French Revolution & Constitutional Debate

• The most significant political event during Frankenstein’s period occurred 9 years before Shelley was born and 30 years before the novel was published.
• The French Revolution and the fall of Bastilles in 1789 affected Britain's public opinion immensely and had an impact on political views for a prolonged time afterwards.
• The settlement of 1689 balanced the power of parliament and monarchy, balancing the Crown, House of Lords and House of Commons.
• The system of government established by the settlement of 1689 was believed to combine the best parts of each type of government system by giving each power its roles and was admired by other countries.
• By the 1870s public opinion began to decline.
• While unrest began in the 18th century it wasn’t that they questioned the government system, but rather abuses of the system.
• Stands of radical political opinion argued that democracy was only partial and this limited the representatives in the House of Commons.
• Religious dissenters were not given full voting rights, and as MPs had to swear an oath of conformity to the church of England they were not eligible for election to public office.
• Only men were given the right to vote, and this right was based on property qualifications and thus excluded a great amount of the population.
• Attempts to reform parliament failed numerous times in the very early 19th century before in 1832, a year after the revised version of Frankenstein was published, the reform act was passed into law.
• The Tests and Corporations Act in 1828 was repealed removing most of the political restrictions of religious dissenters, following with the roman catholic emancipation act in 1829.