"Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley: A Gothic Horror Masterpiece

The origin of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is as famous a story as the novel itself. In 1816, young Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and her paramour, poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (then married to another woman) were vacationing with Lord Byron and their mutual friend John Polidori at a villa near Geneva, Switzerland. The weather had been dreadful during their visit – this was the “Year without a Summer” – and guests and host alike were obliged to spend much of their time indoors. After an evening spent reading ghost stories, Lord Byron suggested that they each write a macabre tale of their own. Later that night, Mary had a terrible nightmare that inspired her to write the short story that would become Frankenstein. (Incidentally, Mary wasn’t the only person at the villa to make a lasting contribution to horror literature: John Polidori’s story, The Vampyre, was the first vampire story in print, and remains so to this day.)

While Frankenstein would go on to become a cultural phenomenon, its journey to print was not a smooth one. Her manuscript, finished a year later, was initially rejected by both Byron’s and Shelley’s publishers. In 1918, a small publishing house took a chance on Frankenstein, issuing a three volume edition of only 500 copies. Shelley’s name – she was Mary Shelley by then – didn’t appear anywhere on the novel, attributed to “anonymous”.  A second edition – this one in two volumes –  didn’t appear for another five years, prompted by the popularity of a play based on the novel. It wasn’t until Halloween, 1831, that the one-volume edition that most readers are familiar with first appeared. However, many readers may not be aware that this edition contained a number of revisions made by Shelley  in order to appeal to a popular audience. You can read about some of them here.

Frankenstein was, and remains, a significant work of speculative fiction. More than just a spooky story, Shelley’s novel is rife with allusion, both literary  (the Creature’s relationship with its creator closely resembles Satan relationship to God in Milton’s Paradise Lost), and mythological (the book’s subtitle, The Modern Prometheus, likens Dr. Victor Frankenstein to the mythic bringer of fire to mankind). Of course, nothing could have been expected of Mary Shelley, the daughter of a prominent philosopher and a feminist, raised to be an intelligent and educated woman. Despite a lack of critical support for her novel, Frankenstein found a home with everyday readers who appreciated its macabre atmosphere and the plight of the strangely sympathetic “monster”. The Creature, you see, is nothing like his popular depiction in movies. He’s a tortured and ultimately vengeful soul, an outsider in a world that will never accept him. He’s cultured, intelligent and sensitive, and this makes his ostracism even more pitiable.

Sadly, Shelley’s life was to be as tragic as that of her Creature. Her husband died young in a boating accident. Two of her three children died at birth. Shelley herself would die of a brain tumor in 1851. Her life was all too short, but Frankenstein continues to live on to this day, both as a great work of literature in its own right and as a source of numerous spin-off novels, television programs, comics, games and movies. As of this writing, there are currently half a dozen Frankenstein films in pre-production, including one based on a play by 28 Days Later director Danny Boyle.

Random House recently reissued Frankenstein, and if you’re unfamiliar with this horror classic, now is as good a time as any to reach out and shake the Creature’s cold, misshapen hand. Just don’t be surprised if the old beast still has a hell of a grip.



Activity

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Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Mary Shelley was born in London in 1797, the daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, two radical writers. Her mother died when she was only ten days old.  In 1816 she married Percy Bysshe Shelley, then unknown, and they lived in Italy until Shelley's death in 1822. The idea for Frankenstein came to her when she was staying on Lake Geneva in 1816 but was not published for two years.  She wrote several other novels and contributed to the Westminster Review.   She died in February 1851."
It is quite difficult to believe that a young girl of 18 years old would be the author of a book that would become the first monster film, creation film, bionic film, horror film, publicly banned film, and the first of many Frankenstein films. But we must give this young girl credit for her literary talent and active imagination. Mary Shelley is responsible for many fine literary works of art but none are as famous as Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus published in 1818. The tale Shelley tells is of a young Dr. Frankenstein who tries to create a living being but instead creates a monster.
http://www.applebookshop.co.uk/author/shelley.htm

More about Mary Shelley
http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/shelleybio.html

The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde

The story is an allegory. It brings out the importance of charity. We learn that love and sacrifice can endear us to God. The prince in the story is no living prince. He is the statue of a dead prince decorated with gold leaves and precious stones. He is known as the Happy Prince because there is a smile on his lips. But the smile gradually gives way to tears. The Happy Prince cannot help crying over the scenes of misery in the houses of the poor. He decides to help them with his gold leaves and costly stones. The little swallow acts as his messenger, and he gives away all his wealth. The Swallow was on his way back to his homeland when the prince had detained him to help the poor. He still wished to go back but now it was too late. The intense cold killed him. Thus the little swallow lost his life in helping the poor. His death broke the prince’s heart. So the swallow and the prince perished for a noble cause. But their death was not the end. It made them immortal. That is why the angel selected the dead swallow and the lifeless heart of the prince as the noblest things on earth. The story teaches a very useful and very true lesson. We learn that God loves those who love their fellow human beings.

Oscar Wilde

Biography

http://www.wilde-online.info/oscar-wilde-biography.htm

ACTIVITY

The Happy Prince Word Scramble Game » word scramble game

The Industrial Revolution

The mass production of consumer goods with the help of the newly invented machines is called the Industrial revolution. The very term a French socialist Balanqui first used Industrial Revolution in 1837. Arnod Toynbee, an English social reformer and Economist later adopted the term. When France was changing from the old regime to modernity, another important change took place silently in the economic life of England. This Industrial Revolution gives England her ability to ensure the strains of war and ultimately made her victorious in the war against Napoleon.


More about it http://kish.in/the_industrial_revolution/

Activity

The Industrial Revolution sliding puzzle game » sliding block puzzle

She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron

She walks in beauty, like the night
     Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
     Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
     Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
     Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
     Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
     How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
     So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
     But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
     A heart whose love is innocent!

Interpretation

This poem is not about love, is a strange description of “beauty” so, we can interpret a lot of things, because it contains metaphors that could change our minds.

So, I would like share this point of view about the poem…

In she walks in beauty, Lord Byron, self expresses his personal view of beauty in woman. In the first line, “she walks in beauty, like the night” he is able to give a unique view of this woman. Night, which is generally associated with evil and darkness, is compared to a beautiful woman, to possibly show that even the darkest things have beauty in them. Even through the darkness of night, light and beauty can still be emitted. Lord Byron then makes the night as majestic as possible, by describing it as cloudless and starry. To enforce the idea that darkness could have light in it, he says “the best of dark and bright”. This seems like a direct contraction, but this was done intentionally, to show that dark and bright can go together, as by the women and the night. The writer then goes on to describe the view of the women, but he uses two words to describe the same thing.(aspect and eyes). He is possibly portraying not only the physical beauty of this woman, but her internal beauty as well. The last word in the first paragraph is denies. This shows that the moon and stars are a privilege, which heaven doesn’t give to day, but to night only. In the second line in the second paragraph, the writer describes the woman as “half impaired”. This is odd, because the writer was trying to portray a perfect woman in the night. This shows that regardless of how perfect one may seem they still have imperfections. The writer uses soothing relaxing words throughout the poem, like softly, tender, pure, calm, eloquent, waves, and peace. These all give the poem a relaxing feel to it, to help describe the perfection of the women. Lastly the writer purposely gives us an insight into the woman’s mind, (alliteration) to make us the story multi-dimensional and make the woman more realistic.

Check a short biography of Lord Byron

http://www.adnax.com/biogs/lb.htm

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She Walks in Beauty hangman game

She Walks in Beauty hangman game » hangman creator

Something about Romanticism

Romanticism (or the Romantic Era or the "'Romantic Period"') was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution. In part, it was a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature. It was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on historiography, education and natural history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism

A Modest Proposal for Mexico (my proposal)

A modest proposal for Mexico with the intention to stop the violence (killing innocent people) and with this idea we can live much better.

How we can do this?
It is difficult, because we know that the situation each time its complicated, so we can start in our own house, with our family. We can say to our children, brothers, sisters, etc. about the future the school, the globalization, and many things that we can change, and also that we can improve to live in a better way. We have to convince that "be a drugdealer" is bad to the community, to the state, and to the nation.

So, my proposal is change our minds, to be positives in everything, also finish with the criminals... How? Do not let them pay a bail if they are in the jail, and also we can apply a condemn (writ of execution) if they killed to somebody, like U.S.

A MODEST PROPOSAL by Jonathan Swift (some important points)

• What is the full title of "A Modest Proposal"? "A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the public.
• Of the following, which is not one of the common options chosen by the children of Ireland? Become factory workers.
• How old did Swift recommend children be before they became a modest proposal? One year, the unild can be brought up entirely on a mother's milk for about one year.
• Of the 120,000 children annually born in Dublin at the time, how many did Swift suggest should be used for the modest proposal? 100,000.
• What was the ethnicity of the person who told the narrator that a young, healthy child is a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food? American.
• During what time are the most Roman Catholic children born? -The narrator mentions that the author Rabelais about the event to propagation work. "Gargantua and Pantaguel" (months after lent).
• What did the narrator recommend as the selling price for a beggar's child? 10 shillings.
• What did the narrator acknowledge as the strongest objection to his proposal? It was a little bordering on cruelty.
• Which of the following is listed as one of the benefits of the narrator's modest proposal? The food will bring a great custom to taverns in Ireland.
• Why did the narrator say that the modest proposal food should not bear exportation? The flesh is too tender to admit along continuance of salt.

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