Showing posts with label Frankenstein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frankenstein. Show all posts

December 30, 2012 - Ozymandias and Frankenstein



On this date in 1816, two authors married. Percy Bysshe Shelley was the Romantic poet who would later write Ozymandias, and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was the author who would later write the gothic novel Frankenstein. (At that point her name was Mary Shelley.)



The Shelleys were considered radical in their lifestyle and political views during their own lifetime, but they achieved admiration and fame for their writings since then.

It's always interesting when two famous or well-accomplished people marry. In the past such power-couple marriages were rare because women were so strongly encouraged to stay home and to focus on family matters; also, women often lacked educational opportunities.

From Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to Bill and Hilary Clinton, from Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, power couples can achieve great things together or support each other as they achieve great things separately. Power couples often stay together for years or decades, but they often break up suddenly and publicly as well.

The hubris of humankind

The word hubris means excessive pride—that is, too darned much pride. Both of the Shelleys dealt with hubris in their works I am featuring here.

Ozymandias is a short poem about a mighty king who thought he would make a giant, lasting imprint on history...Read it here, or listen to it over here.

It is hubris to assume that, no matter how much you matter to yourself, you will matter to everybody, for all time.



Frankenstein is about a scientist who tries to create life out of dead body parts and ends up creating a monster. Some people worry that science pushing into matters of life and death is another example of hubris, of people meddling with things that shouldn't be meddled with. Other people worry that these worries are exaggerated and that we shouldn't arbitrarily limit scientific experimentation.

Also on this date:



























Birthday of seismograph inventor John Milne


October 28, 2011 - Frankenstein Friday



As kids who celebrate Halloween get ready to don costumes and go door to door chanting, “Trick or Treat,” some people like to get into the spirit by watching scary movies or reading horror books. I personally am a wimp and carefully avoid scary stuff—but there are funny things associated with a Frankenstein monster—like the movie Young Frankenstein (rated PG), and the old TV show The Addams Family

I have some not-very-scary Frankenstein stuff suggested at the bottom of this earlier post.


Celebrate Frankenstein Friday with food, song, and dance!

Get into the mood for monstrous fun with “The Monster Mash.” 

Dance like Frankenstein. It's fun to dance as if you were a mechanical being. These three guys do it well. 

If you've worked up an appetite, try eating some Frankenstein frankfurters, Frankenstein Baked Peppers,  and maybe even a Frankenstein cake.  If you don't want to go through the trouble of making a cake, you can make almost any rectangular treat into a Frankenstein Friday treat with some frosting! 

August 30, 2011 - Happy Birthday, Mary Shelley


Frankenstein is one of the original monster horror novels—and its author, Mary Shelley, was born on this day way back in 1797!

Shelley started writing the book, which was inspired by a dream, when she was just 18 years old. The book was published when she was 21. Later on Shelley wrote other novels, short stories, essays, travel pieces, and biographies. 

Shelley is also known because she edited and promoted the Romantic poems of her famous husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Celebrate Frankenstein!

The people at Print Activities have gathered together a lot of Frankenstein “printables,” including word search puzzles, mazes, coloring sheets, and connect-the-dots!

People at Squidoo have gathered together a few Frankenstein-themed crafts.