Help Please !! - Frankenstein (1 Viewer)

[l.a.u.r.e.n]

you will be presenting a 5 minute speech discussing the following question:
"The meaning of literature reflects the political, social and cultural values of the day in which it is set, in which it is written, and it which it is read."
Explain how the historical, cultural, and social contexts in which frankenstein is set, was written and is read affect the creation of the text and our understanding of it.

That is my question and i have no idea what is means. Would anyone be able to help or have any info that could help me answer it. Wb asap.
Thanks

 

[Telekinetik]

Well the whole idea of the preliminary course is that concept of "texts, values and their context" -- so you have to link texts with their context, and explore the values reflected from that context in the text.
I hope that makes sense; so you're talking about the values of Frankenstein, and to what extent Shelley has been influenced by her context -- like, at the time, science was a relatively new concept and Religion was the omnipotent force, and Frankenstein explores that idea of untapped power in science, and contrasts it with God's power, what Frankenstein is doing is "going against nature". =]

 

[Serenade...]

Hey is this for yr 12 'individual and society'-I studied Frankenstein as a related text and had to show how it relates to the 19th century paradigms. Paradigms are: social, economic, philosphical, religious and political. During the 19th century, science was seen as something benefical to all mankind, but Shelley goes against this. She also supports the philosophy of Jean-Jaques Rousseau that is, man is naturally good, a “noble savage”, but corrupted by society.

 

[ccc123]

Hey is this for yr 12 'individual and society'-I studied Frankenstein as a related text and had to show how it relates to the 19th century paradigms. Paradigms are: social, economic, philosphical, religious and political. During the 19th century, science was seen as something benefical to all mankind, but Shelley goes against this. She also supports the philosophy of Jean-Jaques Rousseau that is, man is naturally good, a “noble savage”, but corrupted by society.

Wouldn't agree with this. Shelley was certainly not the only one who expressed concern at the rapid scientific and technological advancement, and the transgressive science portrayed in Frankenstein was something that engendered apprehension for numerous facets of 19th century civilisation.

Consider the irreconcilable conflict between the course of science, and religious institutions- there was very much so a belief that science was denigrating the role of both God and the natural world in society. the Wilberforce-Huxley debate is evidence of this conflict between the two institutions.

The rampant scientific and industrial development also catalysed the Romantic Movement and their ideologies, which find their apotheosis in teh works of Keats, Worsdworth and Coleridge. Shelley actually intersperses various Romantic works throughout Frankenstein, and this, in conjenction with the emphasis on the omnipotence of nature, makes Frankenstein a work that embodies the contemporary paradigms and concerns, paricularly regarding the relationship between science, nature and humanity (pantheistic ideals.)