Frankenstein
The story & its meaning
Presented by 徐美玲 毛彦丰 程钰洁 盛颖睿
林萱 王思哲 葛雨诺 杨泰玲
CONTENTS
01 Background
02 Characters & Stories
03 Themes
04 Connotation
Influence
&
on
stage
05
Background
• About author
• Social Background
About author
Mary Shelley
(1797-1851)
•
•
a famous British
novelist
the mother of
science fiction
• Rich cultural legacy
16 books and monographs, many short stories, essays, essays,
travel notes, poems, letters, and more.
Social Background
a magic weapon with no end,
which "can always provide spiritual food for you to
explore and discover miracles"
The Industrial Revolution
Scientific and technological civilization
Characters
& Stories
Characters
Main
characters
Victor Frankenstein
The Monster
Robert Walton
Elizabeth Lavenza
Henry Clerval
Secondary
characters
Victor Frankenstein
 a biologist keen on the origin of life
 Beginning: sympathetic ,with an enquiring
mind and an interest in scientific development
 Later: arrogant and extremely single-minded
The Monster
No background,
family or past
history
Victim of human
weaknesses
and
prejudice
The mind of a
young child
Lonely and
isolated murderer
Themes
Themes
01
human begins V.S.
technological progress
If menobjectivity
act impulsively
in
order
to
learn
the
& human reason
fickle power of nature, they will finally pay the
price.
Themes
02 individual pursuits
V.S. social morality
the scandal of man’s reckless and arrogant
self-striving driven by bourgeois individualist
values.
Connotation
Connotation and Application
 NOUN something that destroys or harms the person or people who created it.
e.g. In arming the dictator, the US was creating a Frankenstein.
 VERB combine two or more similar elements to form a consistent entity, or a
cohesive idea (anthimeria)
e.g. My car broke down and so I had to Frankenstein a new engine from old Mustang.
 Affix “franken-”,
dangerous
something
that
is
e.g. modified crops → frankenfoods
considered
to
be
frightening
and
Influence &
Frankenstein
on stage
Influence
1.Literature & popular culture
× traditional
gothic
√ civilian
life elements
• the first science fiction
2.The development of science
• scientific experimentation
• morality and ethics
Influence
3. religion
western tradition
God as the creator
in this fiction
scientists “playing God”
Frankenstein on stage
• 2011, the Royal
National Theatre
• D: Danny Boyle
• Actors:
Benedict Cumberbatch
& Jonny Lee Miller
alternating between
the roles of Victor
Frankenstein and his
creation.
Frankenstein:
Role Switching as a modern interpretation
dialectical relationship
(辩证关系)
• the creator & the
created
• father & son
• master & slave
a living organism
Cumberbatch as the scientist
Miller as the scientist
THANK YOU!