ID 151 Spring 2009

(011) Frankenstein
Linda Simon, English

One of the most famous novels in the world, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is also one of the most complex and rich. In this course, we'll read the novel in its social, cultural, scientific, psychological, biographical, and philosophical context. We'll be talking about monsters and scientists, families and philosophers, beauty and goodness, social responsibility and sexual desire, among many other topics. Who is the creature at the heart of this story? Why has he captured the imagination of generations of readers, including our own?