Episode 1: Romance

This episode will introduce the group and the different topics being discussed.

In the first episode of our podcast, we discuss the various elements of Romanticism in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Some elements that we talk about include seeking forbidden knowledge, feeling awe for nature, and being a wandering outcast.

In this episode, we analyze some major and minor characters in Frankenstein. We also discuss what it means to be a Byronic hero, the purpose of the frame story with Walton, and the role of minor characters such as Elizabeth and the DeLaceys.

In this episode, we discuss aesthetic theory as it relates to the nature, beauty, and sublimity found in Frankenstein along with the poem “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. We touch on the similarities and differences found in both texts about how they express aesthetic theory.

In our episode about crafting fear, we highlight the different ways that Frankenstein and “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” create two kinds of Gothic fear: terror and horror. At the end, we talk about what might have happened in the stories if there was no fear present.

In the final episode of our five-episode series, we have a special guest with us to discuss parenthood: Ms. Houston! We talk about the responsibility a creator/parent has to its creation/child and vice versa in Frankenstein and “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” along with how the setting impacts both texts.