Mary Shelley+Frankenstein

[pola9]

How does Mary Shelley's childhood and parenting effect her style of writing in Frankenstein?
How is bad parenting is protrayed in the novel
Shelley's experiences as a parent
etc

[China Doll]

Hi Pola,

We're going back to what we touched on before with regards to Mary Shelley actually being autobiographically both the monster and Frankenstein.

Frankenstein is the not just the creator of the monster, he is the father of it, he gave birth to the creature so to speak. Do you think he was a good parent to the creature? Would a good parent abandon their new born child (as Frankenstein effectively does) to the ridicule and horror of the world? Leave it without love and without an education? Compare this with the relationship that Frankenstein has with his own father.

Also think about the poor family that the monster watches and lives with. Although they have no money they have almost a perfect family unity. Do you think the monster ever felt any of that for his own parent Frankenstein?

Once you've thought through these aspects of parenthood within the novel then you can begin to contrast them with Mary Shelley's own history, her relationship with her father, the fact that her mother died , the baby she lost etc...

I am unsure how much you know of Mary Shelley's past but please look at the link I have attached as there is some information you should find very useful regarding the history of Mary Shelley as well as her work and is far more informative than I will ever be on the subject! (The link is for A/AS level students but I was unsure where to pitch the level you were going for).

http://www.litnotes.co.uk/index.htm

I hope this helps.

[China Doll]

Forgot to say.... scroll down on the grey bit on the left hand side and the Frankenstein bit is under 'Notes on Text.' It's called 'Frankenstein - Background Notes.'

Good luck.

[luckyeight]

How long does your essay need to be pola? You know she wrote the book after having had a miscarriage so lots of it is about miscarriage anxiety... She was in quite a stressed place mentally when she wrote the book.