British Literature from 1800, "The Mythmakers"

  Joseph Ducreux, Portrait of a Gentleman As always, answer TWO of the following, and get as far as you can in the novel before Friday's class, even if you don't finish all 13 chapters (but go further if you like!):  Q1: Some of the most famous lines in English literature are the opening lines of this novel, which begin, "It is a truth generally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife..." These lines are of course deliciously satirical, and suggest that everything that follows is an elaborate lampoon, sort of like Gainsborough’s painting of Mr. and Mrs. Andrews. But is that the only way to read this? Can this be more than just a good-natured ribbing of small-town society? Are there darker implications to this fortune-cookie like wisdom? Q2: Though the novel isn't a first-person account of English life in the country, the narration seems to borrow something from a first-person perspective. Discuss a passage whe...

Actual photo of Antarctica--wrong Pole, but the right idea NO QUESTIONS for Thursday's class, but try to get close to finishing and consider some of the following ideas for Thursday's in-class response: * Why doesn't Victor anticipate the Creature's threat when he promises, "I will be with you on your wedding night."?  * Also, what connotations does this threat carry besides the one Victor hears? * How does Mary Shelley give Elizabeth a little life and agency before she dies in the book? In other words, what does she say before she is silenced forever? * Anything strange about her death scene, or Victor's response to it? * In the final chapters, does Shelley hint at the possibility that the Creature only exists in Victor's mind? * How does Victor undercut his own 'moral' in telling Walton the story of his life?  * In the last letter, Walton seems to conclusively prove the Creature's existence, since he not only sees him but converses with h...

Self-portrait of Goya (c.1790's)  NOTE: I updated Q3 since it included a passage that is outside of today's reading--I jumped the gun! Sorry!  Answer TWO of the following: Q1: When Victor bids farewell to Elizabeth (in Vol.3, Chapter 1), the 1831 text says that she “acquiesced; but she was filled with disquiet at the idea of my suffering, away from her, the inroads of misery and grief...she bade me a tearful, silent farewell.” However, the original 1818 version of the novel reads: “ Elizabeth approved of the reasons of my departure, and only regretted that she had not the same opportunities of enlarging her experience, and cultivating her understanding...We all, said she, depend upon you; and if you are miserable, what must be our feelings?"  What does the original text seem to communicate about Elizabeth ’s experience that the 1831 version wipes away? Why might Shelley have wanted to 'silence' Elizabeth here and in other parts of the novel (for example, her big s...

If you want to do the first Art Paper for Frankenstein , but aren't sure how to find just the right art, here are some contemporary suggestions that might work for you. Remember, you can do ANY work of art, so long as it's not literal (not an actual illustration of Frankenstein from some other source), and you can make the connection make sense. You want to use the work of art to explain, illustrate, or even complicate a passage in the text that seems to resemble it thematically.  FOR EXAMPLE: In class last Tuesday, I showed the famous Goya etching "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters," and connected that to Victor's horrific dream of Elizabeth turning into his mother. The connection I wanted to explore is that once Victor is asleep, his reason slumbers and the truth of his heart/soul seems to come out, becoming a nightmarish image of his fear of abandonment by his mother, and perhaps his resentment against Elizabeth for 'killing' her. Or it could be his...

Gustave Dore, illustration from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (the poem quoted more than once throughout Frankenstein) For Thursday's class, we'll have an in-class response/question at the beginning of class to start us off, so I won't give you a set of questions to answer. However, the ideas below are things to consider for Thursday's reading, and we might write about something related to them.  Some ideas to consider: * How does Elizabeth change over the course of the novel, especially once the tragedies start occurring? Does Victor notice this? * How does the Creature's narrative differ from Victor's? Does it sound like a completely different narrator? Or like Walton, is he merely another version of Victor himself? * Why does Shelley never really explain the science of creating the Creature, nor of why the Creature is so superhumanly strong and resistant?  * Are there any gaps or inconsistencies in Victor's (or Walton's) narrative that make you ques...

In case you lose it, or just want to see it conveniently on the blog, here is the assignment sheet for the Three Art Papers. Read it carefully and let me know if you have any questions about due dates (they're all on the syllabus). Also, I'll be posting links and images to artists throughout the semester to help you, so keep checking the blog!  THE THREE ART PAPERS   INTRO: For each book we read, I’ll begin our discussion with an examination of a pivotal artist whose works I feel are in dialogue with the book in question. We will always do an in-class writing to get us thinking about the work, and then we’ll continue to use the artists’ work and ideas as a frame for our class discussions. Ideally, this will help you see the many of the themes of the novel visually, which will also remind you that different forms of art aren’t created in a vacuum. Writers are looking at paintings and listening to music and living in a world that continually inspires them. It quickly becomes a...