Thanks for sharing. I’ve been thinking about Frankenstein a lot recently and I hadn’t read Percy Shelley’s work.
Arguably, the scientist ran away in horror before the work was done. There’s a plot line that gets cut from a lot of adaptations where the creature kills someone and a servant girl gets blamed. Frankenstein knew it was likely the monster yet says nothing, allowing the girl to be executed for the murder.
In the book, there’s surprisingly little time spent on the creation of the creature, he does it quickly and unthinkingly as a student. Whereas the lab scenes are the main event in movie adaptations.
Perhaps helpful context about Mary and Percy Shelley:
A year before writing the short story that became Frankenstein, the Shelleys’ first daughter died at 10 days old. Mary reported having recurring dreams of rubbing the cold baby by the fire until it lived—she was 17.
Percy was a radical advocating for free love, atheism, republicanism and vegetarianism. Values which Mary shared. His father cut him off because of these values and he had to escape to continental Europe to avoid creditors.
Mary was pregnant when Percy’s wife back in England gave birth to his second child. Mary and Percy got married after his first wife drowned herself in the Serpentine.
Mary would have an additional 3 children with Percy. One died of malaria at 3, one died in infancy and the final survived into adulthood.
Percy died at 29 in a poorly prepared-for boating accident.
Thanks for sharing. I’ve been thinking about Frankenstein a lot recently and I hadn’t read Percy Shelley’s work.
Arguably, the scientist ran away in horror before the work was done. There’s a plot line that gets cut from a lot of adaptations where the creature kills someone and a servant girl gets blamed. Frankenstein knew it was likely the monster yet says nothing, allowing the girl to be executed for the murder.
In the book, there’s surprisingly little time spent on the creation of the creature, he does it quickly and unthinkingly as a student. Whereas the lab scenes are the main event in movie adaptations.
Perhaps helpful context about Mary and Percy Shelley:
A year before writing the short story that became Frankenstein, the Shelleys’ first daughter died at 10 days old. Mary reported having recurring dreams of rubbing the cold baby by the fire until it lived—she was 17.
Percy was a radical advocating for free love, atheism, republicanism and vegetarianism. Values which Mary shared. His father cut him off because of these values and he had to escape to continental Europe to avoid creditors.
Mary was pregnant when Percy’s wife back in England gave birth to his second child. Mary and Percy got married after his first wife drowned herself in the Serpentine.
Mary would have an additional 3 children with Percy. One died of malaria at 3, one died in infancy and the final survived into adulthood.
Percy died at 29 in a poorly prepared-for boating accident.