The aim of the session was to encourage students to view Shelley's Frankenstein as a novel that explores issues of CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. Class discussion considered the nature of Victor's CRIME and students explored the idea that Victor is punished for challenging the accepted boundaries between Man and God. Victor, like Prometheus, challenges the authority of divine power and is punished for this sin. It could be argued that Victor suffers a form of HELL ON EARTH after creating the CATASTROPHE as he seems to endure a distorted version of his own life within which his mental and physical health is shattered. Students linked this to the gothic genre through the theme of BOUNDARIES. Victor fails to accept the limitations of being human and fractures the boundary between Man and God. This reading of the book views the text as a Christian fable that warns the world of Science against challenging the authority of God.
This discussion evolved into a consideration of the themes of Knowledge and Ambition and how Shelley views Victor's quest for knowledge. The class discussion was superb. Cheers folks.
The final section of this jazz opera involved students being asked to consider the meaning that Shelley attaches to the natural world and how Victor reacts when confronted with the sublime power of the natural world. Again, discussion was intelligent and informed despite a reference to Emmerdale and students being offered an odd and imaginative narrative involving a bloke dressed as a Unicorn shouting at the sea from the tip of Filey Brigg!! A good lesson.
Homework: Next lesson we need to explore how Shelley uses the natural world before she introduces the creature's narrative in Chapter Eleven. Students need to arrive armed with a series of relevant quotes and prepared to offer readings relating to Shelley's use of the natural world.
Students also need to arrive armed with three key quotes from the first FIVE chapters along with an explanation of why these quotes are so important.
Students should continue to digest the range of Shelley related resources available via this blog. The Channel Four documentary is a 'must see'. This blog is packed with resources that will help students develop a more sophisticated understanding of this complex philosophical novel. Students need to be engaging with the resources posted to BE CURIOUS. USE THIS DIGITAL RESOURCE.
LOTS TO DO GOOD PEOPLE.
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