Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

A three week study of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

facilitated by Toby Brothers

 11, 18 and 2 July 2018: 7-9 pm at the SAP

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In the 200^th anniversary year of Mary Shelley’s gothic novel we are able to peel back the layers of the block-headed, hideous monster and get down to Mary Shelley’s original concern: what is the relationship between the created and the creator?

Edward Mendelson offers: “Frankenstein is the story of childbirth as it would be if it had been invented by someone who wanted power more than love.” The story draws the reader into the entangled and unlimited relationship between the Creature and its creator as we move through narrators to get to the frozen final confrontation. In a previous Salon conversation in Paris, we discussed, among other themes, the question of adult male friendship and how Victor Frankenstein’s tragedy is one of arrogance and solitude. The book raises philosophical questions around ambition and creation: if we are able to scientifically create life, should we employ that knowledge? What are the responsibilities of the creator to the created?

I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other (Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein)

Toby Brothers, MA, started the Literary Salon in Paris in 2004. She facilitates a wide range of literary seminars from poetry to women’s literature, classic epics and significant novels with a particular focus on Modernity. She has developed bespoke programmes for the psychotherapeutic community and professional organizations using dynamic discussions around great literature to develop group communication skills.

Fee: £90

• Recommended edition: Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Norton Critical Edition 2E (Norton Critical Editions 2012); ISBN-13: 978-0393927931