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When I first read Frankenstein, it was for Professor Frank’s “Victorian Monsters” class.  Working on a semester-long mapping project, I paid special attention to the characters’ geographical movement.  I did not encounter critical analysis of geography in Smith’s “History” which surprised me, for I did such analysis in a 400-level course.  A postcolonial critical reading would be comparable to a geographic critical reading, I believe, as Clerval’s desire to travel to India, for example, nods to Orientalism and Britain’s mode of conquest that characterized the 1800s (would Frankenstein have been published too early for this to make sense?).

Romanticism is one of my favorite literary movements, so I’ve also analyzed the text through that lens since my first reading.  Elements of nature are a critical component of Romantic literature, though I struggle to analyze Frankensteinthrough an environmental lens.  Modern notions of the biodiversity crisis or climate change don’t jump out at me. Rich descriptions of cities and landscapes are present, adherent to Romanticism, and perhaps retrospective analysis will lead to conclusions about the importance of  wild places (i.e. the snow-covered Alps).  I wonder how the ethics of creating life are environmental?  Such ethics seem more biomedical but could be viewed with regard to concerns like overpopulation.  Smith categorizes ecocriticism under cultural studies, but, compared to other perspectives, there’s relatively little ecocriticism, perhaps because it’s still an emerging field.  In research for projects in previous classes, I’ve struggled to find applicable environmental literary analysis.

My second reading of Frankenstein has been almost explicitly through a feminist lens.  Frankenstein’s 200^thanniversary was in 2018, and UNE held a book discussion to commemorate it led by Richard Mathiasen.  He posed questions from a contemporary feminist perspective that got me thinking. Whereas I used to fault Victor for his willingness to “play god” and create life, I now despise him for the toxic masculinity he exudes.  Victor thinks the weight of the world falls on his shoulders and all of humanity depends on him which influences his decision not to create the female monster; he’s just not that important.  Early feminist theory pays close attention to Shelley’s biography and her relationship with her parents which doesn’t interest me as much as theory related to the content.  I am concerned with issues of authorship.  Challenge: name another women Romantic writer.  It’s difficult because the tradition is dominated by men which makes Shelley’s publication of Frankenstein especially interesting.