Instead of reading Mary Shelley’s 900-page fifth novel, Lodore, save yourself some time and listen to our episode on it! We’ll provide you with the highlights, including a glimpse into the 38-year-old widow’s possibly queer relationships with other women. Sources: Mary Shelley, Lodore. http://www.gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0606381h.html Graham Allen, Mary Shelley: https://www.macmillanihe.com/page/detail/?sf1=barcode&st1=9780230019089 Virginia Bracket, Critical Companion to Mary … Continue reading 1835 – Mary Shelley’s Lodore →

On the year of his death, we look at the life and work of one of the founders of British Romanticism, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Sources: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Biographia Literaria: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6081 Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Complete Poetical Works: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29090 Thomas DeQuincey, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2040 John Polidori, “Extract of a Letter from Geneva” (the introduction to The Vampyre): https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6087 … Continue reading 1834 – The Death of Samuel Taylor Coleridge →

In this episode, you can hear Mary Shelley’s short story, “The Mortal Immortal,” presented in its entirety. This story was originally published in the 1833 issue of The Keepsake, a literary annual to which Mary Shelley contributed many stories and poems over the years. “The Mortal Immortal” is arguably her most famous short story. Did you … Continue reading 1833 – Mary Shelley’s The Mortal Immortal →

Why do we call Mary Shelley the inventor of science fiction? And why does it matter? We’ll explore those questions and also talk about what they have to do with The Royal Society of London, The British Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Anatomy Act of 1832. Sources: James Gunn (ed.), The Road to … Continue reading 1832 – The Invention of Science (and Science Fiction) →

In our previous episode, I played an excerpt from Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine, in which the hosts discussed the history of the man who may have inspired the creation of Frankenstein. This week I offer, in its entirety, an episode of Eric Molinsky’s podcast, Imaginary Worlds, titled “The Year Without a Summer.” This episode, which … Continue reading Bonus – Eric Molinsky’s Imaginary Worlds →

In this episode, I discuss the background of this podcast and play an excerpt from an episode of one of my favorite podcasts, Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine. The episode, “The (Maybe) Real Dr. Frankenstein,” was one of the inspirations for this show. Sawbones is part of the Maximum Fun podcasting network. You can … Continue reading Bonus – My Hideous Progeny →

In this bonus episode, I interview Rachel Feder, the author of Harvester of Hearts: Motherhood under the Sign of Frankenstein. Harvester of Hearts is published by Northwestern University Press: http://www.nupress.northwestern.edu/content/harvester-hearts Rachel can be found at: https://www.rachelfeder.com/ The edition of Mary Shelley’s Mathilda that we discuss in the episode, edited by Michelle Faubert and published by Broadview Press, can be … Continue reading Bonus – Rachel Feder’s Harvester of Hearts →

Frankenstein was revised several times in the early years of its rise to fame–by Percy Shelley, by William Godwin, and, in 1831, by Mary herself. Sources: A collation of the 1818 and 1831 editions of Frankenstein from the University of Pennsylvania: http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Colv1/ftitle.html The manuscript of Frankenstein at the Shelley-Godwin Archive: http://shelleygodwinarchive.org/contents/frankenstein/ Anne K. Mellor, “Revising Frankenstein”: http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Articles/mellor9.html E.B. Murray, “Changes … Continue reading 1831 – Revisions →

Nobody ever really talks about Mary Shelley’s later novels. There’s a reason for that. Sources: Mary Shelly, The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck Erin L Webster Garrett, “The politics of ambivalence: romance, history, and gender in Mary W. Shelley’s Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck.” CLIO, vol. 37, no. 1, 2007. http://link.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/apps/doc/A174818260/AONE. Music: “Fiddles McGinty” by Kevin MacLeod “Wave in … Continue reading 1830 – Mary Shelley’s The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck →

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s novel, The Sorrows of Werther, is one of the most important texts in the romanticist movement, and is one of only three books with which Frankenstein’s creature learns how to read, alongside Plutarch’s Lives and Paradise Lost. But it’s not even the most interesting of Goethe’s books to put up alongside Frankenstein. Come sign … Continue reading 1829 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust →