For your Week 2 Weekly Writing Assignment, use your notes of this week’s lecture (posted above) and your reading of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, to write at least 250-words summarizing what you identify as highlights or important points. This exercise contributes to your graded writing in the class and gives you an opportunity to return to the course material to think, choose, and report on what you have learned. These are graded on best effort, but they should primarily focus on the course material. However, you may make connections between course material and other SF that you’ve read, seen, etc. Type up your response someplace safe that you can save, and then copy-and-paste your response into a comment made to this blog post.
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Some highlights I have noticed is that Victorâs family are distinguished. Victorâs father was friends with a man named Beaufort who also did similar work. Beaufort did not enjoy the idea of living in poverty because it would have felt like a dishonor to him and his line of work. He moved away with his daughter. Eventually Beaufort passed away and Victorâs father took care of Beaufortâs daughter. After that they got married. Caroline, which was her name, mentioned that she wanted a daughter while Victor at the time was the only child. Victor and his mother were walking around when they noticed a peasant family. Caroline noticed that one of the girls stood out from the rest of the other children. She was orphaned from a noble family. When Victorâs father returned from Milan, they ended up adopting her in their care. Her name was Elizabeth. Victor and Elizabeth eventually get closer together. Caroline and Elizabeth get the scarlet fever, this in turn leads to Caroline passing away. Elizabeth recovers from scarlet fever. Victor has to depart to go to the University of Ingolstadt to study science. During his time at the university he experiments on trying to bring life back. He succeeds in bringing life into his creation. The thing is that his creation was really grotesque which even scared him. Victor gets a letter from his father saying his youngest brother was strangled to death. People believe it is the housekeeper but Victor is sure it is the monster he created. A trial is held and the housekeeper is found guilty and sentenced to death. Some highlights from week 2 is that there are 5 moments in history that have had some effect in the come up of Science Fiction. The 5 topics are the Enlightenment, Scientific Revolution, Industrial Revolution, Romanticism, and Gothic period. The Scientific Revolution and the Gothic period are the two things so far that I am noticing in the first few chapters. Victor was interested when he saw a lightning strike. This led him to attend a university to learn more science. The Gothic period is also quite relevant because Victor was trying to bring back life and he was experimenting with body parts he collected from the cemetery. That is pretty dark. Once the monster is alive, it murders his youngest brother and the housekeeper is blamed. Victor is terrorized because he basically got two innocent people killed. I assume Romance will come a little later when marriage comes up more.
Victor develops his background living in Geneva and moving around with his family and expanding the family as well. They moved and expanded to adopting new members and developed a strong bond. s Victor’s family moved back to Geneva from Italy, he brought some insight into Elizabeth and her life with his family, as well as his passion for philosophy. As he grew more interested in the topic, he faced rejection in his choice and started to contemplate the differences between science and religion. Later, Victor would move to a new school called the University of Ingolstadt, but during that time, his mother had died from scarlet fever. To grieve, Victor focused on chemistry, natural science, and philosophy with his mentor M. Waldman. There were a lot of obstacles standing in his way and rejecting his interest in philosophy. Victor begins to pursue his interest in philosophy and natural science in the next two years, he contemplates reanimating the dead. He withdraws from his family while along the way. That night, Victor dreamed of his loved ones that turned into the dead. He felt proud but ashamed of the dead figure he had created to see reanimated. When he spent time trying to cope with how people would react to his creation, his friend Clerval came to see Victor with fear and distress in his eyes. Elizabeth wrote a letter to Victor on updates with their family. Everyone is happy, healthy, ad growing while Victor feels frightened of the reanimated dead figure he saw the night before. Victor gets a letter from his father as well. Victor’s younger brother, William has been murdered and the accused is his servant Justine. The family is saddened and wishes Justine is found innocent. However, on trial, Justine appears confused, shocked and mortified to the events led up to WIlliam’s death. She receives good word from Elizabeth but is found guilty and put to death, which leaves Victor feeling immensely guilty for causing the murder of his brother and Justine through his creation.
This lecture started with different stories that serve as precursor to science fiction. The first that was mentioned was Epic of Gilgamesh. King Gilgamesh goes in a journey seeking internal life to learn that long life is unattainable, but immortality in memory is. The most famous quote about Gilgamesh is âhe who saw the deep or the unknownâ. The second precursor to science fiction professor Ellis mentioned is Prometheus, the mythic figure who gave humanity the gift of fire. Then he talked about Ovid metamorphoses where we can find the elements of transformation, miracles, supreme power and interactions between Gods and humanity. Some other ancient stories discussed in the lecture are : Beowulf, Utopia, Shakespeareâs the tempest, New Atlantis and Gulliverâs travels . Through all these stories we noticed that science fiction precursors had elements of the fantastic and overtime they brought what came to be known as science today. The idea of science began during the period of Renaissance. Another important topic discussed was about the main points of the historical and cultural context for SF, including the enlightenment, the scientific revolution, the industrial revolution, romanticism, the Gothic.
Mary Shelleyâs Frankenstein is known as the modern Prometheus. This novel has a character who had to choose between alchemy and scientific method. His name was Victor Frankenstein. A man named Beaufort and Victorâs father were friends. Beaufort had a daughter, Caroline. Unfortunately, Beaufort passed away and and Victorâs dad decided to take care of Beaufort’s daughter. He and Caroline then got married. They adopted a girl named Elizabeth. Victor and Elizabeth became very close to each other. One day Caroline and Elizabeth got the scarlet fever. Caroline couldnât make it. She passed away, while Elizabeth recovered from the fever. At that time, Victor was studying science at the University of Ingolstadt. After two years of studying he realized that his residence at the university was no longer conductive at his studies. He thought he needed further independent research and the right place for that was the cemetery. He succeeded with his experiments on trying to bring life back, but the result was a scary monster. When Victor got a call from his father letting him know his youngest brother had been murdered, he realized that it was his creature who killed his brother and an innocent person, the housekeeper was accused of this crime. This story exports the morality of the human use of science and what effects that use might have on others.
Throughout from chapter 1-8 of Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, I have noticed the Frankenstein family was elegance. At first, Victorâs father was friend with a person named Beaufort who was worked as a merchant, Beaufort moved away with his daughter Caroline with only a small sum of money saved on him. Several months later Beaufort felt ill, and soon afterward he died in Carolineâs arm. Victorâs father decided to take care of Caroline after Beaufortâs passing, two years later they married. After Victor was born, Caroline mentioned she wanted a daughter while Victor was the only child in the family at that time. One day, Caroline took in and adopting a noble Milanese girl, her name was Elizabeth. Ever since Elizabeth came into the family, Victor and Elizabethâs relationship is getting closer and stronger together. During their childhood Victor and Elizabeth grew up with one of their friend Henry Clerval. When Elizabeth in her teenage time she caught a scarlet fever, soon later Elizabeth was recovered, but unfortunately Caroline got it as well while she was taking care of Elizabeth. Carolineâs last wish before she dies, she wishes Victor and Elizabeth to be together. Soon afterward, Victor depart to the University to do his studying of science. During Victorâs studying he has an ambition of wanting to do his own research and is an experiment to bringing a life back. In the end, his obsession of this experiment turned into nothing but a nightmare to mankind. The aftermath of his creation, Victor received a letter from his father saying that his younger brother William was murdered. The investigator of the murder case believe it was the maid Justineâs work, and soon after the maid of the family was found guilty and sentence to death even she wasnât the actual murder.
The highlights from week 2âs lecture, we went through multiple ancient stories. Started out with the precursor of SF, simply say is the origin of it. At first, we started with a story from Star Trek: The Next Generation, a character Gilgamesh (The king of Uruk) seeking eternal life after his friend Enkidu was killed by the god as a revenge for Gilgamesh. Thereâs a quote from a poem to describe Gilgamesh as âhe who saw the deep or âHe who sees the unknownâ. Moving on the next story is Prometheus, Prometheus is a myth from the history of Greek. He was a titan and gave humanity the gift of fire. In the ancient period, fire making can be consider as technology. Next, we moved on with Ovid Metamorphoses. This story was set in 8AD about the element transformation, miracles, and supreme powers between gods and mortals. There are few more other stories we went through such as, the famous Beowulf, Utopia, and Shakespeareâs the tempest. One last itâs the most iconic Gulliverâs travel. Throughout all of those stories, I have noticed that all of these fictional stories have evolving over the period of time. For example, the fantasy of the world and even with the imagination of the elements of the human living, and I would like to relate this with the concept of Brave New World. In the end, enlightenment, science revolution, industrial revolution, romanticism, and the gothic was the last we had went through, also along with Mary Shelleyâs Frankenstein.
The story (so far) is told to Captain Robert Walton by the mysterious man he and his crew stumbled upon on their expedition to the north pole. This mysterious man happens to be the main character Victor Frankenstein, and his story is being quoted to us through Robert Waltonâs letters to his sister.
Victor Frankensteinâs family seems to be very wealthy from his dadâs origin and previous work before retiring and marrying his late friendâs orphaned daughter Caroline Beaufort. Victor was their first child and they traveled across Europe with him during their early marriage and into Victorâs early years. They later adopted Elizabeth, a beautiful, orphaned girl from German descent who was living in poverty with a peasant family. Victor and Elizabeth quickly grew fond of each other and referred to each other as more than just siblings. They settled down in Geneva around the time Victor was seven. During his first days in school, he was not very social, but made one very close friend called Henry Clerval. Victorâs parents later had another two children, Ernest, and William Frankenstein. At the age of seventeen, his parents decide to send him to university in Ingolstadt. However, just before his departure Elizabeth catches the scarlet fever, and even though she survives, it ends up claiming his motherâs life. For next couple years in university, he becomes extremely attached to his research. Victor eventually experiments and succeeds at animating a corpse. Feared by his creation, he runs and meets his friend Henry who finally convinced his father to let him go to university too. Due to the trauma, Victor falls ill for a whole winter and decides to go back home. Around the same time, he receives word that his youngest brother was murdered, prompting Victor to rush back home. During the night of his arrival, he visits the site where his brotherâs body was found, spots the creature he created, and concludes the monster murdered his brother, therefore making Victor directly responsible. After getting home, he finds out that the family maid Justine, who both he himself and Elizabeth are very close to, has been framed as the culprit of his brotherâs death. Unable to place the blame on a monster in fear of being labeled as insane, Justine is executed, throwing Victor deeper in despair as he now sees himself as responsible for two of his family members.
The story (so far) is told to Captain Robert Walton by the mysterious man he and his crew stumbled upon on their expedition to the north pole. This mysterious man happens to be the main character Victor Frankenstein, and his story is being quoted to us through Robert Waltonâs letters to his sister.
Victor Frankensteinâs family seems to be very wealthy from his dadâs origin and previous work before retiring and marrying his late friendâs orphaned daughter Caroline Beaufort. Victor was their first child and they traveled across Europe with him during their early marriage and into Victorâs early years. They later adopted Elizabeth, a beautiful, orphaned girl from German descent who was living in poverty with a peasant family. Victor and Elizabeth quickly grew fond of each other and referred to each other as more than just siblings. They settled down in Geneva around the time Victor was seven. During his first days in school, he was not very social, but made one very close friend called Henry Clerval. Victorâs parents later had another two children, Ernest, and William Frankenstein. At the age of seventeen, his parents decide to send him to university in Ingolstadt. However, just before his departure Elizabeth catches the scarlet fever, and even though she survives, it ends up claiming his motherâs life. For next couple years in university, he becomes extremely attached to his research. Victor eventually experiments and succeeds at animating a corpse. Feared by his creation, he runs and meets his friend Henry who finally convinced his father to let him go to university too. Due to the trauma, Victor falls ill for a whole winter and decides to go back home. Around the same time, he receives word that his youngest brother was murdered, prompting Victor to rush back home. During the night of his arrival, he visits the site where his brotherâs body was found, spots the creature he created, and concludes the monster murdered his brother, therefore making Victor directly responsible. After getting home, he finds out that the family maid Justine, who both he himself and Elizabeth are very close to, has been framed as the culprit of his brotherâs death. Unable to place the blame on a monster in fear of being labeled as insane, Justine is executed, throwing Victor deeper in despair as he now sees himself as responsible for two of his family members.
This week’s lecture highlights stories that would later develop what is science fiction. Stories like Gilgamesh, A king who goes on a journey seeking eternal life after his friend was killed by the gods. Gilgamesh is described as âHe who sees the unknownâ. Lucianâs True History has elements of travel to outer space and alien life. Lucianâs story has some of the core tenets of what science fiction is thought of today. Thomas Moreâs Utopia. Utopia is either a good place or no place. More wanted ambiguity in the word. Utopia is a land that is rational, communistic, and planned. Other stories from the lecture were Prometheus, Ovid Metamorphoses, Beowulf, Johannes Keplerâs Somnium, and many more. In the second part of the lecture we went through the historical and cultural context of SF. The main points were the enlightenment, scientific revolution, industrial revolution, romanticism, and gothic. Enlightenment also known as the age of reason. And itâs thought as an illuminated present contrasted with a dark past. The light comes from logic/reason. The scientific revolution began with copernicus. The idea of scientific revolution was that the universe is knowable to humans. Some key figures were Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and Descartes. The industrial revolution showed the advancements of agriculture. Romanticism is a rebellion. In the lecture Prof. Ellis gave the characteristics of this movement, The Five Iâs, Imagination, Intuition, Idealism, Inspiration, and Individuality. And the last cultural context is gothic. Gothic is connected to Romanticism but itâs a darker vision of humanity’s relationship to nature. Mary Shelleyâs Frankenstein starts off with the friendship of victorâs father and Beaufort. They had a close friendship. When Beaufort died, Victor’s father became a protecting spirit to his daughter Caroline. Years later, they got married and had Victor. Then they adopted Elizabeth. The reading describes her as an âinmate of my parentâs houseâ.
But Elizabeth was very loved by everyone. During Victorâs teen he became a student at the university of Ingolstadt while dealing with the loss of his mother. Victor will later leave the university and study more on his own, thus the creation of the creature.
Mary Shelleyâs Frankenstein, has tied tragedy, joy, and science fiction all into one novel thus far. At first the so-called ânarratorâ, whom we later find out to be Victor, tells a story about how his mother lived an unfortunate life, derailed by poverty and the death of her father, making her an orphan. As the story continued, Victor points out that his father, Alphonse, a very good friend of Carolineâs father, saved her from poverty. The story then continues by stating that Caroline and Alphonse get married, move to Italy where Victor was conceived, and Alphonse retired from his business. Elizabeth, an orphan, becomes introduced to us, as the family takes her in. Throughout both Victorâs childhood, him and Elizabeth grew bonds and ultimately ended up becoming close friends. As the novel continues, Victor begins to age and enter his teens. It is important to note about Victorâs âangerâ. He quotes âMy temper was sometimes violentâ ( Shelley 1818). This can be seen as a foreshadowing event. During his teens it is also important to note how Victor becomes fascinated by nature and how the world works. This passion for nature led Victor to go to college at the age of 17 leaving behind his family. In college, Victor finds a growing passion for human life, specifically how life is created and how it dies. Back at home, Victor’s mother, Craoline dies due to disease. Victor and his family grew further apart, to the point where he was independent and lived a life mostly in isolation. After the death of his mother, Victor became more motivated to learn about anatomical structures that lead him to wanting to create his own creature. One evening, Victor succeeded at generating life based on his theories and knowledge. Little to his knowledge, he didnt realize that he worked to create a monster that was eager to cause destruction and murder. Elizabeth, concerned for Victor, writes letters displaying her care for his well being. As the story continues, a childhood friend of Victorâs, William, was murdered back at home. Startled and upset by his death, Victor returns home to grieve but finds out through evidence that the murderer was the creature he had created himself.
When reading the beginning of Frankenstein a few things stuck with me. Firstly, the way Elizabeth was described when she was first introduced. She was described as almost Angel or God like even as a young child, âface so expressive of sensibility and sweetness, that none could behold her without looking on her as of a distinct species, a being heaven-sent, and bearing a celestial stamp in all her features.â (Shelley 420) I thought this was interesting because Elizabeth was depicted as far removed from the other humans around her and she seems as if she were made just for Victorâs benefit. Even when describing his childhood to the narrator in chapter 2 he talks about how Elizabeth acted, like a prop that enabled him to be a better version of himself. How Clerval probably would not have turned out the way he did âhad she not unfolded to him the real loveliness of beneficence, and made the doing good the end and aim of his soaring ambition.â (Shelley 474) Elizabeth was portrayed as an object whose sole purpose was to serve Victor and other characters in the story. Another thing that stood out to me was that Victor from a young age was drawn to the nature of humanity and was determined to discover the secrets of life and death. I think this is important because it laid the groundwork for the rest of the novel, it in a way explained why Frankenstein felt compelled to create the monster and why he went about doing it that way. This lifelong curiosity coupled with him sitting in on a chemistry lecture from professor M. Waldman was more than enough to cement Victorâs fate. âThus, ended a day memorable to me: it decided my future destiny.â (Shelley 649) Finally, I think it is important to point out how far Frankenstein went to create the monster. He neglected his social life and his health to a critical point. In somber and poetic way he was slowly dying, all in an effort to breathe life into his own creation. âI seem to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit.â (Shelley 717)
P.S. Professor I read these chapters on the kindle app on my phone, so that is why the page numbers are so high.
We learned many precursors to SF in our second class. The most noticeable one for me was Gulliverâs Travels by Jonathan Swift. I did not realize its connection to SF until it was mentioned in our class. I am still curious, though. Why are they considered the precursors? What qualifies, for example, Gulliverâs Travels? I thought it is a fantasy novel. We learned the difference between fantasy fiction and science fiction in our first lesson. Our second class, on the other hand, made me think about the connection/similarity between the two.
A big part of our second class focused on the five historical and culture contexts that could help us understand the development of SF. They are the enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, Romanticism, and the Gothic. The Enlightenment is all about reason; we can use reason, logic, and rationality to make sense of a world thatâs otherwise dark. The Scientific Revolution teaches us that we can challenge assumptions and beliefs, and the Universe is knowable to human beings. Romanticism favors imagination, power of the human mind, and our spontaneous emotional responses to what we experience. The Gothic, to my surprise, is also included. We learned that the Gothic is a dark vision of humanityâs relationship to nature. It includes five characteristics: the setting is old and isolated; there are supernatural elements; there are often secrets that drive the story; there are boundary crosses between mundane world and supernatural setting; and there is emotional content involving suspense, horror foreboding and terror. After this class, I start to notice the Gothic elements in SF like Frankenstein. It makes me wonder do all SF have Gothic characteristics?
Victor Frankenstein is born in a small town into a small world: his father, his cousin Elizabeth (adopted), and his good friend Henry Clerval. He possesses the qualities of an alchemist, a hermeticist; and a curiosity for science paralleled by his influences Paracelsus or Cornelius Agrippa. He was a theologist and a brilliant scientist.
After further research, I found Cornelius Agrippa was speculated to be an early influence on one of German artist DĂŒrer âMeistersticheâ printsâ âMelencolia Iâ. It depicts the personification of melancholy, a winged female in deep contemplation, surrounded by tools that point to alchemy and studies of natural philosophy. I believe the print reflects Frankenstein himself. Erwin Panofsky, in his book âAlbrecht Durer, Volume 1â, writes that the print describes “[the] life of the secular genius in the rational and imaginative worlds of science and art”. I believe the âMeistersticheâ prints go further and highlight Elizabeth and Henry. Friedrich Lippman classifies the virtues of the three master prints as the moral, the theological, and the intellectual. Panofsky writes âThe Knight [shows] âthe life of the Christian in the practical world of decision and actionâ [and] St.Jerome [shows] âthe life of the Saint in the spiritual world of sacred contemplationââ. I would argue âThe Knightâ portrays Henry Clerval and âSt. Jeromeâ portrays Elizabeth. I would further argue that Victor Frankenstein could not exist without Elizabeth and Henry Clerval and they are all somehow an attachment of him, something I would like to explore in further writing.
As alchemists and science fiction writers contemplate time travel, Mary Shelley uses this to her literary advantage. The beginning of âFrankensteinâ is so crucial because it is told from the past tense until âthe incidentâ. She (or he) transports us to âthe incidentâ after beginning from Frankensteinâs pre-birth. So begins the science fiction and the descent into madness, two ideas I would like to further explore as well.
Frankenstein begins with a series of letters addressed to Mrs. Saville or Robert Waltonâs sister. Robert is an explorer who is excited about discovering new things despite the dangers that are involved with travelling to the North Pole. During his time at the North Pole, Walton and the crew of the ship come across a sledge and a gigantic man on top of it and the same thing happens the next day though the person they encounter this time is different as he seems to be in poor condition. He is taken aboard the ship and later on we realize that it was Victor Frankenstein. As he forms a friendship with Walton, Frankenstein begins to narrate several events in his life, from his family, to Elizabethâs adoption and to his obsession with alchemy. His obsession is one of the highlights from these first few chapter, as later on it would lead to the creation of the Creature. He realized however that he has made a mistake as the mere image of his creation horrifies him. Victor goes on to talk about his friend Henry Clerval, whom he met after leaving his apartment to get away from the Creature. He falls ill during this time and Henry Clerval helps him recover and also brings news from his family and specifically Elizabeth. Eventually, Frankenstein decides to return to Geneva after hearing from his father about his brotherâs murder and soon realizes that it was the Creature who was responsible for Williamâs death. However, the person accused for murder is Justine Moritz, a girl that used to live with the family, and ends up being executed for the crime. Frankenstein, who is aware of Justineâs innocence, becomes consumed with guilt at not being able to stop the execution from happening.
In ancient times, the concept of science fiction was not invented neither Science. Then, the precursors of science fiction were Prometheus who was dared to give to humanity the fire (Arts and Science). Then, Wiglaf, Thomas more with Utopia, The Nibelungenlied, and so on. Furthermore, the historical and cultural context for science fiction are the enlightenment, the scientific revolution, the industrial revolution, the romanticism, the gothic.
Consequently, in the story Frankenstein by Marry Shelley. The captain Walton writes letters to his sister Margaret telling her what is happening with his life that he would like to find someone in his journey who can understand him and could have very well conversation. Then, he explains her that he saw a big silhouette near his ship and the next day meet Victor Frankenstein with who he had a very good chemistry and tell him his story. At the beginning, Victor Frankenstein relates to Walton a big of his background how his parents met and two years later they got marry and soon after that was born Victor. Then, his mother met Elizabeth while his ,other was visiting a poor Family, she adopted her and took her home and she told that Elizabeth would marry Victor in the future.
Later, Victor started to study chemistry and natural philosophy and at the age of 17 went to study to Geneva for getting about friends and family to pay more attention to his studies because his dream to create a human being and even create a new race. He constructed a creature that produce to victor fear and later the creature take the life of Victor Frankensteinâs brother and blaming Judice and paying her sentence with her life. Later on, Victor meet the creature and the creature start to relates his story and ask to Victor create him a female companion and if Victor create her to him he would disappear with her and nobody would never know about them.
In the second week of class, we were given a brief look at some examples of SF such as Gilgamesh or Promethius. The works we looked at contained elements of SF such as dragons or Titans like the one from Promethius that is said to have given fire to humanity. We also looked at historical and cultural context for SF like the five Iâs from the Romanticism time period. The fire Iâs are Imagination, Intuition, Idealism, Inspiration and individuality. Other movements such as the scientific revolution or the enlightenment are important for the development of SF. Kepler was a firm believer in the heliocentric model of our solar system and he wrote a book or allegory that was secretly trying to reveal to others that the solar system is heliocentric opposed to geocentric. The scientific revolution revolves around questioning everything that was believed to be true. The enlightenment is where people began the be skeptical of everything. Frankenstein written by Marry Shelly is argued to be one of the first works of SF of all time. Frankenstein by marry shelly tells the story of a scientist named Victor who gives life to something previously inanimate. Victor was interested in science and attended the university of Ingolstadt where he worked under professor M. Victor who became extremely focused on his school work excelled among his classmates and attracted attention from those around him. Victor then contemplating retiring home descried to try and bring a creation to life. Accruing limbs from a moorage he attempts 7 times before finally finding success.
The lecture for week two started with lots of stories that surrounded its focus on science fiction and its importance. The first story stated was the Epic of Gilgamesh in the years 2150-2000 BC. Gilgamesh was a king who goes on an adventure after his friend Enkidu is killed by the Gods he learns on his journey of seeking internal life that long life is unattainable, but immortality in memory is. Gilgamesh then quotes âhe who saw the deepâ or âhe who sees the unknownâ provokes something important thatâs science-fictional. The second story professor Ellis introduce to the class was a greek mythology Prometheus. He was a titan who gave humanity the gift of fire. Then we go into Ovid Metamorphoses where we find the elements of transformation, miracles, superpowers, and the interconnections between Gods and mortals. Then we go into details about other science-fictional stories like Lucianâs true history, Beowulf, Nibelungenlied, Utopia, Heliocentric, Shakespeareâs The Tempest, and the list goes on. The ancient story that grabbed my attention was the Johannes Kepler Samnium story. During the time 1610 people were influenced by religious views and never saw the world from a different point of view. Kepler s a German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer. Gave people another way to look at the world called heliocentric. Which is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the center of the Solar System. This idea during the renaissance was forbidden and never thought true. But Kepler wanted people to see his scientific ways through science fiction storytelling. This is why science fiction was a major aspect of life during those periods because it brought us to where we are today and our advanced knowledge of science today.
The reading for this week was a story by Mary Shelley called Frankenstein. She tells a story about a scientist called Victor who succeeds in giving life to a being of his own creation
Victor became a student at the University of Ingolstadt. Victor meets his professors M. Krempe and M. Waldman. For two years, Victor becomes very involved with his studies, even impressing his teachers and fellow students. He devises a plan to re-create and reanimate a dead body. He uses a combination of chemistry, alchemy, and electricity to make his ambition a reality. After trying plenty of times he finally created the monster.
This weekâs lecture is the opening to Science Fiction (SF) and the 5 different themes of it such as Enlightment, Scientific revolution, Industrial revolution, Romanticism and Gothic. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelleyâs Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus demonstrates different themes of SF but the Gothic theme of SF stands out the most. The setting is old, thereâs secrets such as Victor creating Frankenstein, he does so in the privacy of his home where no one is able to see what heâs doing and thereâs boundaries crossed in Victor powers creating Frankenstein, Frankenstein killing people and Victorâs lack of thinking regarding the consequences of Frankenstein being brought to life and how it would affect himself and others. Frankenstein is also considered as one of the 1st examples of SF. Victor and Frankenstein share similarities to Prospero and Caliban mentioned in the lecture such as using their powers to their advantage without considering the consequences of their actions. Victor and Prospero both own and treat âtheir personâ badly without any regard to what they may cause the other person to do. Frankenstein and Caliban both try to get their owners to listen to them but it fails. Victor and Gilgamesh from the lecture also share similarities in their quest for more. Victor pursues scientific knowledge and pushing his knowledge to the experimentation of Frankenstein and Gilgamesh goes on a pursuit of eternal life. Victors desire for more though leads to destruction caused by Frankenstein whereas Gilgamesh comes to realization that you can only be immortal in memory.