interest

in folklore which arose in ermany--with )akob and

Wilhelm rimm collectin! popular 10# fairy tales# hese

acti'ities set the tone for one aspect of omanticism is the
http://toffsworld.com/lifestyle/art-information/romanticism-constable/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism


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belief that "roducts of the unculti!ated "o"ular imagination could e


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the 2nlightenment ideal of balance and rationalism, readers eagerly sought out

the hysterical, mystical, "assionate ad!entures of terrified heroes and heroines in

the clutches of frightening, mysterious forces.he modern horror no'el and

woman&s romance are both descendants of the othic romance, as transmuted throu!h

such masterworks as /harlotte Bronte&s!ane E"reand her sister ?mily&s Wutherin#

$ei#hts% %nother classic othic work, ary Shelley&s&rankenstein,is often cited as a

forerunner of modern science fiction#

2. Medie!alism

he othic no'el embraced the Medie!al 4%&othic%5 cultureso

disdained by the early 18th century# Whereas classical art looked

back constantly to the ancient reeks and omans, the omantics

celebrated for the first time since the enaissance the wilder aspects

of the creati'ity of Western ?uropeans from the 12th throu!h the 1Eth

centuries5 stained !lass in soarin! cathedrals, tales of obin .ood andhis merry men, and--abo'e all--the old tales of in! %rthur and the

kni!hts of the round table# his influence was to spread far beyond

the othic romance to all artistic forms in ?urope, and li!es on in the "o"ular fantasy

no!els of today.

(. 2motion

he other influential characteristic of the &othic romance was its e!ocation ofstrong, irrational emotions))"articularly horror. he othic writers e'oked all

manner of irrational scenes desi!ned to horrify and amaJe# omantic writers !enerally

also priJed the more tender sentiments of affection, sorrow, and romantic lon!in!#

&. /ousseau@ 23aggeration of emotions

ousseau was a moody, o'er-sensiti'e, e'en paranoid writer and

composer of the 18thcentury# .is sentimental no'elJulie, or the New

Heloisewas of importance to the de'elopment of pre-romanticism


12/17

behind these passions is most often a relationshi" between a "air of lo!ers# $t was the

romantics who first celebrated romantic lo'e as the natural birthri!ht of e'ery human

bein!, the most eCalted of human sentiments, and the necessary foundation of a

successful marria!e#

his con'iction which continues to shape much of our thinkin! about relationships,

marria!e, and the family found its mature form durin! the omantic a!e# So

thoroughly has lo!e become identified with romance that the two are nowgenerally taken as synonyms#

#. 23oticism%nother important aspect of omanticism is the e3otic.

)ust as omantics responded to the lon!in! of people for

a distant past, so they pro'ided ima!es of distant places#

Korth %frica and the iddle ?ast pro'ided images of

%sia% to 2uro"eans# enerally anywhere south of thecountry where one was resided was considered more

relaCed, more colorful, more sensual# Such e3oticism consisted lar!ely of simple

stereotypes# any people toured abroad which encoura!ed ?uropean colonialist

attitudes#

+. /eligion

;ne of the most compleC de'elopments durin! this period is the transformation ofreligion into a sub?ect for artistic treatment far remo!ed from traditional religious

art.he ?nli!htenment had weakened, but hardly obliterated established reli!ion in

?urope# %s time passed, sophisticated writers and artists were less and less likely to be

con'entional belie'ers but durin! the omantic era many of them were drawn to

religious imageryin the same way they were drawn to %rthurian or other ancient

traditions in which they no lon!er belie'ed# eli!ion was aestheticiJed, and writers felt

free to draw on -iblical themeswith the same freedom as their predecessors had

drawn on classical mythology, and with as little re'erence#

he mi3ture of disbelief in and fascination with religionillustrates that social

chan!e is like the mo'ement of wa'es on a beach, in which an early wa'e is recedin!

while another ad'ances o'er it, and elements of both become miCed to!ether#

A. +ndi!idualism :B.

;ne of the most important de'elopments of this period is the rise in the importance of

indi!idualism# Before the 18th /entury, few ?uropeans concerned themsel'es withdisco'erin! their own indi!idual identities# hey were what they had been born5

nobles, peasants, or merchants# %s mercantilism and capitalism !radually transformed

?urope, howe'er, it destabiliCedthe old patterns# he new industrialists naturally liked


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to credit themsel'es for ha'in! built their lar!e fortunes and re@ected the ri!ht of

society to re!ulate and taC their enterprises# Sometimes they tried to fit into the

traditional patterns by buyin! noble titles but more and more often they de'eloped

their own tastes in the arts and created new social and artistic mo'ements alien to the

old aristocracy#

hey could now affordto "ursue their indi!idual tastesin a way not possible e'en in

the enaissance#

he most influential eCemplar of indi'idualism for the 1Hth century was not a creati'e

artist at all, but a military man5 =a"oleon -ona"arte# he dramatic way in which he

rose to the head of 9rance in the chaotic wake of its bloody re'olution, led his army to

a series of triumphs in ?urope to build a brief but influential ?mpire, and created new

styles, tastes, and e'en laws with disre!ard for public opinion fascinated the people of

the time#

he modern fascination with self)definition and self)in!ention, the notion that

adolescence is naturally a time of rebellion in which one %finds oneself,%the idea

that the best path to faith is throu!h indi!idual choice, the idea that go!ernment e3ists

to ser!e the indi!idualswho ha'e created it5 all of these are products of the romantic

celebration of the indi'idual at the eCpense of society and tradition#

D. =ature

he omantics, @ust as they culti'ated sensiti'ity to emotion !enerally, especiallyculti'ated sensiti'ity to nature# $t came to be felt that to muse by a stream, to 'iew a

thunderin! waterfall or e'en confront a rollin! desert could be morally impro'in!#

uch of the nature writin! of the 1Hth century has a reli!ious Fuality to it absent in any

other period# $t may seem paradoCical that it was?ust at the moment when the

industrial re!olution was destroying large tracts of woods and fields and creating

an artificial en!ironment in 2uro"e that "eo"le started to a""reciate nature.

People in urban en'ironments are aware of the stark contrast between their daily li'es

and the eCistence of the inhabitants of the wild who romanticise nature# hey areattracted to it precisely because they are no lon!er a part of it#

L. Victorianism

Mictorianism featured "rudish attitudespopularly associated with Nueen Mictoria&s

1E# rei!n# Mictoria did not create Mictorianism, she merely eCemplified the 'alues of

the time# -ut throughout the Victorian "eriod the wild, "assionate, erotic, e!en

destructi!e as"ects of /omanticism continue in e!idence in all the arts.

8. ,he ?ew !or' o! iterature" the ?o7el @'eaning &new%A


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Altho$%h poetry an! !rama ha! lon% histories #ack to Ancient /reece theno"el was a new orm s$ch as /$lli"er's 7ra"els 1+2, #y


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and she and her half sister >ann gained a stepsister! 6laire! whenher father remarried Mar Cane 6lairmont. 6laire and Mar would

remain ver close for the rest of their lives.

D. Distant >ather*)here were bitter times for Mar growing up witha cruel ste+ )other and e)otionally distant .ather# she

consoled herself at her )others gravesideand spent periods oftime in 9cotland with friends of the famil. 9he was educated at

home b tutors were she studied her parents writings and literatureand poetr! as well as learning ;atin! >rench! and %talian. 9he also

read the works of the Enlightenment literar figures her unorthodo+arentsassociated with including the poets William $lake! 9amuel

)alor 6oleridge! and 6harles ;amb.

E. :erc* poet! lover! husband*Mar met her future husband :erc$sshe 9helle4-@&'-&&5 around the age of sixteen when hebecame ac=uainted with her atheist .atherand his philosoph!

which he soon adopted. He spent much time at the 3odwinshousehold discussing politics and events of the da. :erc was

unhappil married to Harriet Westbrook 4-@1'--B5 at the time!and despite Marys .ather .orbidding her to see hi) any)ore,he and Mar eloped to >rance in -- with 6laire in tow for a six

week tour of Europe.Mars fathers free love philosoph did notextend to her andthey were !0 estranged until she )arried/

;iving in ;ondon with 6laire and :erc! Mary and Percys daughter

Clara was born in 1ebruary o. !%!& though she died a .ewwee2s later. 9oon after! William was born 4--B'--5 and the trio

set out again! traveling through >rance! 3erman! and 9witFerland.)he spent part of the extraordinar Gear without a summer of

--B at ;ake 3eneva! where ;ord 3eorge 3ordon $ronalsosummered and had a scandalous affair with 6laire. )he had a

daughter! Allegra $ron 4--@'-&&5. Mar and :erc 9hellemarried in ?/ December --B at 9t. Mildreds church in ;ondon.

)he ointl wrote about their travels in !istory of "i# Weeks Tour4--@5.

Advocates of vegetarianis) and issues o. social re.or)! the

9helles were matched on man levels intellectuall though Mardid not embrace the idea of an open marriage or Gtrue love ideals

:erc longed for and expressed in so man of his poems. 9he hadstarted writingFrankensteinin !%!0 while in Switzerland,
http://www.online-literature.com/blake/http://www.online-literature.com/coleridge/http://www.online-literature.com/coleridge/http://www.online-literature.com/lamb/http://www.online-literature.com/shelley_percy/http://www.online-literature.com/shelley_percy/http://www.online-literature.com/byron/http://www.online-literature.com/blake/http://www.online-literature.com/coleridge/http://www.online-literature.com/coleridge/http://www.online-literature.com/lamb/http://www.online-literature.com/shelley_percy/http://www.online-literature.com/shelley_percy/http://www.online-literature.com/byron/


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inspired b their man sailing trips on the lake and nights tellingeach other ghost stories. A second daughter named 6lara was born

in --@ but she died a ear later.

Iow that the were married and Mar was on speaking terms withher father! she and :erc moved back to %tal! staing for a time in

various cities including Milan! :isa! and Venice. Much of their travelsin %tal surrounded the issues between $ron and 6laire and their

daughter Allegra. While living in >lorence Percy 1lorence was bornin !%!# d/!%%#' the sa)e year 3illia) died/After

Frankenstein! Mathilda4--5! Pros$er$ineand Midas4-&/5followed.

%n -&&! Shelley su..ered a )iscarriage which al)ost too2 her

li.e/)he same ear! as was one of his favorite past times! :erc wassailing on his schooner GDon Cuan with friend Edward Williams whena sudden storm blew up and it sank. Percys body washed ashore

and as were his wishes, he was cre)ated on the beach near4iareggio. Mar soon devoted her energies to the massive

undertaking of compiling his poetr and writing extensive notes forthem included in The Com$lete Poetical Works of Percy %ysshe4-&5.

5evastated by her loss! in -&? Mar returned to England with her-@ son :erc. :erc $sshes father 9ir )imoth 9helle provided hisgrandson :erc an annual income whilst he attended school before

he inherited the estate and title in - when 9ir )imoth died. Marcontinued work on her own novels including Val$erga4-&?5 and

wrote numerous short stories! essas! poems! and reviews thatappeared in various ournals and magaFines including &ondon

Maga'ineand Westminster Re(ie). Her second most popular novel!The &ast Manwas published in -&B. Jther works to follow include#

Perkin War*eck4-?/5! &edore4-?15! Falkner4-?@5! and Ram*lesin +ermany and Italy4-5. :ossibl brought on b the strain of

her prolific writing career or various travels! b the earl -/s9helle often suffered bouts of illness that would plague her for her

remaining ears.Mar Wollstonecraft 9helle died at home in ;ondonat the age of fift'four on - >ebruar -1-. 9he lies buried in 9t.:eters churchard in $ournemouth! Dorset! England.


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