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| The circle of literary colleagues (NightCafe AI) |
The circle of literary colleagues (George Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Godwin and John Polidori) was often trapped inside Villa Diodati by the persistent, unseasonable cold and rainy weather and severe thunderstorms, which occurred in Switzerland in June 1816. This period is historically known as ‘the year without a summer’ (caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia the previous year).
On one occasion they spent an evening reading a French translation of German ghost stories from the anthology ‘Fantasmagoriana’. The circle talked about the tragic story of Prometheus – a Titan in Greek mythology known for being the creator of humanity and a champion of mankind. They discussed contemporary scientific interests, including alchemy, somnambulism (sleep walking) and galvanism (the possibility of reanimating corpses with electricity).
Byron suggested a contest to pass the time and engage in a bit of friendly competition. The objective was to see who could come up with the most compelling ghost story. Mary Godwin went to bed, unable to sleep and experienced a vivid ‘waking dream’.
“I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life and an uneasy, half-vital motion.”
Waking in terror, she realized she had found the tale for Byron’s challenge.
Lord Byron wrote The Burial: A Fragment – about a dying aristocrat named Augustus Darvell who dies in a Turkish cemetery, making the narrator of the story swear an oath to speak of him to no one.
“In the year 17--, having for some time determined on a journey through countries not hitherto much frequented by travellers, I set out, accompanied by a friend, whom I shall designate by the name of Augustus Darvell. He was a few years my elder, and a man of considerable fortune and ancient family…”
He quickly lost interest and dropped out of the competition and Shelley followed suit, and swiftly abandoned his attempt. Mary Godwin and Dr. John Polidori both developed longer, more substantial and challenging tales of the supernatural.
Mary Godwin’s supernatural horror story was voted the most successful outcome of the contest.
Mary and Percy Shelley married later that year and, with her husband’s encouragement, she expanded the tale into a fully-fledged novel. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is often referred to as the first science-fiction novel of all time – or one of the first!
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| Generated using NightCafe Creator AI |
