Galvanism

Another form of abuse of power, according to Lars Lunsford, takes the idea of the male’s inability to give birth and applies it to Victor’s actions. Lars makes the assumption that Victor tried to take away the female’s power over procreation, further devaluing the life of a woman (Lunsford 174). In fact, Victor might have been trying to eradicate the need for females entirely by creating a race of super humans. Anne Mellor rationalizes that he cared not for those around him while he worked and…

knowledge on the subject, people were hopeful that they would be able to live forever. With further scientific research, it was proven that he had discovered that animal muscles simply contract when stimulated by an electrical current (known as galvanism). This goes to show that peoples lack of knowledge and personal beliefs led them to believe in a false…

Inscribing the Enlightenment: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the Community of Readers With Frankenstein (1818), Mary Shelley intended to titillate and terrify a readership for whom nothing could be more terrifying than science run amok (Villasenor 4). For most of her audience; God, the Church, the Devil, and the Bible held sway over neither their consciences nor their nightmares any longer. Yet the newly secularized societies of Europe had not lost their fear of the dark; they had simply…

As Mary Shelley was sleeping one night, with the challenge to write a ghost story embedded in her head, a dream came upon her that included galvanism and human life, invoking into her brain the main idea for the gothic novel of Frankenstein. Through many challenges between her writing years, like the death of her firstborn, Mary was encouraged to finish the novel by her husband, Percy. Through…

In the eighteenth century, “Gothic” meant anything that was unusual, disrespecting of tradition, or nonconforming. Gothic writing revolved around wicked, amazing, and sometimes destructive people, objects, or events. Much of Gothic literature was a result of disturbances in the eighteenth century. Mayhem erupted due to major changes in politics, economics, and social norms. Subsequently, Gothic literature valued the past with its ideas of aristocratic strength, passion, barbarity, and magic. The…