Frankenstein: Reflecting Mary Shelley’s Life Experiences

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The above quote by Bloom is an explanation of the view that all the gothic novels are interpretation of psychological and social factors and this is especially true in the case of Mary Shelley. Shelley began her novel at the age of 18 when the most prominent materials in the consciousness and unconsciousness of Shelley were concerned with the conflicts stemming from the death of her mother. Frankenstein is the outcome of Shelley’s unresolved grief for the death of her mother which was the crisis she needed to work through to forget her own adult identity.
Mary was the daughter of a revolutionary author Mary Wollstonecraft who is regarded as one of the earliest feminist writers by the critics (Zimmerman, 2007, 65-123). By some of the critics, this story is considered to be an account of Mary’s personal life, and there are several examples which actually coincide with the personal life experiences and the narrative itself.
Frankenstein is considered as a genre of Gothic and science fiction, and it comprises the aspect of both these genres. The name “Frankenstein” or Modern Prometheus (see note 3) is not likely with the general beliefs of a monster that the name holds but it is referred to the main characters of the story named Victor Frankenstein who is a young man interested in knowledge and science. From her real life, Mary employed direct parallels and people who were around her to the situations, events and figures in the novel to show that the goal of this novel is more than just to shock and scare. The creature, which is shown in this novel, is created without any female companion by its side. This is a clear warning to science and a mark of women marginalization in literature and society. The same way, the life of Mary had...

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Shelley, Mary: Frankenstein, or, the Modern Prometheus. Wordsworth Editions Limited. 1993, pp. 6-9. http://www.rc.umd.edu/editions/frankenstein/textual.html
Sunstein, Emily W. Romance and Reality. Johns Hopkins Paperbacks edition. Baltimore: The John Hopkins UP, 1991, pp. 2-237. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=S4Q0Yv_7tawC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Sunstein,+Emily+W.+Romance+and+Reality.+Johns+Hopkins+Paperbacks+edition&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Oi9RUpu5KMTQtAaR6YEw&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Sunstein%2C%20Emily%20W.%20Romance%20and%20Reality.%20Johns%20Hopkins%20Paperbacks%20edition&f=false
Zimmerman, Lee. "Frankenstein, Invisibility, and Nameless Dread." American Imago 60.2: 135-158. Project Muse. John Hopkins U. Kingwood Coll. Lib., Kingwood. 2007, pp. 65-123. https://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/american_imago/v060/60.2zimmerman.html

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