Frankenstein is taught today in a totally different way that Mary Shelley wanted to get across. In cartoons and other films that are a copy of the book that mary shelley wrote make out that the monster is the bad one but all he wants is love and he feels betrayed by his creater (father) Victor Frankeinstein In 1815 the largest eruption ever recorded in history happened, the Tambora Volcano in Indonesia. This caused black clouds to form over Europe; in 1816 there was no summer only darkness because of the clouds. There was also torrential storms and thunder and lighting this caused Mar Woustonecraft and her husband Percy Shelly to stay in day and night talking in the gloomy atmosphere.
The couple were travelling around Europe and at that time were staying with friends by lake Geneva. They used to talk about developments in science and what it would be like for a man to play god and create life from nothing. In this topic on the 21st June 1816 they talked about ‘whether the principle of life could be discovered and whether scientists could galvanize a corpse of manufacturing humanoid’. They also discussed if ‘creating a life can be caused by the therapeutic use of direct electric current’. These thoughts and discussions are what give Mary Shelley ideas about her book she was going to write (Frankenstein).
Because they were always in because of the weather and because it was dark, they also used to write ghost stories. On one particular night Byron challenged Mary to write a ghost story and her husband encouraged her to finish it. To help her understand what sort of things to write and what ghost stories were about Mary and her husband used to read ‘The Frantasmogoriana’ which were German ghost stories. The title of these stories may have influenced her to call her story Frankenstein and also her main character Frankenstein was German this could have also been influenced by the German stories she read.
Because of these discussions and stories one night Mary had a nightmare about a monster being brought to life and was set free to the world. This also influenced her book because what she dreamed about she has put in her book.
Mary Shelley lost her mother when she was 10 years old and she also lost her two-week-old daughter. In her journals she wrote about her baby coming back to life and she would sit by the fire with her baby trying to keep it warm. These dreams and thoughts show that bringing people back to life was an idea that she had in her mind. Mary Shelley feared that if she was to have another child it may be born deformed and if it were would she be able to love it? What if she couldn’t love it? She also feared that she would not be capable of raising a healthy, normal child. She asked her self will my child die? Could I wish my own child to die? Will my child kill me at childbirth?
The nineteenth century was not a good time to be a female writer particularly if one was audacious enough to be a female novelist. Contemporary ‘wisdom’ held that no one would be willing to read the work of a woman; the fantastic success of Mary Wollstonecraft Shell’s Frankenstein served to thoroughly disapprove this rather asinine theory.