7 Literature 46 What9s a monster? The writer : Mary Shelley (17971851) was an English novelist who gained fame for her Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (1818). Her parents were the philosopher William Godwin and women9s rights defender Mary Wollstonecraft. At the age of 17, Mary eloped with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. In 1815, while spending a summer holiday on Lake Geneva, Mary started writing her novel inspired by a dream. The story : The narrative starts in the North Pole where an English explorer, Robert Walton, takes aboard his ship a wounded man, Victor Frankenstein, who tells Walton about himself. He was a Swiss scientist who became obsessed with the thought of creating life. He finally achieved his goal by means of a mysterious <spark of being= which he used to bring back to life the parts of some corpses he had put together. The result of his experiment, however, was so repulsive that Victor rejected his own creature and abandoned him. This caused the creature9s rage , who took revenge on his creator by murdering many of his beloved friends and family. The story ends with the death of Frankenstein on Walton9s ship and the disappearance of his creature into the ice of the North Pole. glossary to abhor: detestare accursed: maledetto alluring: seducente, affascinante to bear: sopportare to defy: sfidare to elope: fuggire insieme 52 Topic 2 " CULTURE fellow: compagno filthy: turpe, brutto hideous: orribile, detestabile liver: fegato rage: rabbia spark: scintilla wounded: ferito 1 READING WRITING Read the extract from the original text and answer the questions. 1 Who is the creature addressing his speech to? 2 What is he complaining about? 3 In what way is Adam9s condition different from his? 4 In what way is Satan9s condition different? 2 SPEAKING CIVIC EDUCATION GROUP WORK When people hear the name <Frankenstein= they usually associate it with the <monster= of the story and not his creator. Do you think Victor Frankenstein has the characteristics of a <monster=? Is Frankenstein9s creature a monster or a victim? Answer the questions by finding three ideas to support your thesis. An extract : In this passage Frankenstein9s creature shows all his anger against his creator Victor Frankenstein for having played God by making him into a monstruous version of man. 8Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring , after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow devils, to admire and encourage him, but I am solitary and abhorred .9 Prometheus In Greek mythology Prometheus was one of the Titans who dared defy the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity. He was then punished by Zeus: he was chained to a rock and every day an eagle came and ate part of his liver . Each night his liver would grow again, so that Prometheus had to bear his punishment eternally.