More class notes on "Frankenstein"

(At left: Meet Frankenstein the Great Dane puppy) :)


Why the intense desire to prevent someone from dying - to create life?

- It's the ultimate power, the divine power - ergo, sheer ambition.
- He'd like to have prevented his love from dying.
- It would prevent his "child" from dying, since he can bring him back to life again.

Why is it worse to be alive and watch your children die?

- You want to see them live their life to its fullest, and dying early is not that.
- The love for your children is so intense, they can hurt you the most - if they died, it'd hurt so much more. Is this a reason not to have children?
- Staying aloof, from love and having children, keeps one from getting hurt - a selfish thing to do, but understandable.

- Story of Prometheus
- "Prometheus Unbound" (Victor is the modern Prometheus)
- "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner"
- "Alastor"

WHY WOULD YOU KILL SOMEONE OR SOMETHING THAT LOVES YOU? WHY WOULD YOU WANT THE OBJECT OF YOUR MOST INTENSE LOVE TO DIE? You love them so much it hurts. When you value something that much, the possibility of not having it in the future is as painful as it is terrifying. No one wants to live with terror and pain continuously, but loving as completely as parents love their children or spouses love each other is scary. It's a fright that never goes away. If you make that object of love go away,you'll have a part in dictating where it goes. That kind of control, even used destructively, means control over yourself and your life. People want control.

- "Unconditional, deep, divine love is scary as hell... when someone really deeply loves you, your immediate reaction is to push them away so they don't hurt you." - Mandell

- p247-48, "Alastor, or, The Spirit of Solitude": The poet wanders, unaware of an Arabic women's deep love for her, and dreams of her later. He dreams she is like him, a poet; they are soul mates. Line 188, "Now blackness veiled his dizzy eyes," he wakes up, and he's haunted by her.

- Maybe he didn't want to get involved with someone real, who could hurt or disappoint him, so he chased a specter instead. Whatever his real reason, he dies looking for her.

- "Does Victor spurn Nature's choicest gifts?" - YES, again and again, YES YES YES.

- Victor tries to make Frankenstein beautiful, but all of his efforts just show how hideous the monster is - how yellow, how monstrous, etc. Then he dreams: "the wildest of dreams" - about Elizabeth, who appears to die in his arms, and looks like his dead mother. This suggests he created the monster to replace his dead mother or prevent Elizabeth from dying.

- Mary Shelley accuses Victor of being a bystander when he should have taken action (ie, in the death of Justine). Victor turns himself into the ultimate sufferer, a man with a "hell within myself" - such an egotist.

- Start with p75, when the monster begins his story. (II, Ch3, in class edition)