Background for Frankenstein
Transcript: 1781 James Watt perfects a more efficient steam engine Late 1700s-1800s - Beginnings of spiritualism, ghost stories become popular 1500s-1800s Arctic Exploration and the Northwest and Northeast Passages - Several explorers attempt to explore and navigate the Arctic, mostly searching for a shipping route between Pacific and Atlantic Ran off to Switzerland with Mary anyway. He was 22, she was 16. Mary became pregnant, but the baby was born premature and died. Was already married when he met and became enamored with Mary (at the time Mary Godwin) Historical Context The Shelleys travelled Italy and Europe. They had 3 more children, but only one survived. Percy died in a boating accident in 1822. Traveling, Marriage, and Death 1790s-1850s Romanticism (nature, emotion, aesthetics) One of the major English Romantic poets This intelligence/education may have been what attracted the attention of family friend, Percy Bysshe Shelley (a famous Romantic poet). Frankenstein Urbanization and growth of factories 1630s-1790s Enlightenment Era (science, reason, logic) 1789-1799 French Revolution Mary (then Godwin) and Percy Shelley travelled Europe until they ran out of money. Shortly after their return to England, Percy's wife committed suicide. Percy and Mary Godwin got married, and she became Mary Shelley. Percy Bysshe Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) 1760-1830s Industrial Revolution - manufacturing turns from handmade to machine made 1780 Luigi Galvani discovers bioelectricity; frog legs move when exposed to electricity 1776 American Declaration of Independence Literary Movements? Mary spent her remaining years writing and editing her husband's works, until her death in 1851 In 1816, while traveling Europe, Mary and Percy visited Lord Byron (another very famous Romantic poet). Author of such poems as Ozymandius and Ode to the West Wind 1760s-1910s Gothic Era (darkness in humans, horror, emotions, the supernatural) Background for Frankenstein Mother was an early feminist, but she died a few days after Mary was born Stuck indoors on a rainy night, the group began to tell ghost stories, and then Byron suggested a competition: who could create the most frightening story? 1803-1815 Napoleonic Wars Mary devised Frankenstein, and won. It was later published anonymously in 1818. 1735 - Carl Linnaeus devises a taxonomy, or system for classifying species of living creatures Father was a well-known political philosopher; he tutored Mary himself. She became unusually well educated for a woman at the time.