简介
From the vast cultural upheavals that came with the FrenchRevolution arose Mary Shelley's famous novel Frankenstein;or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). Frankenstein is the taleof a doctor who brings to life a hideous "Creature" endowed with both intelligence and sensitivity - but driven to evil by lack of human compassion. The novel promotes the highest ideal of Romanticism: the potential for human goodness to thrive unfettered by law. Yet, like the Victorian thought already creeping into Shelley's England, Frankenstein also asks whether we can truly live by that ideal.
As Mary Lowe-Evans observes in this unique and exciting new historicist reading of the novel, nothing so clearly reveals Frankenstein's ambivalent position between Romantic liberte and Victorian limitations as its treatment of conventional marriage. The value of marriage,she tells us, was hotly contested by men and women of the early nineteenth century, including Mary Shelley. Lowe-Evans offers rich biographical background for Shelley's reflections on the institution, particularly the legacy ofher father, philosopher William Godwin, who peaked the Romantics' scorn for marriage with his infamous treatise Political Justice. Shelley, Lowe-Evans explains, behaved according to Godwin's stated principles: as an intellectual, creative woman who loved and lived with poetPercy Bysshe Shelley while he was still married - but she also suffered for the choices she made.
Who better, Lowe-Evans makes brilliantly clear, to write this novel of conflict between Romantic ideals and the restrictions of the real world? Bringing us from the genesis of the Creature - who represents the democratic principles of the Revolution - through his series of horrific murders - his Reign of Terror - Lowe-Evans illuminates Shelley's acknowledgment of the end of Romanticism. The image of housewife Margaret Saville, the problematic union of Safie and Felix, the longings of the ship's captain, the tragic outcome of Dr. Frankenstein's wedding to Elizabeth - all tie elegantly into Shelley's era, her life, and her ultimate belief in conventional marriage. Lowe-Evans elucidates that fascinating tie for the first time.
目录
Note on the References and Acknowledgments
Preface
Chronology: Mary Shelley's Life and Works
Literary and Historical Context
Growing Pains p. 3
A Perennially Modern Myth p. 9
Critical Reception p. 13
A Reading
Wedding Guests/Wedding Ghosts p. 21
The Civil Servant p. 30
Minor Rites p. 41
Unbridled Affections p. 52
"The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" p. 61
The Groomsmen p. 73
Notes and References p. 83
Bibliography p. 87
Index p. 93
Preface
Chronology: Mary Shelley's Life and Works
Literary and Historical Context
Growing Pains p. 3
A Perennially Modern Myth p. 9
Critical Reception p. 13
A Reading
Wedding Guests/Wedding Ghosts p. 21
The Civil Servant p. 30
Minor Rites p. 41
Unbridled Affections p. 52
"The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" p. 61
The Groomsmen p. 73
Notes and References p. 83
Bibliography p. 87
Index p. 93
光盘服务联系方式: 020-38250260 客服QQ:4006604884
云图客服:
用户发送的提问,这种方式就需要有位在线客服来回答用户的问题,这种 就属于对话式的,问题是这种提问是否需要用户登录才能提问
Video Player
×
Audio Player
×
pdf Player
×