Creature and Creator

Titus & Paul Cantor discuss Frankenstein on its 200th an.--the novel, its history on the stage in the 19th c., & various movie adaptations in the 20th c. We talk about the genius of Mary Shelley & the rarity of a new myth being created by a single person under the historical spotlight! We talk about Enlightenment, Romantic poetry, & how new technologies of communication provoke nostalgic storytelling. Podcast

A study of Wagner’s Ring Cycle as a Romantic creation myth, analyzing how it tells the story of an initial harmony with nature, a fall from that unity into the power struggles of civilization, and Wagner’s hope for an apocalypse that would allow for the triumph of love in the world. Lecture

Paul Cantor analyzes and explains Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in this lecture series on 19th century Literature and Science. Lectures

Blake was a bit of a capitalist himself. His capital consisted chiefly of a small printing press, together with supplies of paper and engraving plates, which he and his wife dutifully lugged with them whenever they changed domiciles.

This book is the first systematic study of the creation myth as a Romantic form. Book