Frankenstein – Playing With Fire - Guthrie Theater

THE AUTHORSAbout NovelistMary ShelleyThe only daughter of writersWilliam Godwin and MaryWollstonecraft, Mary Shelley wasborn in London on August 30, 1797.Her mother died of puerperal fever11 days later. Godwin eventuallyremarried, and Mary Jane Clairmontbrought two children of herown into the household, whichalso included Mary’s half-sister(Wollstonecraft’s older daughter)Fanny Imlay and would eventuallyinclude her younger half-brotherWilliam Godwin.In the summer of 1812, Godwin sentMary to visit a family friend, WilliamBaxter, in Scotland. She grew fondof the whole Baxter family, whoprovided her with a model of ahappy home life that she wouldportray in her fiction. On her returnto London that November, Marymet Godwin’s young, wealthyprotégé Percy Bysshe Shelley andhis wife Harriet. When they metagain in May 1814, she thought ofhim as a budding genius, and forhis part, he had grown dissatisfiedwith his marriage and was takenby Mary in part because she wasthe daughter of Godwin andWollstonecraft. By June, theywere spending almost every daytogether, and, accompanied byMary’s stepsister Claire Clairmont,they eloped to France in July.The couple was shunned by mostof their family and friends, as PercyShelley was still married to Harriet,and they endured some difficultfinancial and emotional times. Marybecame pregnant and gave birthto a girl prematurely in early 1815,but the baby died a few days later.Shortly afterward, Mary recorded inher journal a dream “that my littlebaby came to life again — that it hadonly been cold and that we rubbed itbefore the fire and it lived.”Their circumstances changed in1816 with the suicides of HarrietShelley and Fanny Imlay Godwin.Harriet’s death allowed Maryand Percy to marry, but deathwas much on Mary’s mind. Clairebecame involved in an affair withLord Byron in the spring of 1816and persuaded Mary and Percyto go to Switzerland with her tomeet Byron. The Shelley partytook a house on Lake Geneva nearByron and his friend, Dr. Polidori,and the two groups saw much ofeach other. When rain drove themindoors, they read a book of ghoststories aloud, which promptedByron to suggest that they eachwrite their own ghost story. Marywanted to think of a story thatwould “make the reader dread tolook round, to curdle the blood andquicken the beatings of the heart.”Her inspiration came after a wakingdream: “I saw the pale student ofunhallowed arts kneeling beside thething he had put together. I saw thehideous phantasm of a man stretchedout, and then, on the working ofsome powerful engine, show signs oflife.” She began writing Frankensteinthe next day, and, with Percy’sencouragement, she developedher ghost story into a novel. Itwas finished in 1817 and publishedanonymously in January 1818.Soon after, Mary and Percy againwent abroad, where their liveswould take a tragic turn. They tooktheir young children, William, bornin 1816, and Clara Everina, born in1817, abroad with them, but bothPHOTO: MARY SHELLEY PORTRAIT BY RICHARD ROTHWELLwould die there — Clara Everina ofdysentery in 1818 and William ofmalaria the following year. In 1819,Percy Florence was born — theonly child of Mary and Percy tosurvive childhood. He died in 1889.In 1822, Mary miscarried duringher fifth pregnancy and nearlylost her life. A month later, on July8, 1822, Percy died by drowning.After her husband’s death, Maryreturned to England and devotedherself to publicizing his writingand educating Percy Florence.She published her late husband’sPosthumous Poems (1824) andedited his Poetical Works (1839)and prose works.Mary wrote six other novels,including Matilda (1959), Valperga(1823), The Fortunes of PerkinWarbeck (1830), Lodore (1835) andFalkner (1837), as well as a novella,mythological dramas, stories andarticles, various travel books andbiographical studies. The Last Man(1826), an account of the futuredestruction of the human race bya plague, is often considered herbest work. History of a Six Weeks’Tour (1817) recounts the continentalGUTHRIE THEATER \ 7

THE AUTHORStour she and Percy took in 1814following their elopement and theirsummer near Geneva in 1816.Her last book, an account ofsummer tours on the Continentwith Percy Florence and his collegefriends, was published in 1844. Bythen her health was failing, and in1848 she began to suffer the firstsymptoms of the brain tumor thateventually killed her. She died inLondon on February 1, 1851, havingasked to be buried with her motherand father. Her son and daughterin-law had Mary’s parents’ bodiesexhumed and buried them togetherin the churchyard of St. Peter’sBournemouth in England.Sourced and adapted from ConciseDictionary of British Literary Biography,Britannica Encyclopedia and other booksabout Mary ShelleyMary Shelley: In Her Own Words stay at home & think of mylittle dead baby — this is foolishI suppose yet whenever I am leftalone to my own thoughts & do notread to divert them they alwayscome back to the same point —that I was a mother & am so nolonger Mary Shelley, in her journal, March 13, 1815,after the death of her first childThis day promises to be fine & weset out at nine for Montanvert we get to the top at twelve andbehold le Mer de Glace. This is themost desolate place in the world— iced mountains surround it — nosign of vegetation appears excepton the place from which we viewthe scene — we went on the ice — Itis traversed by irregular creviceswhose sides of ice appear blue whilethe surface is of a dirty white Mary Shelley, in her journal, July 25, 1816,describing a visit to the glacier where shewould set the meeting between Frankensteinand the Creature in her novelByron has become one of thepeople of the grave — thatinnumerable conclave to which thebeings I best loved belong. I knewhim in the bright days of youth,when neither care or fear had8 \ GUTHRIE THEATERvisited me: before death had mademe feel my mortality and the earthwas the scene of my hopes Can Iforget his attentions & consolationsto me during my deepest misery?— Never What do I do here? Whyam I doomed to live on seeing allexpire before me? God grant I maydie young all my old friends aregone — I have no wish to form new— I cling to the few remaining —but they slide away & my heart failswhen I think about how few ties Ihold to the world Mary Shelley, in her journal, May 15, 1824,good to comfort and benefit — toenlighten the darkness of life withirradiations of genius, to cheer itwith his sympathy and love. Anyone, once attached to Shelley, mustfeel all other affections, howevertrue and fond, as wasted on barrensoil in comparison. It is our bestconsolation to know that such apure-minded an exalted being wasonce among us, and now existswhere we hope one day to join him;— although the intolerant, in theirblindness, poured down anathemas,the Spriti of Good, who can judgethe heart, never rejected him.upon learning of the poet Lord Byron’s deathMary Shelley, about Percy Bysshe Shelley inHe died, and the world showed nooutward sign. But his influence overmankind, though slow in growth,is fast augmenting; and, in theameliorations that have taken placein the political state of his country,we may trace in part the operationof his arduous struggles. His spiritgathers peace in its new state fromthe sense that, though late, hisexertions were not made in vain,and in the progress of the liberty heso fondly loved.He died, and his place, amongthose who knew him intimately,has never been filled up. Hewalked beside them like a spirit ofher preface to his Poetical Works, edited byMary and published in 1839The Publishers of the StandardNovels, in selecting Frankensteinfor one of their series, expresseda wish that I should furnish themwith some account of the origin ofthe story. I am the more willing tocomply, because I shall thus give ageneral answer to the question, sovery frequently asked me — “How I,then a young girl, came to think of,and to dilate upon, so very hideousan idea?” It is not singular that, as thedaughter of two persons of

THE AUTHORSdistinguished literary celebrity,I should very early in life havethought of writing. As a childI scribbled; and my favouritepastime, during the hours givenme for recreation, was to “writestories.” In the summer of 1816, we visitedSwitzerland, and became theneighbours of Lord Byron. Butit proved a wet, ungenial summer,and incessant rain often confinedus for days to the house. Somevolumes of ghost stories, translatedfrom the German into French, fellinto our hands. “We will eachwrite a ghost story,” said LordByron; and his proposition wasacceded to. There were four of us.The noble author began a tale, afragment of which he printed atthe end of his poem of Mazeppa.Shelley, more apt to embody ideasand sentiments in the radiance ofbrilliant imagery, and in the musicof the most melodious verse thatadorns our language, than toinvent the machinery of a story,commenced one founded on theexperiences of his early life. PoorPolidori had some terrible ideaabout a skull-headed lady. I busied myself to think of a story— a story to rival those which hadexcited us to this task. One whichwould speak to the mysteriousfears of our nature, and awakenthrilling horror — one to make thereader dread to look round, tocurdle the blood and quicken thebeatings of the heart. If I did notaccomplish these things, my ghoststory would be unworthy of itsname. I thought and pondered —vainly. I felt that blank incapabilityof invention which is the greatestmisery of authorship, whendull Nothing replies to ouranxious invocations.Many and long were theconversations between Lord Byronand Shelley, to which I was adevout but nearly silent listener. They talked of the experiments ofDr. Darwin (I speak not of what theDoctor really did, or said that hedid, but, as more to my purpose, ofwhat was then spoken of as havingbeen done by him), who preserveda piece of vermicelli in a glass case,till by some extraordinary meansit began to move with voluntarymotion. Not thus, after all, wouldlife be given. Perhaps a corpsewould be re-animated; galvanismhad given token of such things:perhaps the component parts of acreature might be manufactured,brought together, and endued withvital warmth.Night waned upon this talk, andeven the witching hour had goneby, before we retired to rest. WhenI placed my head on my pillow, Idid not sleep, nor could I be saidto think. My imagination, unbidden,possessed and guided me, giftingthe successive images that arosein my mind with a vividness farbeyond the usual bounds ofreverie. I saw — with shut eyes, butacute mental vision — I saw thepale student of unhallowed artskneeling beside the thing he hadput together. I saw the hideousphantasm of a man stretched out,and then, on the working of somepowerful engine, show signs of life,and stir with an uneasy, half vitalmotion. Frightful must it be; forsupremely frightful would be theeffect of any human endeavour tomock the stupendous mechanismof the Creator of the world. Hissuccess would terrify the artist; hewould rush away from his odioushandy-work, horror-stricken. Hewould hope that, left to itself, theslight spark of life which he hadcommunicated would fade; thatthis thing, which had receivedsuch imperfect animation, wouldsubside into dead matter; and hemight sleep in the belief that thesilence of the grave would quenchforever the transient existence ofthe hideous corpse which he hadlooked upon as the cradle of life.He sleeps; but he is awakened;he opens his eyes; behold thehorrid thing stands at his bedside,opening his curtains, and lookingon him with yellow, watery, butspeculative eyes.I opened mine in terror. The idea sopossessed my mind that a thrill offear ran through me, and I wishedto exchange the ghastly image ofmy fancy for the realities around. Swift as light and as cheering wasthe idea that broke in upon me. “Ihave found it! What terrified mewill terrify others; and I need onlydescribe the spectre which hadhaunted my midnight pillow.” Onthe morrow I announced that I hadthought of a story. I began that daywith the words, “It was on a drearynight of November,” making only atranscript of the grim terrors of mywaking dream.And now, once again, I bid myhideous progeny go forth andprosper. I have an affection for it,for it was the offspring of happydays, when death and grief werebut words, which found no trueecho in my heart. Its several pagesspeak of many a walk, many a drive,and many a conversation, when Iwas not alone; and my companionwas one who, in this world, I shallnever see more. But this is formyself; my readers have nothing todo with these associations.Mary Shelley, in her introduction to the 1831edition of FrankensteinGUTHRIE THEATER \ 9

THE AUTHORSAbout Playwright Barbara FieldAs literary manager andplaywright-in-residence at theGuthrie Theater from 1974 to1981, Barbara Field created anumber of pieces that appearedon its stages, including hertranslations of Pantalgleize byMichel de Ghelderode (1977–1978Season), Marriage by NikolaiGogol (1978–1979 Season) andMonsieur de Molière by MikhailBulgakov (1979–1980 Season),as well as adaptations fromthe novel Camille by AlexandreDumas (1980–1981 Season) anda response to Mary Shelley’sFrankenstein titled Frankenstein –Playing with Fire (1988national tour, 1988–1989 and2018–2019 Seasons).Field’s original work includesNeutral Countries, whichpremiered at Actors Theatre ofLouisville’s Humana Festival in1983, Coming of Age for IndianaRepertory Theatre, Quality Timefor Pennsylvania Stage Company,Boundary Waters for South CoastRepertory and Off the Ice forRepertory Theatre of St. Louis.In collaboration with composerHiram Titus, Field wrote thelibretto for their original operaRosina, which was commissionedand produced by the MinnesotaOpera, and the book and lyricsfor the musical The Skinflint,loosely based on Molière’s TheMiser, for Repertory Theatre ofSt. Louis.Her adaptation of CharlesDickens’ Great Expectations wascommissioned by the SeattleChildren’s Theatre, played at theGuthrie (1985–1986 Season) andthen traveled the country on aneight-month tour. But Field isperhaps best-known to Guthrieaudiences for her adaptationof Dickens’ A Christmas Carol,which was part of the Guthrie’sprogramming from 1975 to 2009and continues to be performed atActors Theatre of Louisville.Field is a founding memberof the Playwrights’ Center inMinneapolis and among herawards are a 1992 Drama-LogueAward for Boundary Waters,For the Seattle Children’sTheatre, she adapted PhilipPullman’s I Was a Rat! and TheBoxcar Children by GertrudeChandler Warner. Additionalplays for children include Dreamsin the Golden Country adaptedfrom the book by Kathryn Lasky,which was performed at theKennedy Center and on a nationaltour, and Scaramouche from astory by Rafael Sabatini, which wasperformed at Shakespeare TheatreCompany in Washington, D.C.10 \ GUTHRIE THEATERHumana’s Best American PlayAward for Neutral Countries and aLos Angeles Drama Critics CircleAward for Great Expectations.A book of seven of her plays,New Classics from the GuthrieTheater: Classical Adaptationsfor the American Stage, waspublished in 2003 by Smith &Kraus. She is also the authorof two anthologies: CollectedPlays, Volume One (2008) andCollected Plays, VolumeTwo (2014).PHOTO: BARBARA FIELD (MIKE HABERMANN)

CULTURAL CONTEXTPeople, Places and Things in the Playblood poisoningAlso known as septicemia, whichoccurs when bacteria, virus orfungus gets into the bloodstreamand the entire immune systembecomes activated to fightthe infection.Henry CavendishAn English chemist and physicist(1731–1810). Among his many fieldsof research were the propertiesof gases, synthesis of water,electrical attraction and repulsion,atmospheric air, theory of heat andthe density of the Earth.fibrinAn insoluble protein made fromfibrinogen during the clottingof blood. Fibrinogen is a plasmaprotein produced by the liver.funicularFunicular railways use a cable topull cars along tracks up and downsteep hillsides. It combines thetechnology of the elevator and thetrain. Funiculars operate cars inpairs, with one car on either sideof the topmost pulley, so eachcar’s weight counterbalances theother. The energy created by thecar descending is used to pull theopposite car up. A motor thatoperates the pulley provides justenough force to overcome thedifference in weight between thecars and the friction inherent inthe system.galvanismNamed for Italian physicist LuigiGalvani (1737–1798), galvanism wasthe term used to describe the useof electricity for medical purposes(or at least for moving muscles).In the play, Frankenstein describesexperiments on bullfrogs like thoseconducted by Galvani, who wantedto learn more about how musclescontract and how “electrical fluid”was involved.gangreneThe death of an area of livingtissue, usually due to lack of bloodflow and often accompanied bybacterial infection.IngolstadtA small city on the Danube River inBavaria in southeast Germany thathad a population of approximately4,500 in 1800. The university inIngolstadt was founded by DukeLudwig IX of Bavaria-Landshutin 1472. The university becameknown as a stronghold in theCounter-Reformation, in no smallpart because Johannes Eck, MartinLuther’s theological nemesis, wasa professor at Ingolstadt from1486 to 1543 as well as dean ofthe theology faculty and vicechancellor. Most excitingly, it wasat Ingolstadt that the Illuminatiwas formed. In 1800, the universitymoved from Ingolstadt toLandshut, ostensibly because theNapoleonic Wars made Ingolstadt,a garrison town, ripe for occupationby French troops.introibo ad altare deiLatin for “I will go to the altar ofGod,” quoted from Psalm 43: Etintroibo ad altare Dei, ad Deum quilætificat juventutem meam (ThereI will go up to the altar of God, thegiver of triumphant happiness; thouart my own God, with the harp Ihymn thy praise).ischemiaA blockage or obstruction of bloodflow, perhaps because of a bloodclot or plaque build-up in an artery.LavoisierAntoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794), a French chemist whohelped reform and modernize thefield of chemistry. He was executedduring the French Revolution, notfor his scientific work, but becausehe had worked as a financier beforethe Revolution.necrosisLocalized death of living tissue.NewtonIsaac Newton (1642–1727),an English physicist andmathematician who inventedcalculus and discovered the threelaws of motion that provided thegroundwork for modern physicsand led to his law of universalgravitation, which states that theforce of attraction between twoobjects varies depending on themass of the two objects and thedistance separating them."Paradise Lost"John Milton’s epic work “ParadiseLost” is woven throughout the storyof Frankenstein and his Creature.The famed English poet usedconventions from earlier poeticepics such as “The Iliad” and “TheAeneid” to craft his bla

The North Pole and various stops in a voyage of memory. It is the summer solstice — the last day or the first day, depending on the point of view. CHARACTERS Frankenstein, a scientist Creature, Frankenstein’s creation Victor, a memory of Frankenstein as a young man Adam, a memory