Frankenstein
Allusions and Analogies
Reminders
 If Mrs. Coates is writing you a recommendation and
you are NOT using the Common App, you need to
provide ME an addressed, stamped envelope for
each college, and I will give them to her.
 Frankenstein test NEXT CLASS
 MWDS DUE: NEXT CLASS
 Must turn in ONE typed copy per group with Pledge
stapled to front
 Must upload document in turnitin.com by
MIDNIGHT Friday night
 The Things They Carried Due:
 Book Due: A Day- 10/15
B Day- 10/16
 Study Guide Due: A Day- 10/17 B Day- 10/20
 Study Guide that MUST be printed and uploaded in
turnitin.com
Early Life
 August 30, 1797: Born in London
 Only child of two notable intellectual
radicals
 William Goodwin: philosopher; believed all
human institutions were corrupt
 Mary Wollstonecraft: pioneering feminist;
died only ten days after daughter’s birth
 Mary Jane Clairmont (widow): married
William Goodwin four years after wife’s
death
 Relationship between stepmother and
daughter strained
Friends of Shelley’s
Friends of father
Charles Lamb (writer and essayist)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (“Rime
of the Ancient Mariner”)
Friends of daughter
Percy Blysshe Shelley
Lord Byron (had affair and
impregnated Shelley’s stepsister,
Claire)
Percy and Mary Shelley
 Began relationship in spring of 1814, as he
was a frequent visitor to the Goodwin home
 Eloped in summer of 1814 when Mary was 17
(Percy already married with one young
daughter and a child on the way )
 Became pregnant immediately (premature
daughter died)
 Father refused to speak to Mary after
elopement (lasted 2 ½ years)
 Mary is a social outcast because she ran
away with a married man. She must live
separately from Percy
1816: gave birth to William
October 1816: Percy’s wife
drowned herself (while pregnant
with their third child)
Mary and Percy marry; Mary
reconciles with father
Had five children total; only one
lived to adulthood (Percy
Florence)
July 1822: Percy Shelley drowns.
February 1, 1851: Died in London at
age of 53
Frankenstein and “Rime of the
Ancient Mariner”
 Antarctic/Arctic
 Ships trapped in ice
 Victor and Mariner defy God, which disturbs the natural
order of their world
 World transformed into a nightmare vision of an alien
universe, a meaningless and terrifying wasteland, a world
without God.
 Monster also experiences godless world (full of corrupt
individuals who are irresponsible and cruel)
 Mariner, Victor and Creature alienated; no longer at peace
with self or wider community
 Punishment: continue living despite desire to die; those
closest must pay.
 Mariner and Victor seek redemption by continuing on
journey. Mariner tries to pray; Victor tries to find Creature
and destroy him.
“Did I request thee, Maker, from my
clay / To mold me man? Did I solicit
thee / From darkness to promote
me?”
 This quotation appears on the title page of Mary
Shelley’s Frankenstein. It could have been spoken
by Frankenstein’s creature. In fact, the words come
from John Milton’s poem Paradise Lost (1667) and
are spoken by the character of Adam. This booklength poem is a retelling of the story of Adam and
Eve from the Bible. An equally prominent character
in the poem is Satan, the lord of evil. Milton depicts
Satan as the chief angel of heaven who rebels
against God and is cast into hell. To avenge himself,
he tempts Adam and Eve to disobey God in the
Garden of Eden.
**The McGraw-Hill Company, Inc.
Read Paradise Lost
Summary
 Do NOT write on copy
 For each BOOK assigned, record one-sentence
summary.
Look at Allusions and
Analogies in Frankenstein
handout
 Beside each quote for Paradise Lost, write down
what we learn about the creature from each
reference
 Beside each quote for “Rime of the Ancient
Mariner,” write down what we learn about
Walton, Frankenstein and the plot from each
reference
 SKIP Prometheus Allusions
 Read Allusions to Shelley’s life: How does
Frankenstein allude to her life?
Read “Frankenstein’s
Monster and Milton’s Satan”
 Make chart comparing
 Adam and Creature
 Satan and Creature
 Adam and Frankenstein
 Make a list of themes
 Goal: Explain the purpose of using allusions in
Frankenstein.
Frankenstein and Paradise
Lost
Adam and Creature
 Perfect at his creation; full of love for humanity
and nature
 Turned to a life of evil and hardship by outside
forces beyond his control
 Circumstance beyond both character’s control
that led to a life of sin and hardship
 No others like self; seek companionship
Frankenstein and Paradise
Lost
Satan and Creature
 Created to be beautiful
 Falls from creator’s grace and becomes
perversion of beauty
 Neither directly attack his creator in retaliation;
instead, they attack those closest to creator,
causing more pain than direct attack
Frankenstein and Paradise
Lost
Adam and Frankenstein
 Brings downfall by making a choice to attain
knowledge that he should not have
Themes
 Man, left to his own devices, is inherently good.
(Romantic idea)
 Rejection of one’s offspring (something created
to be great and beautiful can be easily
perverted into something loathsome and utterly
different from its intended purpose)
 Happiness and peace lie in close companions
who complete the person (Romantic idea)
 Man has the ability to know things that make him
“not much less than God,” but man should not
partake of that knowledge
Goal of using allusions
Illuminate many central
ideas of the work
Add to characterization
Bibliography
 Most of the information on this PowerPoint from:
 York Notes Advanced: Frankenstein
 Unless otherwise stated