PRESENTATION - Mary Shelley?s Frankenstein: Anatomy of a Masterpiece

Who controls life and death? Does a man-made being have (human) rights issues? Although regarded as Gothic sensationalism when first published – both for its lurid tale of a scientist driven mad by his obsession to animate the dead and for the surprising news that the author was nineteen-year-old Mary Shelley – Frankenstein has resonated widely in the popular imagination, most notably in theatre and cinema. Over the two centuries since its publication, the work has also served as a vivid allegory in debates about technology, slavery, and universal suffrage. Led by scholar Lance Rhoades, this multi-media presentation considers how Shelley addressed some of mankind’s greatest concerns with a creation that took on a life of its own. Explore and discuss these complicated and complex issues.