Month: September 2023 (Page 3 of 3)

O’Hara 2QSQ 9:18:23

1.) “If a good seed falls into a man, it grows from him, since this man is its field, his heart is its tree, and his works are its fruits. Cannot a field that bears weeds be weeded and cleaned of this bad fruit, so that another, good seed can be planted in it…Every man is like a field, neither entirely good nor entirely bad, but of an uncertain kind…If a good seed falls into the field, and the soil receives it, it grows to be good. If a bad seed falls into the field and is received, it grows to be bad. Therefore it is not the soil of the field that decides the matter; it is neither good nor bad. It is like a body of water, coloured by the colours that falls on the water”(206).

Paracelsus, Writings on creation(1531-1538)

2.) “Evil thenceforth became my good. Urged thus far, I had no choice but to adapt my nature to an element which I had willingly chosen. The completion of my demoniacal design became an insatiable passion. And now it is ended; there is my last victim!”(186).

SYNTHESIZING COMMENT/ANALYSIS:

The first quote I chose is from Part II of our book “Frankenstein in Cultural Context,” under the selected excerpt from Paracelsus, Writings on Creation, which follows up on a novel by Wollstonecraft alluding to the importance of parenting, especially a mother figure, but also this idea that an individual is shaped by the evils that surround them in society and without guidance or love, evil penetrates. While Victor is considered the ‘parent’ of his Creature, Wollstonecraft, in her novel Maria and this excerpt from Paracelsus, both would point to that being one of the errors of Victor’s obsession with playing God. It was not considered natural for this type of creation, more in this era than perhaps today, where we adhere to less rigid definitions of parents. Still, I want to focus on the idea that these two passages highlight, which is the innate goodness of humankind that is just waiting to be received and cultivated. Adhering to some of the major themes explored in Frankenstein — compassion, connection/friendship, and perhaps family — showcases what disastrous and monstrous turns can arise. Frankenstein’s Creature has recognized and is capable of inner reflection of his past good self and the outside forces that pulled him down to where he even makes the connection that “the fallen angel becomes a malignant devil”(187). Like the field in the first source, the monster was this blank slate, awaiting the good seed that would then cultivate his goodness, yet all that awaited him was neglect, horror, and evil wrongdoings.

QUESTION:

Knowing that Victor has recounted in the early phases of his life the impeccable goodness and kindness of his parents, I wonder if we could bring this aspect of family and harmony with the rest of the world into play. Victor had the best of “good seeds” that shaped him into a genuinely good person. Yet, his mother’s death seems to play a role in his fall into the obsession/madness that resulted in his creation and disregard for the natural harmony between humans and nature. In other novels, such as the cultural context from Wollstonecraft’s novel and Paracelsus, the loneliness and neglect of his monster might be represented in a child growing up in abusive settings that make a point of their aptitude for later evil lifestyles. However, Shelley’s choice of a monster brings out a very different response as we get into ideas Cohen raised, such as the uncomfortable and suspense of not knowing how to feel about this uncategorizable figure.

PART 2: IN-CLASS WRITING RESPONSE (NAME:__________________)

Novel I. Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley (1818)

• From the Novel:

“There is something at work within my soul, which I do not understand. I am practically industrious – pains-taking; – a workman to execute with perseverance and labour: but besides this, there is a love for the marvelous …”(Shelley 32)

Shelley, mary, and Johanna M. Smith. Frankenstein. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000.

• Critical Commentary:

“To conclude his essay, Smith returns to the subject of his first paragraph, namely, that the high respected critics who do not take a postcolonial apparoch, whose work does not foreground the issue of race and slavery…Smith maintains that “there is no evidence of such deeper dives in Frankenstein.” Although Frankenstein is responsible for the actions of his Creature, just as a slave-holder would be held responsible for the actions of his slaves”(p. 565)

Shelley, mary, and Johanna M. Smith. Frankenstein. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000.

• Historical Context:

“Treat a person ill, and he wil become wicked…It is impossible to read this dialogue – and indeed many other situations of a somewhat similar character – without feeling the heart suspend its palpitations with wonder, and the tears stream down the cheeks! – Athenaum Magazine, 1832

Shelley, Percy Bysshe. “ON FRANKENSTEIN; OR, THE MODERN PROMETHEUS.” University of Pennsylvania , knarf.english.upenn.edu/PShelley/frankrev.html. Accessed 6 Dec. 2023.

• Visual:

O’Hara 2QSQ #2 – 9:11:23

PART 1: PREPARING FOR DISCUSSION

SOURCE IDEAS:

“Perhaps this is one of the reasons why, unlike the monsters of classical antiquity, Frankenstein’s persecution of his monster is no entry ticket for him to the heroic status, but rather forces the reader to ask which of the two is the greatest monster: is it Frankenstein for rejecting and wanting to destroy his “child,” no matter how ugly he is, or is it the monster for turning against the “parent” who gave him life, no matter how badly he treats him?”(240-241).

“So whilst Jeckyll’s inner evil is presented as a fundamental part of the human condition, Wilde comes closer to Shelley’s presentation of human nature as turning monstrous due to the effects of the outside world upon the individual” (251).

SYNTHESIZING COMMENT/ANALYSIS:

I find that these two passages connect on a very prominent theme when I think of contemporary monsters where, in some cases, we as readers or an audience want to take the side of the monster — or to speak to well-known situations, the “bad guy.” I think both of these passages draw at the point that we are getting a backstory and a narrative from the monster that other characters in the story aren’t. For instance, Victor isn’t hearing all we do from his monster — that emotion and longing for human connection and acceptance turning bitter and violet; he sees the effects while we understand the human pain associated. With Wilde, it is more this idea that we can see the societal shifts and understand the seemingly unavoidable nature of corruption, but again, we can see the workings of Dorian’s mind and the subtle encroachments that others in his society cannot. This brings to mind the point Cohen makes in his last thesis, “The Monster Stands at the Threshold of Becoming,” where he alleges, “They bring not just a fuller knowledge of our place in history and the history of knowing our place, but they bear self-knowledge, human-knowledge — and a discourse all the more sacred as it arises from the Outside”(Cohen 20). As with Six and Thompson’s excerpts, this uncomfortableness spurs from being forced as audiences to examine not just the monster but why we feel bad for them – thus, acknowledging this connection to the ‘we’ who created them, pushing them to become representatives of the other and outsider.

QUESTION:

How does this idea Cohen raises that monsters ask us why we have created them maybe lead into a discussion of how constructed our social conventions are, in the Victorian age and now. Suppose we accept the argument that monsters in the Victorian period hit on cultural anxieties and social norms. In that case, it might be interesting to question what it means that monsters in contemporary works bear less of a physical embodiment of a monster that we see in Frankenstein’s monster or Victor Hugo’s Quasimodo and more of the internal characteristics and perspectives. What could this physicality have gained to the themes and messages of monster culture in the 19th century that we don’t adhere to as much today? Would we call what would have been a monster a villain today?

PART 2: IN-CLASS WRITING RESPONSE (NAME:__________________)