Questions tagged [mary-shelley]
Questions related to the English author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797 – 1851) and her work. She is best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein (1818) but also wrote short stories, biographies and travelogues. She was married to Percy Bysshe Shelley in the years 1816 – 1822.
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"This was the forest near Ingolstadt" in Frankenstein
The following is a passage in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I am wondering what the boldfaced "This" refers to.
Before, dark and opaque bodies had surrounded me, impervious to my touch or ...
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Meaning of 'more familiar to reason than to the imagination'
The following is an extract from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. What does the boldfaced phrase mean?
Before, I looked upon the accounts of vice and injustice, that I read in books or heard from others, ...
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Can we interpret Frankenstein as a work by an author struggling with depression?
There's no "My God, man, you're not telling us something!" moment, is there? Victor's family sort of sit by as they're all killed off and even his dad doesn't press him.
I know we're ...
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"otherwise" in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
In Chapter Seven of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (published 1816), I saw the following sentence:
I remembered also the nervous fever with which I had been seized just at the time that I dated my ...
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"just at the time that I dated my creation" in Frankenstein
In Chapter Seven of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, I saw the following sentence:
I remembered also the nervous fever with which I had been seized just at the time that I dated my creation, and which ...
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"the unnatural stimulus ceasing to operate, I had returned to my old habits" in Frankenstein
The following is an extract from Frankenstein. What does the "habits" in "returned to my old habits" mean? It does not seem to refer to habits like drinking, staying up late, etc. ...
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"It was very different, when the masters of the science sought immortality and power" in Frankenstein
The following extract is from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I'd like to know:
What the "it" refers to. Does the "it" refer to the circumstances in general?
If so, in what ways ...
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Her sympathy was ours
The following is an extract from Frankenstein; I'd like to know whether or not the clause in bold contains a religious image. And what does it mean? Does it have anything to do with being saintly?
...
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Was Frankenstein's Monster really an illusion?
I am investigating about Gothic Literature, more concretely about Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and realized there was a theory on the possibility of Frankenstein's monster being an illusion (some info ...
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Why were they keeping the mother from helping the daughter in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein?
Elizabeth had caught the scarlet fever; her illness was severe, and she was in the greatest danger. During her illness many arguments had been urged to persuade my mother ...
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What does "hold" mean in this context from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein?
his grief only became more deep and rankling when he had leisure for reflection, and at length it took so fast hold of his mind that at the end of three months he lay on a bed of sickness
What does "...
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"...the gallant vessel on its course and wrecked it—thus!"
How do I understand explicitly the meaning of this last sentence from the fourth letter of Frankenstein? Why would the ship be "wrecked" when it was not? Also, how do I account for the usage ...
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Was Victor Frankenstein an aristocrat?
I know that Frankenstein's family were rich enough for him to take frequent vacations, but were they titled nobility? And if they were what title or titles did they hold?
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How could Frankenstein get the parts for his second creature?
When the creature is first created we get a strong impression that it is built up from body parts, quoting from chapter 4:
I collected bones from charnel-houses and disturbed, with profane fingers, ...
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Where did the idea that Frankenstein is the name of the monster come from?
Where did the idea that Frankenstein is the name of the monster come from? I know that the monster is addressed as Frankenstein in several spin-off movies, but after doing some primary research, I can'...
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What is the origin of the name "Frankenstein"?
The name "Frankenstein" is famous enough to have entered popular culture, even if people often get confused about whether it refers to the scientist or the monster. But where did Mary Shelley get this ...
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Frankenstein's Repulsion towards his Monster
Throughout the novel, Victor Frankenstein is horrified at the fact that he created his monster. However, he does not discuss any emotional or moral reservations towards the act of creating the monster ...
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Stories From the Year Without a Summer
I have seen the story many times: Percy and Mary Shelley (not yet wed) paid an a visit to Lord Byron in 1816. Attributed now to the eruption at Mount Tambora, this year was unseasonably cool. Spending ...
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Was Frankenstein was influenced by revolution, the pace of technological change and debates over racial equality?
The New Yorker has written a fantastic piece on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
The following commentator writes:
Torn by revolution, gasping at the quick pace of technological change, divided by ...
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Does "Natural Lord" in Frankenstein mean "Father" or something to that effect?
From chapter 10 of the Project Gutenberg ebook - or Volume 2, Chapter 3, Page 102 of Penguin Classics edition of Frankenstein (emphasis mine):
My rage was without bounds; I sprang on him, impelled by ...
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Questions on the meaning of a passage about friendship in Frankenstein, Letter 4
I've just started reading Frankenstein. I really want to make sure that I understand everything I read, so I want to make sure of what these sentences mean. I already did google them, but didn't find ...
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