Two hundred years ago, in June, a few people were
gathered together in a villa in Geneva, Switzerland. Warding off their
boredom, they decided on a challenge. The outcome? Two books that went
on to become classics, changed the face of horror and created history .
It
was the year 1816 — the ‘Year Without a Summer’. All over the world
there were severe abnormalities and this caused global temperatures to
drop drastically, resulting in major food shortage across the northern
hemisphere. This extreme weather condition was caused by the massive
volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in April 1815. Volcanic
ash billowed into the upper atmosphere, the sun was cut off, levels of
rainfall increased and temperatures fell. The summer of 1816 was damp,
with low temperatures, torrential rain and crop failures throughout
North America, Europe and Asia.
Weather plays the muse
In one sense, it could be said that the weather led to the writing of a
book of great literary merit. We talk of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Two centuries later, the story still sends shivers down your spine.
In
the summer of 1816, Mary Shelley was 18 years old. She, along with poet
Percy Shelley, their son William and her half sister Claire Clairmont,
travelled to Europe. As they journeyed across the continent, they were
struck by the desolate landscape. In her travel book History of a Six Week’s Tour…,she
wrote “Never was a scene more awefully desolate…” The trees stood
amidst miles and miles of snow, with only poles to mark the road. This
bleak and deserted image was not quickly forgotten by Mary.
The
arrived in Geneva, Switzerland and settled comfortably into a hotel.
Barely, 10 days after they had arrived, Lord Byron and his personal
physician Dr. Polidor drove up. Dramatically, they arrived at midnight,
just having completed a sightseeing trip to the battlefield of Waterloo.
Byron and Percy Shelley met the next day, for the first time. A
friendship struck up, and soon they left the hotel to take up a lease of
two properties close by. While Shelley and his companions occupied a
small chalet called Montalègre, Byron and Polidori took the lease of
Villa Diodai. This was a large porticoed house which was once occupied
by John Milton. The Villa overlooked the Lake Geneva. But because the
weather was so bad, there was no chance of boating. Instead, they were
all cooped up indoors for days together.
Shelley and his companions spent a lot of time at the Villa with Byron discussing literary projects.
Mary Shelley in her Preface to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein
says, “Many and long were the conversations between Lord Byron and
Shelley to which I was a devout but nearly silent listener. During one
of these, various philosophical doctrines were discussed, and among
others the nature of the principle of life, and whether there was any
probability of its ever being discovered communicated”.
One night, sitting around the flickering candlelight, with the
incessant rain, thunder, lightning, the sudden lighting up of the dark
waters of Lake Geneva Lord Byron suggested that they should all try
their hand at writing ghost stories. It was to be just a game to while
away the long hours of being cooped up in a house with nothing to do.
But this challenge resulted in the creation of two iconic tales. The
first being Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the second John Polidori’s The Vampyre, which later influenced Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
In
1818, Frankenstein was first published anonymously in London. The
second edition, published in France carried Mary Shelley’s name.
Frankenstein
This
is a story of a young science student named Victor Frankenstein. He
conducts an unusual scientific experiment. The novel is written in the
form of letters (epistolary form). It is the fictional correspondence
between Captain Robert Walton and his sister Margaret Walton Saville.
Walton is a failed writer who set out to explore the North Pole, in the
hope of expanding his scientific knowledge and becoming famous. During
the voyage, he and his crew see a dog sled driven by a gigantic figure. A
while later, the crew rescues a nearly frozen and withered man named
Victor Frankenstein. He has been chasing the gigantic man they had
earlier spotted. Frankenstein recovers from his exertion. He sees in the
Walton the same kind of ambition he himself once had. So he tells
Walton the story of his life and the cause of his great misery as a
warning to Walton.
Who are they?
Lord Byron
He
is considered one of the greatest British poets. George Gordon Byron
was one of the leading figures in the Romantic movement. He is best
known for his narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
A
major romantic poet, he did not see fame during his lifetime. It is
only after his death that his poetry was recognised. He is regarded as
among the finest lyric and epic poets of the English language.
John William Polidori
He was an English writer and physician. He is credited as being the creator of the vampire genre of fantasy fiction.
The Vampyre by Polidori
Nobody
knows anything about Lord Ruthven’s origins. When he enters London
society, he befriends a young Englishman named Aubrey. The two of them
travel to Rome. But there, due to some disagreement they part company
and Aubrey goes on to Greece. In Greece, he falls in love with the
innkeeper’s daughter Ianthe. She tells him the legends of the vampire.
Ruthven comes to the inn and soon after Ianthe is killed by a vampire.
Aubrey rejoins Ruthven in his travels. On the way they are beset by
bandits and Ruthven is killed. But, before he dies he extracts a promise
from Aubrey that he will not tell anyone about his death. Imagine
Aubrey’s surprise when he finds Ruthven back in London! More of
Ruthven’s antics follow and Aubrey is but a helpless eyewitness
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