Representaciones de infancia en Frankenstein de Mary Shelley: De la edad de oro a la niñez monstruosa

In this paper different representations of childhood in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein are analyzed. For this, three sections have been arranged. First, the novel is set in the context of its production, and then some elements of the romanticized vision of the first part of human’s lives are analyzed. Alzate Piedrahíta (2002) understands that the perception of modern childhood has varied throughout history based on changes in the modes of socialization. If thinking childhood has two fronts, the human and the monstrous in Frankenstein, how does this question link with the romantic matrix that operates in the text? In the second section, through the textual analysis of some fragments, the childhood of the protagonist and his adoptive sister, Elizabeth, are compared. Finally, the creature and his link to the character that created him are studied. After his birth, he behaves like any child who imitates what others do, and finds himself lost without a tutor to guide him.