Frankenstein September Intensive Registration

““Individuality is a continuous process of arguing against your own beliefs…” E. Mendelson, The Things that Matter “

I suggest that the greatest works of literature reflect, in various modes, a deep intellectual conflict that is the evidence of the dynamic state of the individual. In Frankenstein, Shelley seems to be grappling with issues around relationship, parental responsibility and the capacity for sympathy (also the limits of human capability in the sciences…).

Shelley’s mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, proposed (controversially): “A great proportion of the misery that wanders, in hideous forms, around the world, is allowed to rise from the negligence of parents” (from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 1792). At first we may read Frankenstein as an illustration of this statement, but I think there are more subtle interrogations of this at work in the book.

Each statement that I may be tempted to make about Shelley’s thematic stance, such as ‘monsters are evil embodied’, are queried in this work.  The issues and ideas of this work, written early in the 19^th century, seem extremely timely in these chaotic August days. 

This Salon is run as a one-day intensive study so it is important to have the book read before we meet. The Norton Critical Edition, which is what I recommend for the study, is 150 pages so this is a very manageable 9and accessible) read. Please do confirm your participation soon and I will send along the opening notes to support your preparation.
The BBC offers an interview about Mary Shelley and Frankenstein: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12460086