Frankenstein - Episode #2 - The narrative framework and the birth of the monster!
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Frankenstein - Episode #2 - The narrative framework and the birth of the monster!
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Hi, I\\u2019m Christy Shriver.
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And I\\u2019m Garry Shriver- and this is the How to Love Lit Podcast.\\xa0 This is our second episode in our discussion of Mary Shelley and her great work, Frankenstein.\\xa0 Last week we spent almost the \\xa0entire time talking sbout Mary Shelley\\u2019s fascinating life, and we didn\\u2019t even get past the age of 18.\\xa0
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That\\u2019s true, although I will say, we covered the the Title, subtitle and quote on the title page- that\\u2019s something.\\xa0 And if you didn\\u2019t listen to last week\\u2019s, you should go back and listen to it- because Shelley\\u2019s life is absolutely fascinating and really deserves thoughtful consideration especially if you want to take her work seriously, and I believe you really should.\\xa0 But today, without further ado, we do want to jump right into the book and talk about the letters as well as chapters 1-5 taking us all the way to the creation of the monster.
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Well, as we jump in- I have to make a confession.\\xa0 When I read the book, which I did for the first time since the quarantine started, I completed skipped over the letters by Robert Walton in the beginning.\\xa0 I didn\\u2019t even understand they were there until I got the very end of the book and there was this new character.
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Yes- that\\u2019s completely common- and in some sense- totally fine.\\xa0 You definitely can start any book with chapter one and be just fine.\\xa0 The letters at the beginning are part of what we call a framing device for the story- one way to think of it is like a frame around a story.\\xa0 One great example from movie world is Princess Bride, a movie everyone should see- the story is a grandfather telling a nighttime story to his grandson and then he opens the book, we change scenes are introduced to the the action sequence.\\xa0 Shelley does a similar thing except she complicates it one layer further.\\xa0 Her\\u2019s is a multi-strand narrative that metaphorically has been called a Russian doll structure.\\xa0 If you look on our Instagram feed or the web page you\\u2019ll see what I\\u2019m talking about.\\xa0 Like a Russian doll, we have a story within a story within a story.\\xa0 So, the first frame narrative is about this guy named Robert Walton who is writing his sister, Margaret Seville letters and narrating his experiences as he tries to find this Northwest passage across the north pole.\\xa0 In his letters, we see a little bit about who this guy is as a person, then as we get into the Frankenstein narrative at large what we\\u2019ll understand (for me the second time I read the book, honestly) - \\xa0is that he, in some ways, is a lot like Victor Frankenstein, our protagonist.: he has this scientific and seemingly noble objective- a conquest that will be his contribution to the world.\\xa0 He\\u2019s ambitious; he says this \\u201cyou cannot contest the inestimable benefit which I shall confer on all mankind to the last generation, by discovering a passage near the pole to those countries.\\u201d \\xa0We also see that he\\u2019s willing to go all in \\u2013 paying ANY price- because in doing the world this awesome service- he will be the recipient of great glory.\\xa0 He says this, \\u201cI preferred glory to every enticement.\\u201d\\xa0 So look for this connection when we read about Frankensten in a bit. In that way, both are on their scientific ventures track. Another connection that we\\u2019re going to see is that he\\u2019s a lonely guy. And loneliness is a thing to notice- isolation is a huge idea we want to keep an eye out.\\xa0 And this is one of those things that is a direct reflection of Mary Shelley\\u2019s own life.\\xa0 I heard one scholar say that the book Frankenstein is very much a \\u201cmeditation on isolation\\u2019 which is different from just being alone.\\xa0\\xa0 And I\\u2019ll get back to that- but Walton feels this isolation because he\\u2019s out here at the end of the world with a mission his men are losing interest in.\\xa0 He says this, \\u201cI bitterly feel the want of a friend\\u201d\\u2026and it won\\u2019t be long after he confesses this before in walks our darling Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a like-minded driven, scientifically minded man of about the same age- theyre both in their 20s.
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And this is where Victor Frankenstein is going to tell him this story that is the second narrative.\\xa0 But before we jump in to that, I did want to ask a question?\\xa0 Is there any reason for writing to Margaret, a woman, or a sister?\\xa0 Is this where the feminism starts?
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I\\u2019m glad you asked- and that brings me to my final point about the letters- there is a lot in this book in regard to gender roles, gender politics- that sort of thing- and Shelley really cleverly weaves a lot and even here- I do think it\\u2019s interesting that like Dr. \\xa0Frankenstein (we will find out very shortly) Robert has a female friend that is something of an anchor for him so to speak- (albeit a sister and not a romantic partner), but there\\u2019s something even more interesting and subtle- and I think this is the last thing I want to bring up about the letters.\\xa0 So, the sister\\u2019s name is Margaret Walton Saville = those initials are MWS- Mary Wollenscroft Shelley- the first letter is dated December 11th 17--- the last letter is dated September 12 17\\u2014Almost exactly nine months later.\\xa0 Some have pointed out, and I think it\\u2019s absolutely true- that Mary wrote herself into the book- see how fun- a gestation period.\\xa0 This book is her baby, so to speak.\\xa0 You could also say it is her monster.\\xa0 Margaret holds the entire story of Frankenstein in her hands- she holds the letters.\\xa0 Mary is holding the whole thing together with her hands as she pens it.\\xa0 Clever, huh..a big of autobiographical commentary.\\xa0 What do you think about that?
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You say whatever you think\\u2026Well,
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So, we have the frame story of Robert Walton, then they see the monster(although they don\\u2019t know it at the time)- although he runs off and then they see and rescue this man who is on the verge of death out \\u2013 he apparently is on a dog sled with only one dog out on the ice.\\xa0 The book calls it a sledge but here se say sled- like what Santa Clause uses.\\xa0 They pick him up although he fusses until he finds out their heading north and basically over the course of time he gets better and tells them the story we\\u2019re about to read.
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That\\u2019s the jist of it= the second narrative is the big one- it\\u2019s what we call the action sequence.\\xa0 And it\\u2019s the chonological story we\\u2019re getting ready to read- where you started on chapter one. In this narrative, we\\u2019re in the position of Walton hearing Frankenstein craft his first person narrative.\\xa0 This is different from the previous position where we were Margaret listening to a brother far far away- We are supposed to feel ourselves get closer and closer to the story- and when we hear the monster\\u2019s narration- we\\u2019ll be closer still.\\xa0
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But, me point out one more quirky thing- not so important to understanding the story- but a slight slam on Percy and I truly enjoy speaking ill of this man.\\xa0 Percy Shelley edited this book for Mary, and admittedly he did a good job.\\xa0 Almost all of his edits were stylistic- meaning he just made it sound better with just a few exceptions of which I\\u2019m going to point out, in Mary\\u2019s original version, Victor Frankensteins is somewhat meaner, he\\u2019s less likeable.\\xa0 I don\\u2019t think he\\u2019s very likeable in the final version, but he\\u2019s been softened up considerably.\\xa0 It is my belief that Percy knew this was Mary\\u2019s interpretation of him, in some part, and he\\u2019s softening him up for that reason. Percy Shelley\\u2019s pen name was Victor for his first publication- not a coincidence. But look here at the initial introduction of Victor Frankenstein to us as readers, it just cracks me up..after you get past the part where he\\u2019s emaciated and dying he\\u2019s described like this, First,\\u201dFor my own part, I begin to love him as a brother\\u2026he must have been a noble creature in his better days, being now in wreck so attractive and amiable.\\u201d\\u2026then a couple of paragraphs letter\\u2026\\u201cHe is so gentle, yet so wise, his mind is so cultivated and when he speaks, though his words are culled with the choicest art, and yet they flow with rapidity and unparalleled eloquence.\\xa0\\xa0 I will say, although I find him an unlikeable person, in the book, whoever meets Victor Frankenstein loves, adores and devotes themselves entirely to him- his friends, his family and then finally his wife.\\xa0 You could say- to know him is to love him\\u2026except ironically, we as the readers, don\\u2019t.
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Hahahaha- he\\u2019s the most eloquent man in the world, just like he described himself in the introduction.\\xa0 He says more than that- later Walton goes on to say that Frankenstein, has a quality that elevates him immeasurably above any other person he knew.\\xa0 I don\\u2019t know if you can get more high praise than that.\\xa0
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No, and it is in this spirit of infinite wisdom and omniscience that the noble Victor Frankenstein is going to begin his story. Because even though he\\u2019s clearly the most beautiful, the most intelligent, the most eloquent, the most elevated man on planet earth at this point he admits to have lost everything.\\xa0 He admits to being ruined and hopeless.\\xa0 And he also admits that he sees a lot of himself in his new friend- and so it is with this word of warning that he seeks to tell the story of how a man so amazing finds himself in the north pole having lost everything in the entire world with the most frightening story ever.\\xa0 Shall we open up chapter 1 and see this horrible fall from grace- And I read sentence one-
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\\u201cI am by birth, a Genevese, and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic.\\u201d\\xa0 Okay I want to stop for a moment
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Christy, I don\\u2019t know how to say this, but at this rate, we may never finish this book.\\xa0
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I know, but there\\u2019s a lot to set up- and I want everyone to know hast to look for because I think a lot of people pick this book up, start it and then wear out.\\xa0 I promise I\\u2019ll pick up the pace but I want to stop here- but we need to discuss setting in a couple of ways.\\xa0 First of all, where\\u2019s Geneva?
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Switzerland.
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Exactly, and what do you know about Switzerland-
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well, there\\u2019s the chocolate, there\\u2019s the watches, there\\u2019s the banks, there\\u2019s the alps. The Swiss guard are the ones who guard the Vatican.\\xa0 There\\u2019s quite a bit to go on. It\\u2019s part of one of the world\\u2019s most spectacular mountain ranges, the Alps. They are known for being a country of neutrality- especially in times of conflicts, there\\u2019s a lot that\\u2019s unique about Switzerland, what direction are you thinking?
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Yeah- I guess that wasn\\u2019t a very specific question, but you got close- and I want to focus just for a second, I promise I won\\u2019t go too deep- but the setting of Geneva is interesting for many ways.
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Well, isn\\u2019t that basically where she ws on the night she told the story?\\xa0 That seems a natural choice.
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Absolutely, but there\\u2019s a little bit more of a connection here that really informs this entire book.\\xa0 So, Geneva is the home of the great philosopher Jean Jaaques Rousseau.\\xa0 He died just a couple of years before Mary was born and was extremely influential especially among athiests and religious dissidents, aka. Her dad, husband and everyone she knew- there is no doubt thst his ideas would have been a major source of the converstion both st her dads house but also on that lake. His work \\u201cEmile\\u201d in particular was a favorite of Mary Shelley\\u2019s, \\xa0so, tell us about what he\\u2019s famous for and I think the connection will be obvious.\\xa0
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Well, Rousseau, although he isn\\u2019t the only one with these ideas, but he\\u2019s credited for developing among other things this idea that kind of grew fo Locke\\u2019s idea of the tabula rasa or the blank slate theory.\\xa0 The Christian idea before that is that there is evil in the heart of man. \\xa0Man must be tempered by God and grace and work on being good, a simplified version.\\xa0 Locke is going to say that man\\u2019s a blank slate- he\\u2019s just a nothing- and society will make him good or bad.\\xa0 Rousseau comes around and says that man is pretty much good and he uses the phrase the \\u201cnoble savage\\u201d.\\xa0 He\\u2019s going to say that man in his natural state is peaceful, good and selfless and that civilizstion is whst makes them greedy, anxious, selfish, etc. \\xa0So, here\\u2019s the argument, are we evil, good or nothing by nature- or as some people call it the nature vs. nuture.
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Thank you for that succinct explanation- and now we can read the first couple of chapters knowing what we\\u2019re looking for.\\xa0 As you can see, Victor Frankenstein has the most wonderful life ever growing up.\\xa0 There is no one more adored than Victor Frankenstein by his own admission.\\xa0 His father is fairly affluent and respected- not crazy. He and his mother had a few challenges but everything ended happily ever after.\\xa0 They even picked up a foundling, Elizabeth, and raised Victor and Elizabeth together.\\xa0 And Elizabeth, btw- is pretty much a perfect person as well.\\xa0 She\\u2019s beautiful too, oh and by the way- pay attention to how much women and physical beauty are connected in this book.\\xa0 I\\u2019ll talk about that in another episode.\\xa0 Plus she\\u2019s called \\u2018a pretty present for my victor\\u201d.\\xa0 I have thoughts about that too, but later.\\xa0 Anyway- the point to look for in chapters 1-2 is how wonderful is the life of Victor Frankenstein (btw- this is also modeled after Percy who had a similar childhood which was also pretty much perfect).\\xa0
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Don\\u2019t we also see a little autobiographical interjection on Mary\\u2019s part too at the beginning of chapter three with Elizabeth.
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I think so, Elizabeth catches scarlet fever, her mother who tends to her, dies, ultimately making it Elizabeth\\u2019s fault he wonderful mother is dead.\\xa0 What is also interesting in the instructions her mother gives both Elizabeth and victor,\\xa0 She says, \\u201cMy children, my firmest hopes of future happiness were place on the prospect of your union.\\xa0
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So there you have it, a deathbed request- no pressure there.\\xa0 And on thst note, it\\u2019s not long until Victor leaves for university.\\xa0 Leaving his family and his best friend, Clerval.
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Oh yes, sweet Clerval.\\xa0 WE\\u2019ll talk about him next week because we need to rush to Ingolstadt. Garry, in general, why is this an interesting choice for Victor Frankenstein to attend school.
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Well, for starters, Ingoldstadt is in Bavaria, Germany.\\xa0 If you have a super-highway (like we do) it\\u2019s about a 380 mile drive- obviously it probably took a couple of days back then.\\xa0 Andtoday, by the way, it\\u2019s most famous for being the headquarters for Audi, the car manufactuer- probably. Not related to Frankenstein.\\xa0 But historically, and this does connect, Ingolstadt University at the time of the writing of this book had one of the most modern and technologically developed medical schools in the world.\\xa0 They would have had all the equipment necessary for the latest and most innovative projects, like building a human.\\xa0 Another reason, if I\\u2019m speculating, which I am, that Shelley might have selected this setting is because Ingoldstat is home to one other very famous organization- the Illuminati.\\xa0 In fact, they say this secret society was actually started on the university campus- so there you go- science meets mystery in one spooky place.\\xa0
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So, Victor attends class, and like most coeds, finds\\xa0 couple of professors that really influential in his life.\\xa0 I had some like this- my favorite was Dr Johnny Wink, a writing professor at Ouachita Baptist University where I got my undergrad degree.\\xa0 Back then I wasn\\u2019t even a writing student- my degree was polyschi- crazy enough enough, anyway, Dr. Wink did have an enormous influence on my view of the world- and this is sort of the point here. Prof. Kempe and M. Waldman basically guide him on this path to be able to do this great thing- but crazy enough he never shares with them what he\\u2019s doing.
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And I find this interesting, and also a mistake on his part.\\xa0 Although I don\\u2019t see that he ever really talks about why all this had to be such a secret- but it was and ultimately part of Frankenstein\\u2019s ultimate problem is that he isolates himself from the entie world becawue of this secret he\\u2019s working on at university.\\xa0 He basically digs in and for two years totally isolates himself into this project- ultimately forsaking every single other person in his life.\\xa0
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This definitely stood out to me because his mother\\u2019s dying wish was for him and Elizabeth to be together- and he has basically thrown he ove,
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