Anna Randolph
Mrs. Park
English 12
17 April 2023
British Author Project
Author: Mary Shelley
Time Period: Romantic Period
I. Facts about the Time Period
a. Politics
i. In 1793, England finally, but reluctantly declared war on France after losing to the U.S. in the Revolutionary War ii. The London Corresponding Society was founded iii. King George III the ruler and had one of the longest reigns in history from 1760 to 1820
b. Language (Literature)
i. Mary Wollstonecraft wrote “A Vindication of the rights of Women”
1. Advocated for equal women’s rights
c. Religion
II. Biography
a. Shelley is best known for her book, Frankenstein
III. Work # 1 (Frankenstein)
a. Background
b. What it says
i. Victor Frankenstein plays “God” and tries to
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One of the most important things that this book is teaching is that science and technology can go far ii. It is also teaching that people should not play God; it never works out the way that people think it will
IV. Work # 2 (Mathilda)
a. Background
b. What it says
c. What it means
V. Connections to your world
Notes
• Best known for Frankenstein, aka The Modern Prometheus (wrote in 1818) o She was only 19 when she authored this book o Often called the first true work of science fiction
This story is concerned with the destructive nature of power when allied to wealth
• Also wrote Mathilda o Captures the theme of father – daughter incest
• Also very well known for editing and promoting her husband’s work o Her husband was Percy Bysshe Shelley
She married him at 19
• This was after his first wife committed suicide
Eloped with him to Italy in 1814 at the age of 16
• Wrote in the romantic literary style
• She was the daughter of two great intellectual rebels in the 1790, William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft
• Many people have pointed out the link between creation, birth, and death in Frankenstein o They also made the link between Shelley’s real-life preoccupation with pregnancy, labor, maternity, and
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She wrote this novel in 1818 after the death of her child. While in Switzerland in 1816 with her soon to be husband, his wife, and George Gordon, or Lord Byron, she started to write Frankenstein. She wrote Frankenstein after Byron suggested one night that they both write a horror story. The next day, while Byron was reading the story that he wrote, Shelley started her work on Frankenstein.
In the novel, Victor Frankenstein is an aspiring scientist who decides that it’s a good idea for him to play “God” and tries to create a human out of random body parts from people who died, but instead ends up creating a monster. After this, he decides to head back home, and on his way there, his father sends him word that his brother has been murdered. When he hears this, he begins to worry, because he has no idea where the monster is. When he finally gets home, he sees the monster, and starts to be convinced that the monster is responsible for the death of his