Key Context Organised By Themes
Systemic Oppression And Control
● Radical thinkers had been influenced by the French revolution where a repressed and
brutalised lower class had overthrown the king and the aristocracy in the name of fairer
treatment
● After Percey’s death she had a struggle with societal disapproval as a result of her
relationship with Percey.
● Victor perceives the story of the monster but his physical appearance prevents him from
becoming an equal real human showing the Marxist concept of the “unfinished citizen” due
to his appearance.
● Galvani conducted an experiment using electricity to make a dead corpse move, sparks and
lightning represent knowledge and danger
● Rousseau was an 18th century philosopher whose ideas impacted Shelley. Mankind would be
in a happier state if society didn’t exist
● Perry Miller taught Atwood at Harvard and he taught her about the seventeenth century
Puritan America was a theocratic, oppressive regime.”
● George Orwell’s 1984 was a dystopia centred around surveillance and control of thought and
speech
● A postmodernism author doesn’t think that it is possible to represent truth or fact easily
their version of what is real is more fragmented and unreliable
Human Individuality And Procreation
Myth Of Prometheus
Feeling sorry for mans naked and weak state Prometheus stole fire from Mount Olympus to give to
humans helping to form civilisations.
As a result of his crimes Zeus gave Prometheus an eternal punishment of having his livers eaten out
by eagles and making it regrow every night
● Classical = Man vs Nature, Man, God
● Postmodernism = Man vs Technology, Reality, Author
● At the time of Atwood writing THMT there was an increase in religious groups opposing the
new law of abortion and had strong views on the role of women in society
Systemic Oppression And Control
● Radical thinkers had been influenced by the French revolution where a repressed and
brutalised lower class had overthrown the king and the aristocracy in the name of fairer
treatment
● After Percey’s death she had a struggle with societal disapproval as a result of her
relationship with Percey.
● Victor perceives the story of the monster but his physical appearance prevents him from
becoming an equal real human showing the Marxist concept of the “unfinished citizen” due
to his appearance.
● Galvani conducted an experiment using electricity to make a dead corpse move, sparks and
lightning represent knowledge and danger
● Rousseau was an 18th century philosopher whose ideas impacted Shelley. Mankind would be
in a happier state if society didn’t exist
● Perry Miller taught Atwood at Harvard and he taught her about the seventeenth century
Puritan America was a theocratic, oppressive regime.”
● George Orwell’s 1984 was a dystopia centred around surveillance and control of thought and
speech
● A postmodernism author doesn’t think that it is possible to represent truth or fact easily
their version of what is real is more fragmented and unreliable
Human Individuality And Procreation
Myth Of Prometheus
Feeling sorry for mans naked and weak state Prometheus stole fire from Mount Olympus to give to
humans helping to form civilisations.
As a result of his crimes Zeus gave Prometheus an eternal punishment of having his livers eaten out
by eagles and making it regrow every night
● Classical = Man vs Nature, Man, God
● Postmodernism = Man vs Technology, Reality, Author
● At the time of Atwood writing THMT there was an increase in religious groups opposing the
new law of abortion and had strong views on the role of women in society
