BASC70028 - Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: What Made the Monster?

Course Description

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is 200 years old this year. In 1818 many were shocked to learn that this horrifying story, often credited as the first work of science fiction, was written by a 19-year-old woman. Where did she get the idea for this violent and deadly conflict between creator and detested creation? Contrary to the film versions that make the creature inarticulate, the erudite Shelley creates a “monster” who is widely-read, comparing himself to Adam and to Milton’s Satan. The subtitle of her work--“A Modern Prometheus”--points to another hero who defied the gods and was punished eternally for it. In this class we will read Shelley’s novel alongside some of her major sources to better understand the eternal appeal of this remarkable work.

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