Page 88
How much of who we are is shaped by those around us?
What happens when our identity depends on someone else??
Where are the girls and the women in classic literature? Why might a retelling like this, where the perspective is shifted to the female’s voice, be important to study alongside the original story?
BIG ESSAY
What is the danger of a single story?
EXTENDED THINKING
Two hundred years later, the story of Frankenstein still resonates in modern culture. In fact, Science magazine’s “The Horror Story That Haunts Science” notes that “Scientific literature, like the popular press, is rife with references to Frankenfood, Frankencells, Frankenlaws, Frankenswine, and Frankendrugs—most of them supposedly monstrous creations” (Cohen). What is it about Frankenstein that keeps it relevant?
The original story of Frankenstein has the subtitle “Or, the Modern Prometheus,” which lends itself to “the idea that mad scientists playing God the creator will cause the entire human species to suffer eternal punishment for their trespasses and hubris” (Cohen). Given the experience of Elizabeth Lavenza in The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein, is the same subtitle applicable to this story?
Frankenstein is “a story of scientific hubris, a creator consumed by his creation, a male scientist trying to eliminate women’s role in reproduction” (Kupferschmidt, “The Long Shadow of Frankenstein”). What is the purpose, then, of retelling the story? How does it connect to and contrast with the original?
Some argue that the real moral of the original Frankenstein is “not the danger of scientists violating the natural order, but the dire fate that awaits creators who fail to care for their creations” (Cohen). Is this the moral of The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein as well? Explain your reasoning.
There are many scientists “studying which technological advances pose ‘existential risks’ that could wipe out humanity or at least end civilization as we know it—and what can be done to stop them” (Kupferschmidt, “Taming the Monsters of Tomorrow”). Research “existential risks” and how scientists are trying to combat them. Present your findings; then make connections to the experiences of Elizabeth and Mary as individuals who are also combating “existential risks.”
In Science magazine’s “The Next Generation’s Frankenstein Films,” “What modern research could serve as the basis for the next [Frankenstein-inspired science fiction] box-office hit?”
Some topics to think about:
Gene-editing technology
Xenotransplantation
Artificial intelligence
Microbes and viruses
Works Cited:
Cohen, Jon. “The Horror Story That Haunts Science.” sciencemag.org
Kupferschmidt, Kai, “The Long Shadow of Frankenstein.” sciencemag.org
Kupferschmidt, Kai, “Taming the Monsters of Tomorrow.” sciencemag.org
Correlates to Common Core Standard Speaking and Listening: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.4, Writing: Text Types and Purposes CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2, Writing: Research to Build and Present Knowledge CCSS.ELALITERACY. W.9-10.7, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.8, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.9
This guide was prepared by Kimberly Herzog, English teacher at Staples High School in Westport, CT.
Biographical note copyright © 1993 by Penguin Random House LLC.
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Penguin Random House LLC, New York, and in Canada by Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto.
MODERN LIBRARY and colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
The text of the Modern Library Frankenstein is that of the third edition, revised and corrected by the author and published by Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, London, 1831.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
Modern Library website address: www.modernlibrary.com
Ebook ISBN 9780679640066
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88 (Reading here)
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121