Who are the victims in Frankenstein? What do they have in common? For example, what are the similarities between the backgrounds and situations of Elizabeth and Justine? How do they differ? What is it that defines them as victims? Justine is a victim of the monster, but she is also a victim of an unjust judicial system.
Many of the victims in Frankenstein are victims of the desire for revenge. However, instead of taking revenge against the perceived perpetrator of the original offense, the most effective form of revenge is presented as an act against the innocent friend or relative of, for example, Victor. The monster takes his revenge through attacking those most dear to Victor. So, by abnegating his responsibility for his creation, Victor rejects the monster and sets in motion a chain of events over which he subsequently has no control.
Monday 14 April 2008
The framing of 'Frankenstein'
To what extent does 'Frankenstein' offer multiple narrators in order to provide multiple points of view? Can it be argued that, while offering alternative viewpoints, Shelley and, arguably Bronte in 'Wuthering Heights', do not differentiate between the voices accorded to their various narrators?
Beth Newman in 'The Frame Structure of Frankenstein' argues:
The novel fails to provide significant differences in tone, diction and sentence structure that alone can serve, in a written text , to represent individual human voices, and so blurs the distinction that it asks us to make between the voices of its characters.
How far do you agree with this view?
Beth Newman in 'The Frame Structure of Frankenstein' argues:
The novel fails to provide significant differences in tone, diction and sentence structure that alone can serve, in a written text , to represent individual human voices, and so blurs the distinction that it asks us to make between the voices of its characters.
How far do you agree with this view?
Sunday 13 April 2008
Predictably off on a tangent...
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/d#a1896
Our homework requires us to look at a source of Dore's pictures of TRotAM. However, since he's also done pictures for Paradise Lost and The Divine Comedy and The Raven (prolific, really, isn't he? I'm thinking of borrowing him for my art project now...), his work's very appropriate for our Gothic topic. : )
So, just a quick link to his stuff on Gutenberg.
Our homework requires us to look at a source of Dore's pictures of TRotAM. However, since he's also done pictures for Paradise Lost and The Divine Comedy and The Raven (prolific, really, isn't he? I'm thinking of borrowing him for my art project now...), his work's very appropriate for our Gothic topic. : )
So, just a quick link to his stuff on Gutenberg.
Thursday 20 March 2008
Mary's mother!
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/03/mary_mary_always_contrary.html
I stumbled across this article browsing the Guardian blogs.
It even mentions Aphra Behn!
Just loosely related and interesting.
I stumbled across this article browsing the Guardian blogs.
It even mentions Aphra Behn!
Just loosely related and interesting.
Sunday 24 February 2008
Frankenstein'08
Frankenstein opens with a series of letters written by the outer frame narrator, Richard Walton, to his sister, Mrs Saville. The fourth, and final letter at this stage of the novel, is in three parts, written on three separate days over a two week period. These letters represent a time span of approximately eight months, from the December of one year through to the August of the next, and take place during the final decade of the 18th century. This series of letters is then once again taken up at the end of the novel, when Walton resumes his narration of the events from his perspective.
These initial four, and then five final letters - the last one dated September 12th - 'bookend' the the inner narrations of Frankenstein and then the Creature, and then Frankenstein once more. Thus, the Creature's narrative is located at the heart of the novel, embedded within the framing narratives of Frankenstein and Walton.
In addition to the use of multiple narrators, Shelley also use letters within the text, thus giving a distinctive voice to other characters in the novel.
Through these techniques, Shelley enables the reader to view both Frankenstein and the creature (and their actions) from other viewpoints. (By restricting the use of the first person viewpoint to just one narrator, a novelist inevitably limits the reader's ability to make an informed assessment about narratorial reliability.) In Frankenstein, however, Shelley is inviting the reader to make judgements about Frankenstein and his actions, by presenting certain events and actions from opposing viewpoints.
Consider, for example, Frankenstein's view of the Creature's early life and the reasons why he abandoned his creation, and then compare these with the Creature's account of his upbringing:
"It was dark when I awoke; I felt cold also, and half frightened, as it were, instinctively, finding myself so desolate. Before I had quitted your apartment, on a sensation of cold, I had covered myself with some clothes, but these were insufficient to secure me from the dews of night. I was a poor, helpless, miserable wretch; I knew, and could distinguish, nothing; but feeling pain invade me on all sides, I sat down and wept.
Consider the 'voice' that Shelley has created for the creature - what is the tone? How is his innocence and vulnerability portrayed? Compare this with the ways in which Frankenstein portrays his creation.
These initial four, and then five final letters - the last one dated September 12th - 'bookend' the the inner narrations of Frankenstein and then the Creature, and then Frankenstein once more. Thus, the Creature's narrative is located at the heart of the novel, embedded within the framing narratives of Frankenstein and Walton.
In addition to the use of multiple narrators, Shelley also use letters within the text, thus giving a distinctive voice to other characters in the novel.
Through these techniques, Shelley enables the reader to view both Frankenstein and the creature (and their actions) from other viewpoints. (By restricting the use of the first person viewpoint to just one narrator, a novelist inevitably limits the reader's ability to make an informed assessment about narratorial reliability.) In Frankenstein, however, Shelley is inviting the reader to make judgements about Frankenstein and his actions, by presenting certain events and actions from opposing viewpoints.
Consider, for example, Frankenstein's view of the Creature's early life and the reasons why he abandoned his creation, and then compare these with the Creature's account of his upbringing:
"It was dark when I awoke; I felt cold also, and half frightened, as it were, instinctively, finding myself so desolate. Before I had quitted your apartment, on a sensation of cold, I had covered myself with some clothes, but these were insufficient to secure me from the dews of night. I was a poor, helpless, miserable wretch; I knew, and could distinguish, nothing; but feeling pain invade me on all sides, I sat down and wept.
"Soon a gentle light stole over the heavens and gave me a sensation of pleasure. I started up and beheld a radiant form rise from among the trees.*I gazed with a kind of wonder. It moved slowly, but it enlightened my path, and I again went out in search of berries. I was still cold when under one of the trees I found a huge cloak, with which I covered myself, and sat down upon the ground. No distinct ideas occupied my mind; all was confused. I felt light, and hunger, and thirst, and darkness; innumerable sounds rang in my ears, and on all sides various scents saluted me; the only object that I could distinguish was the bright moon, and I fixed my eyes on that with pleasure.
"Several changes of day and night passed, and the orb of night had greatly lessened, when I began to distinguish my sensations from each other. I gradually saw plainly the clear stream that supplied me with drink and the trees that shaded me with their foliage. I was delighted when I first discovered that a pleasant sound, which often saluted my ears, proceeded from the throats of the little winged animals who had often intercepted the light from my eyes. I began also to observe, with greater accuracy, the forms that surrounded me and to perceive the boundaries of the radiant roof of light which canopied me. Sometimes I tried to imitate the pleasant songs of the birds but was unable. Sometimes I wished to express my sensations in my own mode, but the uncouth and inarticulate sounds which broke from me frightened me into silence again."
Consider the 'voice' that Shelley has created for the creature - what is the tone? How is his innocence and vulnerability portrayed? Compare this with the ways in which Frankenstein portrays his creation.
Sunday 6 May 2007
Vathek by William Beckford, published 1904
Vathek is a greatly powerful King, a "Caliph", who receives some sceptres with magical descriptions, which are translated by a mysterious stranger, the Giaour. Vathek realises that he posesses supernatural powers and worships him, by fulfilling his requests to receive a prize, the treasures of Soliman and the pre-adamite sultans. However, he ultimately ends up in Hell with a heart tormented by flames for eternity.
Lonsdale argues that Vathek is not a gothic text.
"Potential melodrama and horror are almost invariably undermined and deflated by Beckford's detached, urbane and often comic tone. When Nouronihar pursues a strange light up a mountain and hears mysterious voices promising her infinite riches, if she will desert Gulchenrouz for Vathek, we may seem to be close to the 'Gothic'; but even here Beckford is less concerned to exploit the 'terrific' possibilities of the scene than to expound the choice facing Nouronihar. When Carathis and her companions visit a cemetary and its ghouls, the result is ludicrously grotesque comedy. The final scenes of the tale are serious enough, but the sudden sombre power and sustained intensity of this vision of damnation transcend anything achieved by the Gothicists."
I personally disagree with many of his comments, as the book has many of the typically Gothic traits andI do not feel that the tone is at all 'comic'.
- wild landscapes
To find the Giaour and his treasures Vathek traversed deserts and mountains, commanded not to enter any abode.
- ruined or grotesque buildings
The buildings are grand and opulent, such as the subterranean cavern, Carathis' tower and the five palaces of the senses "five wings, or rather palaces, which he destined for the particular gratification of each of the senses"p1.
- religious settings/concepts
There are many allusions to Alla and the Koran, which are praised by the "dwarfs" and some servants. Vathek is entranced into worship of the strange Giaour. The cavern of the Giaour and Soliman is implicitly Hell as a punishment for his evils, a moralistic and religious tone concludes (with great links to Shelley's message) -
"Such was, and such should be, the punishment of unrestrained passions and atrocious deeds! Such shall be, the chastisement of that blind curiosity , which would transgress those bounds the wisdom of the Creator has prescribed to human knowledge; and such the dreadful disappointment of that restless ambition, which, aiming at discoveries reserved for beings of a supernatural order, perceives not, through its infatuated pride, that the condition of man upon earth is to be - humble and ignorant."p120
- sensibility
The every whim of Vathek is catered for, to the extent of purpose-built palaces. The descriptions are senual and opulent, with lady witch Carathis having a very stormy and temperament!
- excess and extremity
Like in Frankenstein the emotions are extreme, everything in Vathek is the rarest, the grandest, numbered in thousands, scented with jasmine, sprinkled with gold dust.. It creates intense opulence, which would have been very exciting in 1904, but it is sustained throughout the novel and becomes a bit heady.
"From thence, she resorted to a gallery; where, under the guard of fifty female negroes mute and blind of the right eye, were preserved the oil of the most venomous serpents; rhinoceros' horns; and woods of a subtile and penetrating odour"p31.
- the supernatural and the ghostly
Carathis wakes the dead to find the whereabouts of Gulchenrouz and the Giaour is certainly supernatural. Vathek becomes obsessive with the magical treasure of Soliman, wanting to acqire their power.
- darkness, shadow, decay
The subterraneous cavern is described as a huge, dingy expanse. We have this section as an extract.
- the exotic, the oriental
The novel is based in a typically exotic, far-eastern setting and the names, such as Bababalouk, opulence and spices are certainly exotic and exciting to the 1904 reader especially.
- horror and terror
The Giaour's requests are disturbing,
"I require the blood of fifty children. Take them from among the most beautiful sons of thy vizirs and great men; or, neither can my thirst nor thy curiosity be satisfied"
And so is Vathek's willingness to fulfil them. The subsequent descent into Hell with the dancing dead make use of the fear of the suprnatural.
- isolation and loneliness
The Caliph is constantly surrounded by hundreds of slaves and beautiful wives, but when his love Nouronihar flees for Gulchenrouz, her teenage love, he has heartache.
- sanity/insanity
The reader may judge how moral Carathis and Vathek's actions and reasoning are
- sex/sexuality
Vathek was "much addicted to women"p1 and had many wives, which were kept in "cages" and disallowed to walk. There are many eunuchs in the story, showing demasculinisation and how it affects power. Imagery of towers and caverns.
- multiple narrators
there is a single omniscient narrator
- crime, lawlessness, abuse
Vathek murders innocent children and Carathis uses witchcraft.
- absolute power
Vathek abuses his power, for example making people give up their children and leading hundreds into the desert to perish. Yet still he wishes for supernatural powers.
- stock characters
Carathis is a cleopatra type seductress, who uses witchcraft.
- the devilish, the arcane
Vathek's lineage creates the first lines in the novel, showing its importance, and he seeks historical artifacts. He comes across demons in the subterraneous cavern.
- the historical past
the lineage of Vathek, his will to own treasures from before history (the pre-adamite sultans) showing excess and extremity.
- the outsider
the Giaour is a strange outsider
Lonsdale argues that Vathek is not a gothic text.
"Potential melodrama and horror are almost invariably undermined and deflated by Beckford's detached, urbane and often comic tone. When Nouronihar pursues a strange light up a mountain and hears mysterious voices promising her infinite riches, if she will desert Gulchenrouz for Vathek, we may seem to be close to the 'Gothic'; but even here Beckford is less concerned to exploit the 'terrific' possibilities of the scene than to expound the choice facing Nouronihar. When Carathis and her companions visit a cemetary and its ghouls, the result is ludicrously grotesque comedy. The final scenes of the tale are serious enough, but the sudden sombre power and sustained intensity of this vision of damnation transcend anything achieved by the Gothicists."
I personally disagree with many of his comments, as the book has many of the typically Gothic traits andI do not feel that the tone is at all 'comic'.
- wild landscapes
To find the Giaour and his treasures Vathek traversed deserts and mountains, commanded not to enter any abode.
- ruined or grotesque buildings
The buildings are grand and opulent, such as the subterranean cavern, Carathis' tower and the five palaces of the senses "five wings, or rather palaces, which he destined for the particular gratification of each of the senses"p1.
- religious settings/concepts
There are many allusions to Alla and the Koran, which are praised by the "dwarfs" and some servants. Vathek is entranced into worship of the strange Giaour. The cavern of the Giaour and Soliman is implicitly Hell as a punishment for his evils, a moralistic and religious tone concludes (with great links to Shelley's message) -
"Such was, and such should be, the punishment of unrestrained passions and atrocious deeds! Such shall be, the chastisement of that blind curiosity , which would transgress those bounds the wisdom of the Creator has prescribed to human knowledge; and such the dreadful disappointment of that restless ambition, which, aiming at discoveries reserved for beings of a supernatural order, perceives not, through its infatuated pride, that the condition of man upon earth is to be - humble and ignorant."p120
- sensibility
The every whim of Vathek is catered for, to the extent of purpose-built palaces. The descriptions are senual and opulent, with lady witch Carathis having a very stormy and temperament!
- excess and extremity
Like in Frankenstein the emotions are extreme, everything in Vathek is the rarest, the grandest, numbered in thousands, scented with jasmine, sprinkled with gold dust.. It creates intense opulence, which would have been very exciting in 1904, but it is sustained throughout the novel and becomes a bit heady.
"From thence, she resorted to a gallery; where, under the guard of fifty female negroes mute and blind of the right eye, were preserved the oil of the most venomous serpents; rhinoceros' horns; and woods of a subtile and penetrating odour"p31.
- the supernatural and the ghostly
Carathis wakes the dead to find the whereabouts of Gulchenrouz and the Giaour is certainly supernatural. Vathek becomes obsessive with the magical treasure of Soliman, wanting to acqire their power.
- darkness, shadow, decay
The subterraneous cavern is described as a huge, dingy expanse. We have this section as an extract.
- the exotic, the oriental
The novel is based in a typically exotic, far-eastern setting and the names, such as Bababalouk, opulence and spices are certainly exotic and exciting to the 1904 reader especially.
- horror and terror
The Giaour's requests are disturbing,
"I require the blood of fifty children. Take them from among the most beautiful sons of thy vizirs and great men; or, neither can my thirst nor thy curiosity be satisfied"
And so is Vathek's willingness to fulfil them. The subsequent descent into Hell with the dancing dead make use of the fear of the suprnatural.
- isolation and loneliness
The Caliph is constantly surrounded by hundreds of slaves and beautiful wives, but when his love Nouronihar flees for Gulchenrouz, her teenage love, he has heartache.
- sanity/insanity
The reader may judge how moral Carathis and Vathek's actions and reasoning are
- sex/sexuality
Vathek was "much addicted to women"p1 and had many wives, which were kept in "cages" and disallowed to walk. There are many eunuchs in the story, showing demasculinisation and how it affects power. Imagery of towers and caverns.
- multiple narrators
there is a single omniscient narrator
- crime, lawlessness, abuse
Vathek murders innocent children and Carathis uses witchcraft.
- absolute power
Vathek abuses his power, for example making people give up their children and leading hundreds into the desert to perish. Yet still he wishes for supernatural powers.
- stock characters
Carathis is a cleopatra type seductress, who uses witchcraft.
- the devilish, the arcane
Vathek's lineage creates the first lines in the novel, showing its importance, and he seeks historical artifacts. He comes across demons in the subterraneous cavern.
- the historical past
the lineage of Vathek, his will to own treasures from before history (the pre-adamite sultans) showing excess and extremity.
- the outsider
the Giaour is a strange outsider
Wednesday 11 April 2007
Frankenstein controversy
An interesting controversy is currently raging in academic circles about the authorship of Frankenstein. In brief, John Lauritsen is about to publish (May 1st)his thesis that the real author was Percy Shelley. The whole debate makes most intriguing reading and is linked to Lauritsen's gay activism! To check it out and to start forming your own responses, search for his name with Frankenstein on google where you will also see an interesting (if questionable) article by Germaine Greer.
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