Under construction! Under construction!
Instructor:
Bruce MacLennan, PhD
Phone: 974-5067
Office: 217 Claxton Complex
Hours: TBA, or make an
appointment
Email: maclennan@eecs.utk.edu
Classes: 2:30–3:20 Weds. in HSS 53A
This page: http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/Classes/FYS129
You know the story of Frankenstein and his monster, but how much do
you remember about Victor Frankenstein’s young wife, Elizabeth?
In this seminar we will read and discuss Theodore Roszak’s Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein,
an award-winning novel that tells her side of the story. We learn
that Victor’s mother has raised Elizabeth from childhood as her
step-daughter, with the goal of her children’s ultimate union.
What is her secret plan? How do Victor’s and Elizabeth’s
differing views of the creation of life impact it? In the words
of one review:
From their shared studies in ancient tantric rites and alchemical mysteries, Elizabeth and Victor take divergent paths — she to the romantic realm of nature, he to the cold equations of enlightenment science. Their parting of ways leads to chaos: a heedless quest for forbidden knowledge: a misbegotten, vengeful creature: a fatal wedding night. The Memoirs is a masterpiece of slowly unfolding secrets, a tale steeped in loyalty and betrayal, insight and madness.
Through Elizabeth’s story, Roszak, a prominent
historian, cultural critic, Gugenheim Fellow, and ecopsychologist, addresses issues such
as the environment, genetic engineering, the benefits and abuses of
science, feminism, and humanity’s relation to nature.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which was written early in the
industrial revolution, is often interpreted as parable of science and
technology run amok, and thus it can provide a focus for a discussion
of contemporary controversial technologies, such as genetic
engineering, nanotechnology, nuclear power, and artificial
intelligence.
Roszak expands the conversation by bringing in the
voice of Elizabeth Frankenstein and therefore allows us to address
gender issues in science and technology (also addressed in Roszak’s
nonfiction book, The Gendered Atom). Victor and Elizabeth
have distinctly different perspectives on science, on humankind’s
relation to nature, and on the environment. How does Elizabeth’s
more feminist voice alter our understanding of these things? Can
science and technology be pursued in a more gender-balanced way that
leads to a more sustainable future? Or is science inherently
gender-neutral? These are some of the issues that are raised by
Roszak’s retelling of Shelley’s story.
We will begin with a brief review of Shelley’s Frankenstein
(since you may know only a movie version). After that
we will begin reading Roszak’s novel, discussing it both in terms of
its contrasts with Shelley’s work, and in terms of its commentary on
and criticism of contemporary science and technology (intended by the
author). The goal is to develop a more critical
understanding of science and technology, its pros and cons, and to see
how gender issues and other background factors influence the practice
of science and technology, their role in modern society, and their
environmental implications. We will also discuss how alternative
narratives, such as Shelley’s and Roszak’s, can round out our
understanding of complex issues such as these.
Roszak, Theodore. The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein. New York, NY: Bantam, 1996.
(Since the book is out of print, copies will be provided for students in this seminar.)
The Memoirs won the James Tiptree Jr. Award in 1995.
It was a “Recommended Book” for the Library Journal, which
said, “Gothic, erotic, and feminist, Roszak’s novel is a compelling
companion to Mary Shelley’s classic.”
It was also “Recommended” by Publishers Weekly, which
wrote, “Passionate and lyrical, rife with period details and
underpinned by a thought-provoking subtext on gender relations and the
nature of modern science, this spellbinder will send readers rushing to
gobble up its precursor.”
See also the description at Barnes & Noble.
Return to MacLennan’s home page 
Send mail to Bruce MacLennan / MacLennan@eecs.utk.edu
This page is www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/Classes/FYS129