Mary Shelley and the Rights of the Child: Political Philosophy in Frankenstein | Agenda Bookshop Skip to content
Selected Colleen Hoover Books at €9.99c | In-store & Online
Selected Colleen Hoover Books at €9.99c | In-store & Online
A01=Eileen M. Hunt
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Eileen M. Hunt
automatic-update
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=DSBF
Category=DSK
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
Language_English
PA=Available
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
softlaunch

Mary Shelley and the Rights of the Child: Political Philosophy in Frankenstein

English

By (author): Eileen M. Hunt

From her youth, Mary Shelley immersed herself in the social contract tradition, particularly the educational and political theories of John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as the radical philosophies of her parents, the feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and the anarchist William Godwin. Against this background, Shelley wrote Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, first published in 1818. In the two centuries since, her masterpiece has been celebrated as a Gothic classic and its symbolic resonance has driven the global success of its publication, translation, and adaptation in theater, film, art, and literature. However, in Mary Shelley and the Rights of the Child, Eileen Hunt Botting argues that Frankenstein is more than an original and paradigmatic work of science fictionit is a profound reflection on a radical moral and political question: do children have rights?
Botting contends that Frankenstein invites its readers to reason through the ethical consequences of a counterfactual premise: what if a man had used science to create a human life without a woman? Immediately after the Creature's birth, his scientist-father abandons him and the unjust and tragic consequences that follow form the basis of Frankenstein's plot. Botting finds in the novel's narrative structure a series of interconnected thought experiments that reveal how Shelley viewed Frankenstein's Creature for what he really wasa stateless orphan abandoned by family, abused by society, and ignored by law. The novel, therefore, compels readers to consider whether children have the right to the fundamental means for their development as humansnamely, rights to food, clothing, shelter, care, love, education, and community.
In Botting's analysis, Frankenstein emerges as a conceptual resource for exploring the rights of children today, especially those who are disabled, stateless, or genetically modified by medical technologies such as three-parent in vitro fertilization and, perhaps in the near future, gene editing. Mary Shelley and the Rights of the Child concludes that the right to share love and community, especially with parents or fitting substitutes, belongs to all children, regardless of their genesis, membership, or social status.

See more
Current price €29.25
Original price €32.50
Save 10%
A01=Eileen M. HuntAge Group_UncategorizedAuthor_Eileen M. Huntautomatic-updateCategory1=Non-FictionCategory=DSBFCategory=DSKCOP=United StatesDelivery_Delivery within 10-20 working daysLanguage_EnglishPA=AvailablePrice_€20 to €50PS=Activesoftlaunch
Delivery/Collection within 10-20 working days
Product Details
  • Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
  • Publication Date: 20 Sep 2019
  • Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
  • Publication City/Country: United States
  • Language: English
  • ISBN13: 9780812224566

About Eileen M. Hunt

Eileen Hunt Botting is Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame and author of Wollstonecraft Mill and Women's Human Rights and Family Feuds: Wollstonecraft Burke and Rousseau on the Transformation of the Family.

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue we'll assume that you are understand this. Learn more
Accept