Veidemanis, a High-School English Teacher

¶ … Veidemanis, a high-school English teacher in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and a well-known literary critic on British Literature of the 19th century, offers a number of very intriguing ways to teach Mary Shelley's classic Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus in the classroom, especially at the high-school or college freshman level. She also provides some enlightening insight on the novel itself related to the main characters and how they move within the overall plot. Strangely enough, Veidemanis first describes her own personal fascination with the novel by relating her childhood experiences with the 1931 version of Frankenstein, directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff as the Monster. After being scared half to death by her older brother, Veidemanis admits that the "Creature" "dwelt fully realized in the Twilight Zone of my subconscious" and that after reading the novel, came to understand that Frankenstein "is a tale that exerts a hypnotic force on the reader" and stands today as "a genuine myth, one that has captured the public fancy as well as the attention" of a huge number of literary scholars since the novel's publication in 1818 (61).

Veidemanis then points out that Shelley's novel has some "conspicuous flaws" but nonetheless deserves to be read and taught in the classroom, due to compelling the reader to consider questions based on "the nature of humans, the origins of good and evil, the purpose of existence, and the claims of morality" linked to scientific endeavors. For students, Shelley's novel is an excellent choice as a subject of discussion and reflection because most students "find it intriguing and intellectually stimulating" and quite easy to read, due to its relatively short length (61).

Veidemanis then provides several important reasons why Shelley's novel deserves to be part of a high-school or college curriculum. First, with its three inter-nested plots, Frankenstein offers "a close study of the novel as novel with intriguing narrators... And prose," ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime. Second, it provides an excellent introduction "to a unit on the Romantic Era in English literature" with its spirit in line with Coleridge, Wordsworth, Lord Byron and Percy Shelley. Third, the novel is truly "the work of a gifted woman writer who merits study and recognition" (62). One aspect of Shelley's life which is quite extraordinary is that she heard Samuel Taylor Coleridge recite the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" which clearly influenced Shelley's use of the supernatural in her novel.

Fourth, Veidemanis maintains that the novel's central theme, being "scientific aims pursued in reckless disregard of human consequences," has much significance in today's modern scientific age related to biological and genetic engineering and raises the question "Should limits be placed on scientific endeavor?" A reference to Victor Frankenstein and his "reckless disregard" for the possible consequences of his experiments with the dead and the creation of a human monster.