"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

Frankenstein crossword puzzle game » crossword creator

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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A brief information of Macbeth

This drama is one of the great tragedy themed plays by William Shakespeare. The themes illustrated in the play include ambition, fate, deception and treachery. Three witches  decide to confront the great Scottish general Macbeth on his victorious return from a war between Scotland and Norway. The Scottish king, Duncan, decides that he will confer the title of the traitorous Cawdor on the heroic Macbeth. Macbeth, and another General called Banquo, happen upon the three witches. The witches predict that he will one day become king. He decides that he will murder Duncan. Macbeth's wife agrees to his plan. He then murders Duncan assisted by his wife who smears the blood of Duncan on the daggers of the sleeping guards. A nobleman called Macduff discovers the body. Macbeth kills the guards insisting that their daggers smeared with Duncan's blood are proof that they committed the murder. The crown passes to Macbeth. More murders ensue and the bloodied ghost of Banquo appears to Macbeth. Lady Macbeth's conscience now begins to torture her and she imagines that she can see her hands covered with blood. She commits suicide. Macduff kills Macbeth and becomes king.

Here we have some important points of the story...

• In this story Banquo was killed by a group of murderers hired by Macbeth, the Lord Siward's son was killed by Macbeth, on the other hand Macduff was killed by Macbeth too, and Lady Macbeth was killed by herself and she dies offstage, it describes Lady Matcbeth's death.
• Throughout the play three men reing as king of Scotland.
• Donalbain discovers Duncan's body. Duncan was killed in his bedchamber at Macbeth's castle.
• Whom does Lady Macbeth frame for the murder of Duncan? Duncan's drunken chamberlains.
• Whom does Macbeth see sitting in his chair during the banquet? Banquo's ghost.
• What vision does Macbeth have before he kills Duncan? He sees a floating dagger pointing him to Duncan's chamber.
• The Scots are with Norway at war at the beginning of the play.
• At the end of the play England's army invades Scotland.
• Hecate is the goddes of witchcraft in the play.
• Lady Macbeth was plagued by fits of sleepwalking... it happens before she died.
• In Scone the Scottish kings were crowned.
• Why is Macduff able to kill Macbeth despite the witches' prophecy? He was born by cesarean section.
• Macduff flees Scotland to join Malcolm in England.
• "Thane of Cawdor" is the title that Macbeth given after his victory described in Act 1.
• Ross tells Macduff that his family has been killed.
• How does Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane? Malcolm's army hides behind cut-off tree branches.

     Activity
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The Pardoner's Tale Literary Analysis

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer

Biography: known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. While he achieved fame during his lifetime as an author, philosopher, alchemist and astronomer, composing a scientific treatise on the astrolabe for his ten year-old son Lewis, Chaucer also maintained an active career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Among his many works, which include The Book of the Duchess, the House of Fame, the Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde, he is best loved today for The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer is a crucial figure in developing the legitimacy of the vernacular, Middle English, at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin.

Background: Chaucer was born in London sometime around 1343, though the precise date and location of his birth remain unknown. His father and grandfather were both London vintners; several previous generations had been merchants in Ipswich.

Masterpiece: The Pardoner’s Tale

Theme: Live, death, and sacrifice.     

     

Mood: Tense

Style: Poem

Setting: Bar in Flanders, and a tree in the grove, undertone of Black Death / use of the bar for the sins (gluttony, drunkenness, gambling, etc.) that are usually attributed to such a place. The background of the Black Death adds to the sense of doom.

Characters

Protagonist: The three young man (The three rioters)

Antagonist:  Death

Figurative Language 

Metaphor: The youngest, as he ran towards the town.

Simile:  -His eyes would twinkle in his head as bright, as any star upon a frosty night (lines 271-272)

A dagger and a little purse of silk, Hung at his girdle, white as morning milk (lines 361-362)

Hyperbole: This pardoner had as yellow as wax.

Imagery: The introduction of Death

Death imagery is introduced with the tolling of the hearse bell as a recent corpse is borne to the grave. This simple bell highlights the sombre reality that people in the Middle Ages knew well after successive waves of plague – death was never far away.

Plot

Conflict: It starts as one between the three young man and Death but turns into one between the man who goes to buy provisions and the two who remain behind.

Point of view

Third person (objective): Third person point of view with an intrusive narrator. Lecture, homily, parable, dramatic irony.

Symbolism: The old man, whom the comrades meet on the road. He himself cannot die, but he knows where Death is to be found.

Beowulf (Essay)

Beowulf was written in the eighth century by an unknown author. The story is centered on Beowulf, the main character, who goes to Denmark to offer his assistance in fighting off, Grendel, the monster who has been haunting them. Beowulf most definitely proves to be a hero. His heroism is exemplified first when he kills Grendel, then when he kills Grendel’s mother, and finally when he kills the dragon, called Worm. This makes him a hero because he risks his own life to save the people of Denmark.

The reader first experiences Beowulf’s heroism when he encounters and then kills Grendel. Grendel was a constant threat to the survival of the Danish people because he was using them as food. One night Beowulf awakes to find Grendel over his bed. Rather than trying to escape, Beowulf not only faces Grendel but also pursues him when he tries to escape. Like any other hero Beowulf purses the danger until it is conquered.

The reader experiences Beowulf heroism a second time when he kills Grendel’s mother. Grendel’s mother wanted to avenge her son’s death and went back to the mead hall where a lot of warriors slept and attacked. Beowulf came and was ready to fight but Grendel’s mother fled. Disregarding his own safety Beowulf persistently tracks Grendel’s mother to her cave, where the head of the chieftain was found. Despite how colossal Grendel’s mother was Beowulf stuck it out till the end and eventually stabbed Grendel’s mother leading to her death.

The third time the reader experiences Beowulf heroism is when he fights and kills the dragon, the worm. Once again Beowulf completely disregards his safety and decided to fight this monster. This time Beowulf ended up need some assistance from Wiglaf. Fortunately the worm was killed. However, Beowulf too was injured and was dying. He made a few requests that he wanted to be done after he died for Wiglaf to carry out. This showed heroism because he wasn’t scared of dying and was glad the worm was dead.

The author’s intention could be a kind of learning of the hero’s adventures, and feel how a man can do that many things for a purpose.

In conclusion by definition a hero is willing to do many things. For example he is willing to risk his own life for the good of others, faces danger and does not run away from it, and lastly pursues the danger until it is conquered. Every fight that Beowulf fought showed him doing all three of the characteristics a hero consists of.
ACTIVITY

Beowulf Word Scramble Game » word scramble

Literary Analysis "Beowulf"

Author: Unknown, allegedly a Christian.


Biography: Unknown.


Background: The poem shapes and interprets materials connected with the tribes from northem Europe, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes who invaded England after the Romans left in the fifth century.


Theme: Battle, monster, honor, kingdom.


Mood: It is a history of festering pride, loud talk, and drunken violence, of spies, bloody borders, and raids.


Style: Epic poem.


Setting: Herot


Characters: Beowulf, Grendel (demon), the murders, Hrothgar.


Figurative Language: We can find some metaphors and similes like...


The monster’s thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws. (Simile)
That shadow of death hunted in the darkness, Stalked Hrothgar’s warrior, old. (metaphor)
Twelve winters of grief for Hrothgar, king of the Danes, sorrow heaped at his door. (metaphor)


Imagery:

The monster’s mom look like a demon that seems like a snake / Grendel was crappy and stinky.

- A powerful monster, living down/ in the darkness, growled in pain, impatient/ as day after day the music rang (lines 23-25).

-…The monster’s/ thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws:/ He slipped through the door and there in the silence/ snatched up thirty men, smashed them (lines 56-58).

-…Standing on that prince’s own hearth,/ helmeted, the silvery metal on his mail shirt/ gleaming with a smith’s high art, he greeted/ the Dane’s great lord (lines 160-163).

-The frozen sea surged around me,/ it grew dark, the wind turned bitter, blowing (lines 265-266).

-He murders as he likes, with no mercy, gorges/ and feasts on your flesh, and expects no trouble/ no quarrel from the quiet Danes (lines 319-321).

Plot:
In which eating and drinking and speaking, and gift-giving are natural ceremonies uniting young and old, in which heroic strength is wise and generous.
-A stranger comes to help some people of another country to kill the beast. It is a poem that tells the story of a brave man willing to support his fellows to kill a strange creature.


Suspense.- Beowulf hangs out on the side of the dragon’s barrow, seeking his past glories and wondering if he is going to die fighting the dragons.


Conflict.- Beowulf tears Grendel’s arm from its socket, and the mortally wounded monster crawls to his lair.


Resolution.- Beowulf die thinking for his protection, the people make a splendid funeral.


Point of view: Beowulf is a vivid story of humankind. The author (or authors) created a whole scenario where they developed characters to represent real persons looking for honor and fighting against evil, unknown forces. Beowulf is, then, a leader, an example of a honorable man who helps others and defeats.

 Narrator.- Unknown.


Rhythm: So the livings sorrow of Healfdane’s son, Simmered, bitter and fresh, and no wisdom.
 Symbolism:

-The woman (like evil “snake”)

-Grendel represents the sin.

-King represents the authority, powerfulness and guide.




ACTIVITY
Find the differences!