Great Book and Characters - Assignment Example

Who were Burke and Hare? Burke and Hare were two prominent murderers that committed a spat of murders in and around the Edinburgh Scotland region in 1828. The murders were done not for the purpose of stealing money from the victims or for any type of sick fantasies; rather, they corpses were sold to a prominent doctor, Robert Knox, who utilized the cadavers in his lectures as dissection instruments. Explain what are they famous for and why you think I have asked you to research them. They became famous due to the fact that the crimes they committed were unnatural in that the motive was not to steal from the victims or to gain a level of sick satisfaction; instead, the murderers became famous due to the fact that they were profiteering from the morbid sale of the corpses that they suffocated. It is the belief of this student that these individuals were asked to be researched due to the fact that they have a direct level of relationship and could have provided a level of artistic encouragement for the themes that both Shelley and Stephenson engaged in within their respective novels. What does the German expression zeitgeist mean? Zeitgeist was first coined by German philosopher Georg Hegel and has come to mean “spirit of the age”. In this way, it represents the key trends and levels of thought that are typified within a given paradigm or within a given culture/period of time. As such, the term experiences a great deal of flexibility and can change with the whims of human desire and culture in a relatively rapid period of time. In Jekyll and Hyde, Dr. Jekyll could be said to be: Having a secret identity. Name three other stories (books, songs, movies, and so on) that deal with any of these issues. Identify the main issue you see in each story. Katy Perry’s “Hot n Cold” – represents an unnamed individual who struggles with whether to be in a relationship or not. Rather than merely representing a form of a bi-polar nature, the song exemplifies the means whereby an individual struggles with commitment. The film “The Silence of the Lambs” - The film the silence of the lambs comes perhaps the closest with regards to a perfect exemplification of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde theme. As such, Dr. Hannibal Lector represents a brilliant psychologist who at the same time is also a horrendously twisted and innately evil serial killer who delights in making his victims suffer in obscene ways. The film “The Uninvited” – also exemplifies the theme in that the main character is convinced of an alternate reality up until the final scenes where she realizes that it has been her all along that has committed the murderous acts. The means by which this realization is met is somewhat different from the way in which Dr. Jekyll comes to understand Mr. Hyde; however, the comparison is still plainly evident. Who was Prometheus? Prometheus is a character from Greek mythology that is credited for stealing fire from the human race as well as creating a man from clay. What book is subtitled The Modern Prometheus? May Shelley’s Frankenstein When was it written and who is it by? The novel itself was written by Mary Shelley and published in London in the year 1818. What connection in theme or cultural concern can you see between it and Jekyll and Hyde? There remains an underlying theme of concern and worry for the direction in which society is taking. In both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as well as Frankenstein, this cultural fear is represented in different ways but it still pervades the books. The future of the Empire was uncertain, Britain had appeared to falter in and around the time that the novels were penned and the populace as well as the authors seemed to think that a new paradigm was born. Who wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray? When was it published? What is its main story about? Oscar Wilde; published in 1890. Who is Johann Konrad Dippel? What is his connection to Frankenstein? Is that connection generally accepted or in dispute? Johann Konrad Dippel was a German priest alchemist and theologian. As with many forms of urban legends, it was subsequently postulated the Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was influenced by the real life character of Johann Konrad Dippel due to the fact that it was assumed by some he dabbled in anatomy and alchemy while studying in the so-called “Castle Frankenstein”. However, this has never been substantiated in either his own writings or the writings or biographies of Mary Shelley and as such cannot be assumed. Who is Luigi Galvani and what connection might he have to Frankenstein’s origins? Luigi Galvani was an Italian physician and philosopher who was the first to discover the existence of bio-electricity. His discovery was made when he witnessed the fact that a frog’s legs twitched when exposed to electricity. As such, it is believed that this discovery could have had a profound impact on Mary Shelley as she was in the process of writing a novel that was concentric upon a man being brought to life by a spark (Shelley 14). What does the term tabula rasa mean? What connection do you see between it and Frankenstein? Tabula Rasa literally means “Blank Slate” in Latin. As such, this is a concept that has been the center of many debates throughout history due to the fact that some theologians want to interpret human life at its very origin and beginning as pristine and sin-free; whereas others seek to denote an aspect of original sin exists and constrains the individual directly into the world of fallen humanity. This concept is utilized within Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in the fact that the character of the monster represents the childlike innocence and blank slate that a newborn baby born into a fallen world of sin, cruelty, and greed represents. By using this innocence as a vehicle, Shelley is able to draw a level of introspection into the means by which humanity exists and accepts the reality that constrains it. Who wrote “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner?” When was it first published? Samuel Taylor Coleridge published this work in 1787 What is the main story of the Ancient Mariner? The main story centers upon the hubris of the wanton killing of the albatross and the means whereby this brings a spate of bad luck to the mariner up until he atones for the sin. What connection can you see between the wedding guest and Robert Walton? Both of these characters show that they identify with the plight of Dr. Frankenstein yet in the end are ultimately unable to assist him to reach his goals. In this way, they prove to be useful plot mechanisms to show that no matter the extent to which Dr. Frankenstein is willing to go, he cannot escape the fate that has been set for him. Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay To mould me man? Did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me? Shelley uses these lines as an epigraph to Frankenstein. Who wrote them? What work are they from? What is the central story of that work? This words originally come from John Milton’s Paradise Lost. As such, they exemplify the story of creation and the means whereby man and all his trials and temptations were born from that fateful moment when God breathed life into his creation. As such, Shelley uses the quote to show the strong comparison between the breath of life that God gave to mankind and the spark of life that Dr. Frankenstein gave to his own creation. Work Cited Shelley, Mary W. Frankenstein. City: Penguin, 1994. Print. Read More