Frankenstein

Frankenstein

by Mary Shelley

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What is a literary classic and why are these classic works important to the world?

A literary classic is a work of the highest excellence that has something important to say about life and/or the human condition and says it with great artistry. A classic, through its enduring presence, has withstood the test of time and is not bound by time, place, or customs. It speaks to us today as forcefully as it spoke to people one hundred or more years ago, and as forcefully as it will speak to people of future generations. For this reason, a classic is said to have universality.

Mary Wollstonecraft was born on August 30, 1797, to philosopher and author William Godwin and feminist writer Mary Godwin in London, England. At 16, Mary met the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Though Shelley was already married, the two eloped in 1814. In 1816, they traveled to Geneva with Mary's step-sister, Claire. Once there, they became acquainted with the poet George Gordon, Lord Byron, who would remain a lifelong friend of the Shelleys. One evening, Byron suggested that they each write a ghost story; Mary's story eventually became Frankenstein and was published in 1818 when Mary was 21.

Percy and Mary married legally after Shelley's first wife committed suicide. The Shelleys then moved to Italy, where they resided until 1822. On July 8 of that year, Percy Shelley was killed in a boating accident. Mary returned to England after her husband's death.

Throughout the remainder of her life, Mary Shelley continued to write, producing works such as Mathilda (1819), Valperga (1823), The Last Man (1826), Lodore (1835), and Falkner (1837). She also wrote and published a commentary on Percy Shelley's poetic collection entitled Posthumous Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Mary Shelley died from a brain tumor on February 1, 1851.

  • a violent storm
  • the condition of soil
  • plowed, but not seeded land
  • to disturb or harass
  • bound to nobles, referring, as the context seems to show, not to people in a servile condition, but to the nobles’ agents employed to enforce their claims upon their tenants
  • a decorative pin
  • deceived or pretended
  • a young shepherd
  • a horse-drawn cart or carriage used in farming
  • soon
  • a ridge or hillock
  • [also perdie] – an oath meaning surely or truly
  • Ben’cite is a shortened form of benedicite (Latin for “bless you!"); Dominus means “God." These are frequent in medieval use both as a salutation and exclamation.
  • eyes
  • to see or understand
  • blameless and to be pitied; “poor”
  • great
  • a humorous name for a hen
  • a synonym for rooster
  • The Shepherds are making an off-color joke about married men. The reference to shackles is a parallel to the modern phrase “ball and chain," which refers to the confines of marriage.
  • used
  • a woman’s bedroom
  • to be left
  • rips, splits, or tears
  • a letter in the New Testament of the Bible
  • “for my mate”
  • “full and clear"; the phrase is probably proverbial, used in ironical reference to a hoarse, rough voice.
  • Latin for Our Father, the first two words of the Lord’s Prayer; it should be noted that the author isn’t concerned about the accuracy of doctrine or dogma until the Angel arrives, which is almost at the end of the play. The author is more concerned with using crude jokes, ill humor, and curses for comedic effect with a festive audience.
  • anger; bile
  • a reference to Jesus Christ
  • the mouth, usually of a ravenous creature
  • anything; at all
  • aid, protection
  • a reference to Nicholas of Myra (died 345 AD); this Saint is became known as Santa Claus.
  • truth; reality
  • rascals
  • humans; creatures
  • an unenclosed pasture; heath
  • the head
  • to sleep
  • a bog
  • commanded
  • making irritating noises
  • shrewd tricks, jokes
  • the first of the religious hours of daily service
  • to distract or amuse pleasantly
  • [Latin] “Then enters Mak, who has put on a cloak above his ordinary dress.”
  • There are seven names for God in Hebrew: El, Elohim, Adonai, YHWH (Jahveh), Ehyer-Aher-Ehyeh, Shaddai, and Lebaot. The “spell” in the comment does not refer to a magical spell; instead it indicates that the names of God may not be spelled out.
  • sings
  • [Latin] “And takes the cloak off him.”
  • an attendant or servant
  • an interjection that is used to show displeasure
  • away, at a distance
  • someone who is deceitful
  • to deceive
  • They will all suffer.
  • in truth; indeed
  • truthfully; confidently
  • sour
  • very, quite
  • an oath
  • a crucifix symbolizing the cross used in the Crucifixion
  • home-made beer or liquor
  • to suppose
  • to offer
  • a box used for holding valuables
  • “If I could but pay for her burial mass.”
  • land
  • exhausted
  • [Latin] part of the phrase “I commend [my spirit] into your hands.”
  • [Latin] Pontius Pilate; according to the Bible, he ordered Jesus’ crucifixion.
  • [Latin] “Then he rises, when the shepherds are asleep, and says:”
  • in a quick, easy manner
  • to regret
  • [Latin] “his wife”
  • noise
  • to make thread or yarn
  • to toil, labor
  • a stain on one’s character or reputation
  • created; thought of
  • was born
  • a clever trick
  • [Latin] “Resurrected from the dead!”
  • [Latin] “Judas, lord in the flesh!”; this is a phrase expressing surprise and is similar to “Mary, mother of God.” According to the Bible, Judas, a disciple, betrayed Jesus for forty pieces of silver.
  • a trap for catching animals
  • Known as St. James the Greater, he was one of Jesus’ first disciples.
  • either ironical to express his gratitude for his neck, or possibly in return for an attempt on the part of one of the shepherds to straighten it out for him
  • the first martyr of Christianity
  • a dream
  • labor; pain of childbirth
  • daybreak; this refers to the first call of a rooster in the morning.
  • literally, “more tow on my distaff to spin than ever before”; tow refers to flax or hemp that would be spun into yarn. The idiom means “more to look out for.”
  • irritations; things that cause constant annoyance
  • “walk in the waning [moon]” i.e., “go where bad luck may find you”
  • “There’s the devil in the bond” i.e., “There’s trouble in this arrangement.– This phrase might mean, “the devil to pay.”
  • to worry, trouble, or fuss
  • an excuse
  • watches
  • -sorrowful
  • cleverness; trickery
  • company
  • an expression meaning “Woe is me!” or “Help!”
  • Mary is Jesus’ mother; John is probably John the Baptist.
  • loudly, fully
  • lost, forsaken, abandoned
  • an evil trick
  • i.e., Horbury thickets— shrogs denotes rough land covered with thickets. Harbury is a town near Wakefield, with which the Towneley cycle is identified.
  • young sheep
  • a full-grown female sheep
  • a disciple of Jesus; according to the Bible, after Jesus was crucified, He rose on the third day. He soon visited his disciples, and when Thomas heard about Jesus’ resurrection, he said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25) He is known, therefore, as “Doubting Thomas.”
  • to sing in a soothing manner
  • in great distress
  • readily or willingly
  • children
  • a young bull
  • faithful, loyal, true
  • prosperity and happiness
  • violently; with force
  • near
  • susceptible to cold weather
  • a pun on “cattle” and “chattel”; chattel means personal property or slaves.
  • the Virgin Mary
  • “a fortunate future and happiness be to him in body”; hips indicates the whole body. The phrase is a forced one to provide a rime for gossips, but its artificiality would not have seemed so great to a medieval hearer, owing to the practice of constantly referring to various parts of the body in blessing and cursing. Moreover, reference to the hip in a generic sense was frequently used, as in the phrases, “on the hip,” “on his hip,” and “on my hips,” to denote a bad plight.
  • sponsors
  • faith
  • a long leg
  • compensation, payment
  • a coin worth one-quarter of a penny
  • the morning star (the planet Venus)
  • a penny
  • a cloth
  • a woven fabric
  • unfamiliar; strange
  • a prostitute
  • fathered; produced
  • a darling
  • happy
  • bewitched
  • revenged
  • Gill tries to pretend that an elf has substituted a sheep for the true child; it was believed that elves exchanged other creatures for babies to use the children as slaves.
  • to argue or bicker
  • ill will
  • to scold or express disapproval
  • an area of open land that has course grasses and bogs
  • to irritate
  • [Latin] “The Angel sings ’Gloria in Excelsis.’ Then let him say:”
  • According to the book of Genesis in the Bible, Adam was the first human that God created.
  • to spoil; overthrow
  • nobly
  • another reference to Jesus
  • news
  • declared
  • lightning
  • where Jesus was born
  • a musical note
  • frightened, filled with dread
  • to delay; put off
  • fun; laughter
  • a gift
  • to hurry
  • a reference to Jesus
  • the second king of Israel
  • a prophet and author of the biblical book that bears his name
  • to come down and settle upon
  • to alleviate or reduce
  • to take away
  • [Latin] “Behold, the virgin will conceive.” This is a biblical passage that can be found in Isaiah 7:14.
  • before
  • to think
  • This paraphrases Jesus’s words in the Garden of Gethsamene before He is crucified: “Thy will be done.”
  • to hide or cringe in fear
  • literally, “fool"; used, however, as a term of endearment
  • a formal statement of religious belief
  • the head; top part
  • a reference to the Trinity of Catholicism: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
  • a dress; covering
  • a fist
  • all-powerful; having unlimited authority
  • [Latin] “Here endeth the play of the Shepherds.”

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