ESA Virtual Book Club: Shelley's Frankenstein: 2007-05-20

Welcome to the first ever ESA Virtual Book Club!

Hello, Peeps!

If you're reading this, you are either a Brit Lit Scholar, a Landy, or a friend of The Landys. Welcome! I'm so glad that you have chosen to participate in our group reading of Shelley's Frankenstein. For each of the assigned readings, you will see discussion questions to which you are encouraged to respond. Feel free to pose follow-up questions for the group, offer critical or philosophical commentary, or just write what you feel about the text.

Thanks again for logging on. You rock!

Truly,

Kathleen Landy

5.22.2007

Reading Assignment #4 - Discussion Question A

Chapters 8 & 9 are due on Wednesday.

Victor Frankenstein's monster is still unnamed. What should we call him?

5.21.2007

Reading Assignment #4 - Discussion Question B

Chapters 8 & 9 are due on Wednesday.

Is Victor justified in remaining silent about what he knows of William's death? Why or why not?

Reading Assignment #3 - Discussion Question A

Chapters 6 & 7 are due on Tuesday.

Consider the Myth of Prometheus (a link is provided below and will be discussed in class on Tuesday) and the fact that Shelley subtitled her book, "Modern Prometheus."

Do you consider Frankenstein to be a stubborn defender of mankind, fighting even against God for the good of humanity? (Provide evidence from the text to support your opinion.)
*This response should NOT be a single sentence.

Art Imitates Life, Life Imitates Art

*Chapter 4: Victor works steadily for three seasons (nine months) and becomes, "anxious and feverish," and looks forward to, "exercise and amusement," once the, "creation is complete." Shelley had given birth twice before she began writing Frankenstein.
*Chapter 7: "William is dead!": William was also the name of the Shelley's first son, who was born in 1816 (before Frankenstein was written) and died in 1819, after the novel was published.
*Chapter 7: The portrait of Caroline, "kneeling by the coffin": The honor paid to Victor's mother is reminiscent of William Goldwin's (Shelley's father) worship of Mary Wollstonecraft long after her death.
Source: Endnotes, Karen Karbiener, Frankenstein. Barnes & Noble Edition, 2003.

FrankenFacts

1. Mary Shelley is the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft. Brit Lit Ladies, we know her! Wollstonecraft wrote, The Vindication of the Rights of Women. Wollstonecraft would LOVE Paris Hilton.

2. Sadly, Shelley was widowed four years into her marriage. Ironically, her husband (Percy Shelley) drowned, which is how his first wife killed herself, after Percy left her for Mary. Karma is indeed a boomerang.

3. Frankenstein is actually the product of a round of ghost stories. Shelley was stuck in the Swiss Alps, and this was her contribution to the story-telling game.

ESA Virtual Book Club: Shelley's Frankenstein

Welcome to the first ever ESA Virtual Book Club!

5.22.2007

Reading Assignment #4 - Discussion Question A

5.21.2007

Reading Assignment #4 - Discussion Question B

Reading Assignment #3 - Discussion Question A

Frankenguides & Supplemental Reading

Frankenstein

Art Imitates Life, Life Imitates Art

I'll take foreshadowing for $800, please.

FrankenFacts

Elements of the Gothic Novel

Mary Shelley

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