In celebration of the 200th anniversary year of the first edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus, The IEEE History Center recently installed an exhibit exploring the technologies and events that are thought to have inspired the creation of our favorite monstrous character.
The “Monsters of Frankenstein” exhibit was held as part of the Technologies of Frankenstein: 1818-2018 conference, which was co-hosted by the IEEE History Center and the College of Arts and Letters and envisioned by Dr. Robin Hammerman from the College of Arts and Letters in anticipation of the Frankenstein bicentennial. The conference, originally scheduled between March 7 and March 9, was shortened to one day by the onslaught of a powerful winter storm that descended rapidly upon the Hoboken-New York City area.
The exhibit, now on display outside Sam’s Place in the Samuel C. Williams Library, showcases the dangers that might have seeped into the story of Mary Shelley’s monstrous creature. According to IEEE History Center Historian and curator Lisa Nocks, Ph.D., Shelley was writing during a tumultuous time in Regency, England. “These monsters in her lifetime are thought to have inspired her,” said Nocks. The exhibit highlights how food scarcity, threat of disease, and the suffering women endured during childbirth—Shelley’s mother died shortly after her birth—all contributed to a general feeling of uneasiness, providing the raw materials for a novel such as Frankenstein. Nocks also included details surrounding the 1815 eruptions of Mt. Tambora in the Indonesian archipelago, which devastated crops and exacerbated disease, leaving farmers desperate and hungry as demonstrated in the characters the Creature meets in Frankenstein.
While the threat of death loomed large over Shelley, she was also heavily motivated by the technological advancements of her era. The exhibit highlights her friendship and admiration for Humphrey Davy, a family friend and “scientific celebrity” in England known best for his public demonstrations. Nocks notes that Davy had a profound influence on her and she became “very interested in the possibilities of electrochemistry.”
During Shelley’s lifetime, the power of electricity was being harnessed to improve a depleted agrarian society. However, alternative applications were demonstrated in the case of George Foster, a man sentenced to death for murder and whose corpse was subjected to dissection and electrocution by Experimental Physicist Giovanni Aldini. For Nocks, the most interesting aspect of curating the Frankenstein exhibit was learning more about the technological innovation during Shelley’s time and seeing how even Aldini’s work has informed more recent technology, such as artificial intelligence or deep-brain stimulation.
While the morals behind Frankenstein remain debated, Nocks and Hammerman are convinced that Shelley’s story is meant to serve as a cautionary tale and a chance to reflect on ethical practices. “To Mary Shelley, our pursuits of science and technology can (and do) move humanity forward in good directions when we mindfully consider the ethical implications of our work,” said Hammerman. “Dr. Frankenstein’s experiment, for instance, was a success (his creation did come alive!) but he was unable to manifest and sustain good results in part because he did not adequately address the need to maintain his creation.”
“Obviously, we are heirs to the kinds of ethical questions Shelley raises in Frankenstein about our so-called ‘innovations,'” warned Hammerman. Thus, it might be to all students benefit to visit the “Monsters of Frankenstein” exhibit while it remains on display.
Be First to Comment