Historical Context in Frankenstein

Walton’s comment betrays the assumptions and expectations of British seafarers such as himself, and perhaps those of citizens more generally. The Victorian-era British possessed such a narrow understanding of the world that people were either Europeans or savages. There is a detectable note of relief in Walton’s realization that the stranger is of the former category.

Mary Shelley heavily revised and republished Frankenstein in 1831. The original 1818 version of the story was much more radical and shocking to contemporary audiences. In the original story, Elizabeth was not an orphan but Victor’s cousin.

The German scholar Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486–1535) was best known for his contributions to science and rhetoric through his work as a polymath, physician, theologian, and occult writer. Many of his works influenced later philosophers and writers such as Descartes and Goethe. Frankenstein’s father discounts Agrippa’s credibility, because many scholars, while acknowledging the impact of his works, considered his theories outdated or obsolete.

Preceptors means teachers or instructors, and in this case, it refers to the aforementioned philosophers whom Frankenstein read. The philosopher’s stone is a legendary substance that is said to turn any metal into gold or silver. It is also often called the elixir of life (although Shelley differentiates between them), which grants immortality to whoever possesses it. Frankenstein is fascinated by this second power; he claims to have no desire for wealth, but instead dreams of the glory he would obtain if he was to find a means for eternal life. Frankenstein’s fascination with this life-giving substance is the first major foreshadowing of his future creation.

Sir Issac Newton (1642–1726) was an English mathematician, physicist and astronomer that would have been known in Shelley’s time as a “natural philosopher.” Newton most famously formulated the theory of gravity. However, Newton also dabbled in alchemy and the occult and was said to be looking for the philosopher’s stone for over half his lifetime. Frankenstein’s reference to Newton as a child picking up shells is an allusion to Newton’s memoirs in which he states: “I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” Frankenstein compares his own frustrations to Newton’s in arguing that he has been unable thus far to make any major discoveries.

St. Albertus Magnus (1205-1278) was a German Dominican friar and Catholic bishop whose work ranged from the life sciences to philosophy to theology. He held the belief that religion and experimental science should be studied in tandem to discover the mysteries of nature and the universe. The influence of Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Magnus on Frankenstein is most apparent at this intersection between science and mysticism.

Greek philosopher Theophrastus von Hohenhein (1490-1451), referred to as Paracelsus, is often considered the father of modern medicine. His studies contributed greatly to the development of thought around disease and treatment. However, much like Agrippa, many scholars discounted him due to his interest in the mystical and occult, which he saw as complementary to scientific observation.

Henry Clerval was fascinated by historical tales of heroism. He drew inspiration from a number of historical sources. These included soldiers of the Battle of Roncesvalles who sacrificed themselves for the salvation of their comrades. The knights of King Arthur’s Round Table also demonstrated legendary bravery in battle. Lastly, the holy sepulchre refers to Jesus Christ’s burial site, of which the crusaders attempted to recover from the Turks. All three of these historical references in some way or another exalt bravery and courage over cowardice and excessive pride. Their inclusion here may be seen as an ironic foreshadowing of Frankenstein’s fate.

In aesthetic theory, the sublime is something which inspires great awe, wonder, or ecstasy, beyond the limits of human description. These feelings of awe and appreciation of aesthetic beauty are often mixed with a deep sense of terror. For many romantics, the most sublime object was nature itself, capable of inspiring great depth of feeling. Throughout her narrative, Shelley frequently links nature and the sublime, demonstrating nature as a beautiful and powerful entity through the encounters her characters have with their natural environments.

Not only is Ingolstadt a town in Bavaria, it is also home to a university started by the Jesuit Order of the Roman Catholic Church during the fifteenth century before the Protestant Reformation. It continued through both the Reformation and the centuries following, eventually becoming more and more secular and breaking its ties with the Jesuits and gaining more of a tie to the Illuminati.

Frankenstein is referring to the First Industrial Revolution, which took place over the course of several decades from approximately 1760–1830. He brings this up as a means to inspire and push himself to take on the task of animating a dead human. With all the advancements in science and mechanics at the time, Frankenstein considers himself up to the challenge. Frankenstein’s pride is revealed by this desire to bring life to a deceased human, rather than an animal, and his belief that he can achieve this task alone.

Frankenstein tells Walton that he will not reveal the secret to creating life. Instead, he offers a warning, which extends as a caution to all readers, that all knowledge comes at a price. This theme continues to be explored throughout Frankenstein and has been popular in other tales throughout literary history, perhaps most famously in works which explore the Faust myth, such as Goethe’s Faust.

This allusion refers to a story from the anthology of Arabian tales A Thousand and One Nights. In one particular tale, Sinbad escapes from his wife’s tomb, in which he had been interred by villains. This allusion to an Arabian tale, rather than a European one, serves as an important cross-cultural reference. Finding this “passage to life” serves as motivation for Frankenstein and, therefore, the plot of the novel. Romantics were often fascinated by Arabian stories and culture because they considered it exotic. That Shelley grounds the pivotal moments in this novel with allusions to Arabian tales supports the themes of romanticism throughout the tale.

The abbreviation “M.” stands for the French word monsieur and serves as a means of respectfully referring to someone. Since Frankenstein studied in Geneva, French was most likely the principal language of instruction, which is why he refers to his professors in this way.

It is important to note that the description here only pertains to men. During that time period, women did not have educational freedom like men; they were expected to remain in the sphere of domesticity, which limited them to household tasks and the role of being a mother and/or wife. The phrase “since the creation of the world” emphasizes the length of time that such gender inequality has lasted.

Frankenstein mistakenly believes that he can escape the horror of his creation through sleep. For Frankenstein, going to bed is akin to going into denial. This reaction is similar to an episode in Dostoyevsky’s 1866 novel Crime and Punishment. After committing a murder he had justified to himself, Raskolnikov, the novel’s protagonist, attempts to escape his feelings of guilt through sleep. For both Raskolnikov and Frankenstein, sleep offers no solace. Guilt proves to be a recurrent theme throughout the rest of Frankenstein.

A cabriolet is a carriage drawn by a horse. This type of carriage was usually light, with two wheels and a foldable roof.

These lines represent the second half of Percy Shelley’s poem “Mutability,” which was first published in 1816, the year Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. The content of the poem does not appear to have a direct correlation with the developments of the story at this point. That being said, it is moving to hear the creature deliver a beautifully constructed and wise reflection on the nature of human existence. The central idea of the poem is that the only constant in life is inconstancy. This idea that the temperament of the soul is always changing and fleeting is pertinent to Frankenstein, whose restless reflections have carried him through extreme emotional highs and lows.

In Greek mythology, Prometheus was a titan god who created humanity. To help his creations build civilization and grow, Prometheus stole fire from the Gods and gave it to humanity against Zeus’s will. As punishment, Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock and sent an eagle to pluck out his liver every day. The creature’s encounter with fire symbolizes his growing humanity and emerging intelligence.

This moment is also an antithesis to the myth of Narcissus. In Greek mythology, Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. Narcissus was so infatuated with his own image that he wasted away and died by this pool. The creature’s reaction to his image in the water is quite the opposite to Narcissus’s as he is shocked by his own ugliness.

Readers should notice how Shelley distinguishes between Christianity as an “enlightened” religion and Islam as a “simple,” or even barbaric, one. This biased, Eurocentric worldview was typical of Shelley’s time and place.

The Sorrows of Werter, usually translated from the German as The Sorrows of Young Werther, is a 1774 novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The novel, which details the romantic yearnings of a young man, was a widely popular work in its time. The writers of the romantic era were particularly moved by the novel, whose influences can be seen in Frankenstein. Like Shelley’s novel, Werther employs an epistolary style and centers on an emotionally turbulent young man.

Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, often referred to as Plutarch’s Lives, is a non-fiction work written by the Roman historian Plutarch in the early 2nd century CE. The Lives is a series of biographies of important figures from the classical world, including Romulus, Caesar, and Alexander the Great. While Paradise Lost introduced the creature to the Judeo-Christian tradition, Plutarch’s Lives introduced him to the Greco-Roman tradition.

Paradise Lost is an epic poem written by the English poet John Milton in 1667. The central theme of Paradise Lost is the archetypal fall from grace, a mythic pattern which plays out in Frankenstein. In Paradise Lost, Lucifer experiences a fall when God casts him out of heaven for his pride. Lucifer then tempts Adam and Eve into a fall from grace when he appears in Eden. Nearly every important character in Frankenstein undergoes a unique fall.