The Real Frankenstein
An immense amount has been written on the background to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein with thousands of academic books, critical essays, biographies and scientific commentaries exploring different aspects of the novel. Laura Silverman’s study confidently enters this crowded field examining the personal, scientific, philosophical and political influences that may have influenced Mary’s thinking.
Silverman inevitably often treads familiar ground. Starting with information about the novel’s publication history, including its early reception and its different editions, Silverman then moves into a short biography of Mary’s life up to 1818. Key aspects are highlighted: the loss of Mary’s mother and the lack of a nurturing female figure in her life; her stay in Dundee and the exotic ships that came into the port from Russia and the Baltic; Mary’s complex relationship with Percy Shelley and the loss of their first child; and their travels in the sublime landscapes of Germany and Switzerland. All rich material for a budding novelist.
The second half focuses more specifically on the scientific developments of that time. We meet Humphry Davy, Erasmus Darwin, William Lawrence, Benjamin Franklin, Giovanni Aldini and Luigi Galvani, all of whom were contributing to exciting new ways of thinking about our material existence. However, in this climate of optimism, Mary, ahead of her time, gives us pause to consider the human impact of this thinking. While hundreds queued to hear lectures by Davy or Darwin, Mary’s prescience is astonishing – particularly for a young girl of nineteen.
None of this is particularly original, but Silverman’s strength is in providing a useful, accessible summary for a student or general reader exploring Frankenstein for the first time. It is firmly based on context, but links to the text itself are always interesting and Silverman has produced an engaging and readable introduction to an exceptional moment in history and the extraordinary work that emerged from it.
