Cultural Criticism In Frankenstein

   Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, sheds light on the importance of appearance through the tale of an unwanted creation that is never given a chance by society. Ironically, the supposed beast was initially much more compassionate and thoughtful than his creator, until his romantic and innocent view of the human race was diminished by the cruelty and injustice he unduly bore. Not only does the creature suffer the prejudice of an appearance-based society, but other situations and characters in the novel force the reader to reflect their own hasty judgment. The semi- gothic novel includes several instances of societal prejudice that include the isolation and outcast of Frankenstein's creation,

this in such a way that the reader feels sorry for the monster, but we

In the novel Frankenstein, the article Prometheus and the speech “Worship the Spirit of Criticism” there are many examples of why people should hold responsibility for what they create. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is about a young man who wants to create life from death, and in doing so, it affects his life greatly. In Prometheus, There is a titan who wants to give the gift of fire to humans, but its outcome was bad, and he suffered the consequences for it. “Worship the Spirit of Criticism”, a scientist, Louis Pasteur, expresses how he feels people should take responsibility for what they create. Creators are fully responsible because what they create impacts the world in either a negative or positive way.

Friends will determine the direction and quality of your life. Loneliness is a battle that all people will once face at a certain point in their life; it is how they handle it that determines the outcome of that battle. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein loneliness is the most significant and prevailing theme throughout the entire novel. Shelley takes her readers on a wild journey that shows how loneliness can end in tragedy.

On October 19, 2017, I went to the Black Box Theatre at Lee High School in Huntsville, Alabama to see Young Frankenstein. The Independent Musical Production Incorporated produced the play. The play was Directed by Vivianne Atkins and Peter-John Sligting. Newt Johnson was the Musical Director. Upon arriving at the theater there was prerecorded music playing in the auditorium. Theme music from Halloween and the sound of thunder could be heard as guest were awaiting the opening of the show. The musical was presented on a Proscenium stage which controls the point of view of the audience, with an Orchestra just in front and below the stage. The sight lines were great and all of the seats in the auditorium allowed for a fantastic view of the stage. The title of the play, Young Frankenstein was visible thru a scrim and revealed the castle were Frankenstein lived. There were lighting strikes that could also been seen thru the scrim. The direction that the light hit the scrim and the spread were perfectly done. I found the way the title behind the scrim, along with the music playing in the background very appealing and proper for a play about Frankenstein. The mass, color and décor were perfectly done for the opening act.

The novel Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus cannot be categorized into only one genre because it has various features of different genres. It is certainly a tragedy. Although the core narration starts with a story of how Frankenstein’s father meets and marries the protagonist’s mother, she first has to endure the death of her father called Beaufort. Thus, the novel already begins as a tragic exposition. As a result, the narrative fiction ends with almost everyone including the protagonist and the antagonist as dead.

 "What can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man?" This question, posed by Captain Robert Walton on page 22 of Mary Shelley's immortal Frankenstein, lies susceptible to interpretation to mean the ambition of man in one sense, but in another, the collective persecution and prejudice inherent in mankind.

    The creature's ambiguous humanity has long puzzled readers of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In this essay I will focus on how Frankenstein can be used to explore two philosophical topics, social contract theory, and gender roles, in light of ideas from Shelley's two philosophical parents, William Godwin, and Mary Wollstonecraft.

My definition of romanticism is when nature played a huge part to all the great artists and writers of the time. The Period of romanticism took place during the 1800s when individuals put emotion into their work and cared about education, literature, and natural history. The true romantics wanted to escape the industrial age and move away from urbanization and population in general. The romantic revolution paved the way for many writers and artists because people felt free and it gave inspiration for original ideas. Some of the great novelists surfaced during the Romanic age, one of which was marry shelly who wrote Frankenstein a masterpiece during its time.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was published in 1818 and introduced many elements of Romanticism that were presented. Romanticism was a movement that was most popular during the 18th century particularly 1800 to 1850, this movement was an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe that was characterized by many different elements that will be examine throughout. This movement is a rebellion against social rules and conventions. Romanticism was much different from how we partake it today. One may think that is based around love, kissing, and hugging but it is much more than that. This movement fell right into the area when Mary Shelley was creating her novel so it is obvious that she would jump on the bandwagon due to its popularity. The popularity of it would help her novel become more popular as well as allow for more in depth understanding of the principles she presented in her novel. There are many different romanticism elements in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein that are presented while going through the novel. The elements that are most prevalent in the book are celebration of nature, juxtaposition of the beautiful and the gross, and valorization of the struggle of the individual against society. By quick note it is obvious that many of these elements are presented in the novel by anyone that has had the chance to read it. The novel emphasized inspiration, subjectivity, and the importance of the individual. Mary Shelley was brilliant enough to incorporate these

Frankenstein was a story written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley while she was on her vacation in Switzerland with her husband. The story got published in 1818 without letting the public about the author. It was in 1831 when the novel revised edition was out and Mary Shelley name mentioned as an author. The novel focused on social, cultural and political facet of the societies during Mary’s lifetime. The fictional character in the novel clearly shows the battle against the pre-established people’s attitude during that time. Religion and science always create a controversy in the society with religion always differencing from any scientific principles and experiments. Shelley’s tried to addresses the above controversy and showed how science and modern technology is sometimes wrong. She tried to show how scientists and inventors are sometimes selfish only care for achieving their plan without evaluating the end result.

Ross C. Murfin states that “Cultural criticism seeks to understand the social context in which a given text was written, and under what conditions it was – and is – produced, disseminated, read and used. “In the essay “Crusade against Frost: Frankenstein, polar Ice, and Climate change in 1818,” Siobhan Carrol is able to offer an ecocritical approach of the novel Frankenstein by first giving a look into the social context and conditions in which the novel was written and then interconnecting the literary piece with social issues throughout England in 1818. Carrol starts out the essay by describing some major frequent issues in England’s society during this period of time. According to Carrol at the beginning of the nineteenth century, major debates on climate change were starting to become frequent. John Barrow, the second secretary to the

Many years has passed since the novel “Frankenstein” was published for the common readers, yet it gave a huge impact in the society’s point of views and beliefs about what kind of monster Victor Frankenstein created. Even in the present days, the novel has influenced in many ways on how to shape the opinions of the society in the present. Although, it has many argumentatives elements, they are all based on how the monster develop in the story from a victim to a villain.