Frankenstein: Texts and Contexts

A documentary on the life of Merrick and the puzzle of his medical condition (48 min).

A medical description of a miscarriage, here called "a monster".

This 2009 article by Andrew N. Sharpe examines the legal definition of monstrosity from the 12th-19th centuries.

A brief National Theatre (UK) video on the history of monsters throughout the ages (9:30 min).

On alterity (otherness) and recognizing people for whom they actually are. From the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

An anti-Irish cartoon which appeared in Punch Magazine in response to the murders of of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Henry Burke in Phoenix Park in Dublin on May 6, 1882.

The Protestant reformer's argument that rule by women is unnatural, repugnant to God, and subversive of social order.

A six-volume collection of the freakish, the marvelous, and the strange.

Johann Caspar Lavater (1741-1801) was the most prominent late 18th-century purveyor of the idea that a person's character is revealed through facial features.

An article by Andre Scull on the changing depictions of madness throughout history.

A study of mythical creatures and human examples of physical difference.

"Examines the evolution of teratology (i.e. the study of perceived abnormalities in the natural world, both real and imagined) through the eyes of physicians and philosophers."

From 'Kirby's Wonderful and Eccentric Museum.'

An examination of stigma ("understood as discrimination against those deemed to be inherently inferior") in Shakespeare through selections from his writings. By Jeffrey R. Wilson, Preceptor in Expository Writing, Harvard College Writing Program.

An examination of the shifting interpretations of prodigies and monsters over two centuries.

Dana Rovang postulates that the insanity of King George III led to the rise of the asylum as one of the last places where strong emotions could be expressed.