| Summary: | My honors research focuses on the polar elements of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, what I refer to as the "Polar plot." The polar elements of Frankenstein appear in the beginning of the novel, the middle, and the end–effectively shaping the novel like an iceberg. The beginning and end of the novel take place in the Arctic regions, while the middle of the book is built around a pivotal and important scene in the glacial Alps. In this thesis, I draw attention to how Mary Shelley enters into an intertextual dialogue with Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Percy Shelley through her "Polar plot." The first section, Part I: Locating Frankensteins Polar Plot in a Larger Conversation, will outline the novel and provide some key information on its historical context and past scholarship. Part II: Coleridgean Ice and Frost, focuses on the poets lines of influence and looks at two works, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and "Frost at Midnight." Part III: Traveling Shelleys examines the Shelleys's travelogue, History of a Six Weeks Tour, including "Mont Blanc" (written by Percy Shelley). Through this publication, I hope to thicken and flavor the rather sparse scholarship on Frankensteins Polar meaning, which has been particularly overlooked in the over 200 years since the novels initial publication.
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