Frankenstein context

Prometheus

Titan who stole fire from Olympus and gave it to mankind; subversion of God

Romanticism

Literary movement during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that celebrates nature over society

The Sublime

Something bigger than humans, impressive, awe-inspiring, religious experience

Galvanism

Using electricity to make dead things move, thought to be able to create life

Industrial Revolution

A period of rapid growth in the use of machines in manufacturing and production

The Enlightenment

Movement which emphasised logic and science over emotion and religion

French Revolution

Overthow the monarchy/elite, Shelley supported them

Wollstonecraft

Shelley's mother, considered to be a founder of feminism

Percy Shelley

Athiest, helped edit Frankenstein, likely influenced it

Paradise Lost

John Milton's poem about the fall of man, the monster links himself to both Adam and Satan

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Book that monster read, Walton+Old Mariner explore sea "the land of mist and snow", both Old Mariner and Frankenstein have to watch people suffer due to their transgressions

Shelley and Death

Her mother died giving birth to her and her first child died soon after birth

Gothic Tropes in Frankenstein

Spooky stuff but also Hero, Hero-Villain and Pursued Female

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A French man who believed that human beings are naturally good & free, "Man is born free but everywhere is in chains"

Supernatural

Beyond the laws of nature