Mary Shelley has always been influenced by great stories depicting ghosts and the supernatural. Her great work “Frankenstein” was written under a rather extraordinary situation, she wrote it after accepting a dare which was to see who could write the best horror story in her group of friends. We all know the horror aspects that “Frankenstein” has are great, but without taking any authenticity from them, we have to acknowledge the fact that they were all influenced by horror stories, more specifically a collection of German horror stories under the title “Fantasmagoriana”. Mary Shelley references 2 stories from the “Fantasmagoriana” the first is called “The History of The Inconstant Lover” and the second was “The Tale of The Single founder of his Race”. If that does not facilitate that horror stories influenced Mary Shelley than her own essay titled “On Ghost” should do it.
The essay “On Ghost” was printed in the London Magazine in March of 1824. In this essay, Mary Shelley laments with a great feeling of melancholy the lack of mystery, wonder, and supernatural in modern literature and culture. She explains how the strange tails believed and feared by past generations are no longer seen to be part of reality or have an effect during this wiser age.
“What has become of enchantresses with their palaces of crystal and dungeons of palpable darkness? What of fairies and their wands? What of witches and their familiars? and, last, what of ghosts, with beckoning hands and fleeting shapes, which quelled the soldier’s brave heart, and made the murderer disclose to the astonished noon the veiled work of Midnight?”
Mary then goes on to question whether modern human society has really stopped believing in ghost and the supernatural entirely. With that in her mind, she explains the notion that it is easy to dismiss the possibility of the supernatural in the light of noon-day; but a midnight everything seems to change, when we find ourselves inside a lonely house with flapping curtains, eerie hallways, cold night wind blowing, reading the Bleeding nun, we’re not so certain and fear begins to overwhelm us. While Mary explains that she has never seen a real ghost herself, she relates the tales of Thomas Jefferson Hogg, who claimed to have seen the lost ghost of a recently-deceased friend, and Angelo Mengaldo, who saw the headless ghost of a war comrade who had killed himself after falling in love with a woman who did not return his passion.
These tales may come across as rather far-fetched, but both men are presented as being reliable and of sound mind; Hogg is described as a person of ‘strong and virile intellect’, and Mengaldo is said to be ‘by no means addicted to superstition’. During this time Mary Shelley also plays with the idea that the nature of the supernatural meaning the good and evil depends on the circumstances of the individuals death, we see how Hogg’s friend came back to visit him while he slept and caressed his cheek and as soon a Hogg moved out of the house, the ghost of his friend stopped appearing. While on the other hand, Mangaldo’s experience is far more sinister, perhaps due to the fact that his companion died by suicide, he committed a sin and now his soul is distorted. The essay closes with a final account that Mary describes as not so authentic but none the less amusing. The story, Mary explains, was told by M. G. Lewis, the famous author of The Monk. It is certainly a strange supernatural tale, but is it true? I’ll leave you to make up your own mind.
Discussion Questions
- Why has our society moved away from stories regarding the supernatural?
- What do you think made Mary Shelley fascinate about horror stories?
- What aspects of the supernatural do you see in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”?
- What’s your opinion on ghosts?
We’re defiantly not going away from the supernatural stories nowadays. I do believe that we as a society more more towards science fiction. During the late 1700’s and the beginning of the 19th century science and medicine have been evolving and a lot of new ideas about psychology and chemistry arose. This progressive movement inspired a lot of new ideas. Some ideas that might seem a bit supernatural but have sprouted form recent inventions and discoveries. Nowadays, the development of computer sciences and the creation of the internet has opened a lot more room for invention and imagination. Some of the most common supernatural creations are self-developing and self-improving artificial intelligent robots. This theory or idea seems very supernatural but have been inspired by the recent inventions and discoveries..Therefore, saying that we as a society move away from the supernatural as a society is not accurate what-so-ever.
What’s interesting here is how we see the pivot from the supernatural to science fiction right at this moment. Frankenstein is usually considered the first work of science fiction — it draws (as we saw) so much on the tradition of the gothic and the supernatural, but at the same time blurs the line between myth and science, forcing us to view scientific developments through the lens of the supernatural.
I think our society has moved away from stories regarding the supernatural because we are too busy focused on technology. We live in a world where supernatural films and stories are only used for entertainment. I think that religion made Mary Shelley be fascinated by horror stories. The greatest horror statement of them all? “The devil walks amongst us.” An obvious aspect of the supernatural I see in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the Monster. He is this ugly, horrible, smelly rotten pieces (or pieces) of walking flesh. It moves, breathes and talks. I don’t know if I believe in ghosts or not. I personally have never seen one but I think they’re out there. Many of my family members claim to have seen one.
I think Mary Shelley and the company she spent around had a lot to do with her influence on horror stories. Hanging with Percy Shelley and Lord Byron must have been truly fascinating and served as an inspiration for the horror genre. I remember distinctly during the first weeks of class, that Mary and crew went to a vacation house took opium for source of inspiration. Being surrounded in that same environment by the lake, in the woods, nice vacation house, these all served as the foundation for Frankenstein.
What is supernatural? Back then monsters, and mythical creatures seem to be the super natural during Mary Shelley’s era. As time has progressed, so has science and understandings of the world. I tend to agree with Alfiya, the supernatural has taken a turn towards science. The new supernatural concepts seem to be dystopian societies much like Atwood’s Oryx and Crake. The new primary antagonist’s are artificial intelligence, that has outpaced human intelligence. There are similar thematic elements, as the concept of human extinction gets tossed around. One of Victor’s biggest fears, was that creating a mate for Monster, may lead to human extinction. Victor has witnessed first hand the brutality of the murders the monster is able to bring. In future genres, the robots lead to human extinction, as it becomes the inferior being.
Ghost aren’t there physically but, they are spiritually. I think they do linger around for a while until they are put to rest. It does have an effect on our view points and decisions when we are affected by it. I feel like modern day society tries to ignore that there are ghosts and they try to make it seem like maybe they are just seeing things and just try to brush it off so they don’t sound crazy.
Our society, a lot has changed compared to the era of Marry Shelley. I believe back then, there was no advanced technology or sciences that captured people’s way of thinking. The only thing left was to relate things that they could not explain to the supernatural. In the modern society, computer technology together with advanced medical research has given many ideas that were supernatural back had meaning. This makes us sense of why many people today do not have time for supernatural things.
In my opinion, ghosts do not exist, they are just mental picture that occur to people who think that they exist.
Society has moved away from supernatural stories because improvements in technology can explain events that were otherwise thought to be supernatural. I feel that Mary Shelley was fascinated with horror stories because it allowed her to explore concepts that were not common at all. Creatures that haven’t been seen, can now become reality through these stories, and this peaked Shelley’s interest. The biggest aspect of supernatural activity in Frankenstein was in fact Frankenstein’s creation. Due to the fact that Frankenstein is composed of deceased human parts, the power to give those parts life can be considered supernatural. My opinion on ghosts is that they don’t exist, however the concept of ghosts can become real to a person based on how strong their belief in ghosts are.
What’s your opinion on ghosts?
My opinion on ghosts are they are an exaggerated version of something that’s true, depending on what religion you follow. You may believe that everyone has a spirit and when you die, your spirit comes out of your body and from there it’s up for debate what happens after that but for the most part many religions believe that they have a spirit. So if you were to think about that concept of an actual spirit and think about what is considered a ghost, you will see a correlation. Both your spirit and a ghost are something you cannot see, but somehow becomes apparent to certain people at certain times. The word ghost is based on a spirit, in my opinion and the term ghost helps companies to make money by marketing it in various ways. When you think about a ghost, it can be based on the idea of spirits, but it’s a scary version that makes you afraid and interested; basically a word that they used to market things like halloween with ghosts and goblins, or movies with ghosts—it’s like a great way to make money.
1) I do not agree that our society is drifting away from the supernatural. My opinion is that the theme is more popular than it has ever been. The movie, “Avengers” which is currently out in theaters today incorporates a supernatural theme and it is the most popular and best selling movie out today. I believe that people are fascinated by the idea of the supernatural, and it will continue to remain popular in society for years to come.
3) The creature in Frankenstein delivers the supernatural theme in the novel. The creature was created by Vitor in a science experiment from dead body parts. Obviously such an occurrence is not possible in the natural world, and hence we can classify him as a supernatural being. Furthermore, his appearance, and tall stature (8 feet tall) suggests that he is a supernatural being. Throughout the novel, the creature kills many characters, and the use of weapons or machinery is not mentioned. His nails, and unusual strength allowed him to dominate over all the other beings, which also supports the claim that he is a supernatural being.
4) I think that ghosts and such figures revolve around religious beliefs and practices. I am personally not a religious person, so I do not believe in ghosts.