Few key points:
-Nature vs. Technology
-Religion vs. Technology/Science
These issues are still prevalent today (abortion, stem cell research)
As I was reading I began to notice repetitive words and I tried to unravel the meaning and significance of their mention. A lot of ideas in these first few chapters relate to science and life, but words that are repeated are divine images. Also in the introduction Shelley mentions her inspiration for Frankenstein came from Darwin’s experiments. Darwin was a man of controversy in his time, coming up with theories of natural selection and evolution, and therefore questioning many religions’ belief systems. I think Shelley brought some of that controversy into her work by constantly repeating science and religious imagery. I’m not sure if Shelley is going to make a statement about religion or science. From what I can gather, a man (the creator of the monster), reached suffering from his search for knowledge. I’m assuming that Shelley is making a statement about science and that certain limits should not be crossed, such as creating life. I wonder if Shelley was a religious woman in her time…though her publishing of Frankenstein was certainly controversial. It’s hard to hypothesize Shelley’s message at this point, but so far I think she is rejecting some of sciences’ aspirations.
Notes:
Motifs/repeated words:
· Animation/animated
· Nature
· Divine/God/Halo/Guardian
· Spirit/Soul
· Creator/Creation/Creature
· Evil/Demon/Dark
· Ice/Cold
· Fog/Mist
· Eyes (eyes are passage to soul-symbolism? Significance?)
· Melancholy/Despair/Depression/Misery
· Violence
· Noble
· Wild/Madness
· Sea/Ocean
-Some repeated words relate to the themes of Religion vs. Technology/Science and Nature vs. Technology
-Speaker became immensely fascinated with books on the sciences
-Importance of books, to be well educated…this book also brings up the idea that knowledge can bring suffering and misery (Is ignorance bliss?)
-Some mention of cycles, such as seasons, death to life and life to death
