Comenius – European
countries learning together
TOPIC 2005/2006:
Local Celebrities
Frankenstein and modern genetics: an
interdisciplinary approach
Frankenstein and its literary
brothers and sisters
Prometheus, Paradise Lost,
Dr. Faustus
Prometheus :
• Crafted man out of clay in shape of the
Gods
• Brought fire (wisdom) to mankind
• Was punished for his failure by the Gods
Paradise Lost :
• Basically about the Fall of Man, Satan, and
the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden
• Adam and Eve gain autonomy by
disobedience
• Punishment is expulsion and freedom both
done by God
Dr. Faustus
• Is concerned with the intellectual fall of
Germany in the time leading up to World
War II
• In exchange for knowledge and abilities
Faustus makes a commitment to the devil
• Punishment is disease and the lost of his
soul
Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein:
its literary brothers and sisters (2)
Island of Dr. Moreau
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde
- Dr. Moreau tries to create
perfect life
- Dr. Jekyll wants to
seperate the good and the
- chimera (half human –
evil side of his
half animal)
personality by mixing a
- escalation: Beasts
potion
->
Mr.
Hyde
become agressive
- escalation: Dr. Jekyll
becomes schizophrenic
Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein:
its literary brothers and sisters (2)
Jurassic Park
- scientists recreate
dinosaurs from DNA
trapped in amber
- escalation: dinosaurs
get out of control
Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein:
its literary brothers and sisters (2)
Similarities:
- creation of new (perfect) life
- experiment escalates
Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein:
its literary brothers and sisters (3)
Scientific Progress
Brave New World
• Mass-production of
children
• Takes place in the future
• Abolition of warfare and
poverty
• Several inventions
Frankenstein
• Creation of an individuum
• Takes place at the end of
the 18th century
Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein:
genesis
Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein:
genesis
• Holiday  bad
weather  everyone
writes a horror story
• Name of a castle near
the Rhine
Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein:
genesis
• Story of alchemist
Johann Konrad Dippel
and his monster
• The story takes place
in Ingolstadt 
famous University for
medicine
Why Ingolstadt?
reasons:
- Mary Shelley read
German horror stories
- Bavarias first university
(1472); one of the most
influential in Germanspeaking area
- own experimental-building
- the brotherhood of the Illuminati
- Shelley‘s husband was a member of them
Ingolstadt some time around
1632
„Alte
Anatomie“
Frankenstein: ethics of creation
approach to knowledge
• Industrial revolution  better
education and progress in
science
• Intelligence  self-confidence
(arrogance)  ability to create
new life  desire to obtain
divine status  experiment!
• Critique: death of e.o. who is
dear to Victor  feels more and
more powerless
Lack of responsibility
1. Of the educator
• Teachers (Geneva): Dismissing V.‘s
interest in arcane knowledge instead of
explaining it‘s dangers
• Father and M. Krempe: alchemy =
nonsense
• M. Waldman: "promised
impossibilities and performed nothing"
• Educators (university - Ingolstadt):
failed in identifying V.‘s dangerous
knowledge, interest and plans
Lack of responsibility
2. Of the creator
•
•
•
•
Lack of judgement  misshapen being
No responsibility for his own creation
Fear  avoids the creature
Mary Shelly: avoiding the responsibilities
 destruction of oneself and others.
Conclusion: no condemnation of science,
knowledge and creation but: Balance between
ethical responsibility and scientific creativity!!!
Frankenstein and the modern
world
• Frankenstein complex: colloquial term for
the fear of robots; people fear that robots
will either replace them or dominate them.
• Frankenfood: A genetically altered food,
especially a fruit or vegetable
• Videogames: Frankenstein as a major boss
or a regular enemy
Frankenstein and the modern
world
• Frankenstein books and comic books
• Franken Berry: member of the line of
monster-themed high-sugar breakfast
cereals; it contains strawberry-flavoured
corn cereal bits and marshmallows
• The Frankenstein papers: Fred Saberhagen
retells Shelley's story from the creature's
point of view