Historical Context of Frankenstein

Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley in Switzerland and in London in 1817 and 1818 and many elements of the novel are linked with this time-period.

 

The years surrounding Shelley’s publication were highly productive in terms of scientific discoveries and experiments. This primarily entails the development of the stethoscope, the locomotive, and the steamboat. Additionally, discoveries concerning medicine, science, and astronomy also influenced Shelley in her writings. The aforementioned discoveries and researches were highly supported and gave a sense of glory, similarly to what Frankenstein desired to achieve through the experiments conducted on the human body. At that time, people were astonished by the abundance in scientific breakthroughs, thus the creation of a monster, like the creature presented in the novel, certainly affected them greatly as anything seemed possible. Furthermore, Robert Walton’s expedition to the North is another example concerning the hunger for exploration commonly observed during this time period.

 

Also, during the 19th century, Darwin began presenting his ‘’theory of the evolution’’ and religion was becoming less popular. Arguably, Frankenstein’s creature follows this line of thought as it was created scientifically and not by God.

 

To top it off, the political division of Europe was slightly different during this time period, resulting in the continent often being unsettled by wars. Other elements like capital punishment, such as the death of Justine Moritz, the family relations, and the means of transportation were also obviously quite different from today’s.  

 

Rosabel Désaulniers

 

Work used: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1810s