Science & Society
English Lit: Edexcel A Level Frankenstein, topic 6.1.2
Science and Society
Shelley imagines the effect of science on society when it is left unchecked and uncensored.
Reanimation
- After the 18th/19th century, scientists such as Galvani and Aldini pioneered experiments which used electricity to ‘reanimate’ dead animals or decapitated criminal’s heads.
Body-snatching
- The practice of ‘body-snatching’ became popular as financial rewards were given because of medical schools’ demands for cadavers.
- Certain groups of people in society became anxious about the development of science and the boundaries it was breaking.
Blasphemy
- In a highly religious society, the idea of reanimating dead matter was seen as blasphemous and taboo; Shelley draws upon these fears in her novel.
Victor’s hubris
- Victor’s hubris for being the first man to "banish disease from the human frame" by surpassing the natural ways of reproduction might seem far-fetched to a modern reader, but to a contemporary reader, they would have been afraid of these scientific developments.
- Shelley imagines the effect of science on society when it is left unchecked and uncensored.
Test yourself on Science & Society
What practice became popular in the 18th/19th centuries?
Why was reanimating dead matter seen as blasphemous and taboo when Shelley was writing?