scientific/technological advancements and revolutionary politics

revolutionary politics in europe and america

• Jean Jaques Rousseau was an influential 18th century philosopher who was born in Geneva. Shelley had read his work and his ideas influenced Frankenstein

• He argued mankind would be happier in a natural state where organised society doesn’t exist and everyone is free and equal. He believed that society corrupts humans because it creates inequality and jealousy.

• He also argued that someone abandoned at birth with no companionship or instruction would be distorted by society’s prejudices until they became ‘the most disfigured of all’

rousseau and the french revolution

Rousseau’s ideas about society, freedom and equality influenced the leaders of the French Revolution, which began in 1789. The revolutionaries hated inequality within society so overthrew monarchy and killed the king.

• During this period, French citizens uprooted centuries old institutions such as absolute monarchy and the feudal system. Like the American revolution before it, the French Revolution was influenced by Enlightenment ideals, particularly concepts of popular sovereignty and inalienable rights.

• Although it failed to achieve all of its goals and at times degenerated into a chaotic bloodbath, the movement played a critical role in shaping modern nations by showing the world the power inherent in the will of the people.

frankenstein’s link to the french revolution

Frankenstein was written in the aftermath of these wars. Some people see the novel as a warning about how ‘good’ intentions can lead to violence and destruction.

• Some critics have suggested that Shelley’s monster may be read as an emblem of the French Revolution itself. a ‘gigantic body politic’, as Anne Mellor states, which originated in a ‘desire to benefit all mankind’ but was so abused ‘that it is driven into an uncontrollable rage’.

scientific/technological developments of enlightenment

• Shelley was writing at a time of great scientific debate about the origins of life. Some scientists believed that studying electricity might reveal what gives life to people and animals. (Galvanism, ‘Incomplete’ and ‘Absolute’)

• When Shelley wrote Frankenstein, there was great interest in polar exploration. The British government was preparing two Arctic expeditions, ready to depart in 1818.

• Since the 1500s, Britain had been trying to find a shorter passage to India and China through the Arctic seas. This would provide a more efficient route to these countries.

• Expeditions to find this passage were very dangerous and many explorers had failed. However, explorers know that if they succeeded, they would return to Britain as heroes.

social unrest in industrial britain

• Technological developments had a notable impact on people’s lives, endangering traditional ways of living in much the same way as scientific developments undermined traditional beliefs.

• In the first stages of the Industrial Revolution, the introduction of new technologies posed a significant threat to the livelihoods of many of the lower classes, frequently prompting violent reactions.

• The Luddite disturbances of 1811-17, during which factories and mills were attacked and machines destroyed, stirred uneasy memories of the bloodier excesses of the French Revolution of 1789.

• William Godwin initially saw the French Revolution as the sign of the start of a new era in history with the removal of corrupt institutions. Although its original aims were admirable, the means adopted were violent.

social unrest in industrial britain 2

• The Pentridge uprising of 1817, when 300 men marched towards Nottingham, expecting numerous other marches throughout the country was designed to overthrow the government and confirmed the alarming possibility of revolt of Britain.

• When the leaders of this uprising were arrested in November, Percy Shelley responded with a political pamphlet deploring the state of a country torn between the alternatives of anarchy and oppression.

• Shelley had radical sympathies and through her depiction of the monster, she reveals an awareness of social injustice and desire for reform. However, she couldn’t fully support rebellion against the established order and again, through the monster expresses fear of the revolutionary violence that injustice in society might provoke.