The Sea of Ice and the Icy Sea
The Arctic Frame of Frankenstein
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 16865486 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Janice Cavell (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 70 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 295 |
| Publication date | 2017-09-03 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | ARCTIC (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0004-0843 • E-ISSN: 1923-1245 |
| Publisher | The Arctic Institute of North America (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.14430/arctic4669 |
| OpenAlex | W2751185283 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 9 |
It has become common for scholars to understand the Arctic framing narrative of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as a commentary on the northern expeditions sent out by the British Admiralty after the Napoleonic Wars. According to this view, the character Robert Walton is a surrogate for John Barrow, the principal organizer of the Admiralty expeditions. This article demonstrates that chronological factors make such an interpretation untenable. Yet the process through which the far North became the setting for Frankenstein’s opening and closing scenes is of great importance for understanding the evolution of the novel into its final complex form and with regard to broader considerations about the Arctic’s place in Romantic literary culture. The article suggests other sources for the Arctic frame, most notably the 1815 plan by whaler William Scoresby for a sledge expedition toward the North Pole. Although Scoresby’s lecture was not published until 1818, reports appeared in newspapers and periodicals soon after the lecture was given. There is strong circumstantial evidence to suggest that Mary Shelley read these reports. By tracing the likely influence of Scoresby and other Arctic writers on Frankenstein, the article both sheds new light on the novel itself and demonstrates the extent of the Arctic’s presence in European culture even before the famous Admiralty expeditions
Archaeology · Arctic · Art · Framing (construction) · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · Newspaper · Sociology · The arctic · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · Geology · History · Oceanography · Polar Research and Ecology · Science Education and Perceptions
The Principal Navigations Voyages Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation
A History of the Royal Society
Shelley and science
Poor Polidori
Literary Women
Mary Shelley & "Frankenstein"
"A very interesting point in geography"
Narratives of Seduction and the Seductions of Narrative
Voyages of Martin Frobisher
| Citations per year | 0.2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2021 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |