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"Man, . . . how ignorant art thou in thy
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Read the following from your text (or click the linked material):
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851): Frankenstein (you might want to buy the book!)
Brief Lecture:
The Gothic novel was a movement during the Romantic period that embraced elements of magic, mystery, and chivalry. Gothic writers such as the Bronte sisters and Mary Shelly included traditional Gothic images in their stories, such as: medieval castles, underground passages, creaking doors, dark stairwells, and forbidden rooms.
Female novelists dominated the Gothic era. Mary Wollstonecraft, the mother of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and the author of the Vindication of the Rights of Woman, was an early pioneer of the women's movement. In 1781, Mary Wollstonecraft's lover, Henry Fuseli, painted The Nightmare (below), shocking all who saw it. The creature in the painting eerily resembles the monster in Shelley's novel hovering over Frankenstein's bride moments after he takes her life. Sadly, Mary Wollstonecraft died shortly after giving birth to her daughter.
As the story is told, Mary Shelley, her husband poet Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron were in Geneva telling German "ghost" stories on a stormy, summer evening. The three authors enjoyed their folly so much that they agreed to a contest. Each writer would concoct a horror story and the best tale of all would be supported by the others who would see it through publication. As a result, Mary Shelley came up with the idea of Frankenstein and the rest is history.
This interconnectedness and competitiveness amongst these three 19th century British writers is reminiscent of the great Greek philosophers. Aristophanes once good-heartedly made fun of Socrates in one of his plays, but when Socrates was on trial for his life, he objected to Socrates' criticism, saying that he was not the man that some of his fellow Athenians had demeaned. Socrates, a student of Plato, was passionately defended by his mentor at his famous trial for his life. And then of course, Plato's greatest student was Aristotle.
Throughout history, writers have continued the tradition of critiquing each other's literary works. In the early twentieth century, authors like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Edith Wharton would often meet in outdoor cafes in great European cities such as Rome and Paris to discuss and analyze each other's works.
Once you have finished the novel, you need to finish up BB2 and then complete Paper One. Once you have completed all of the assignments listed on this page, you may go on to the Victorian Lecture.