Asia is the largest continent in the world; occupying the most people by almost 60% and nearly 30% of the land area of earth. Asia is extremely diverse geographically; it is full of mountains ranges, desserts, and rivers. It is also extremely diverse in a cultural aspect too, full of different religions, languages, and traditions. Asia appears twice in Mary Shelley's Frankenstien. The first time in Volume two, Chapter six. A charcter, Safie, is describing why she doesn't want to go back to Asia but rather stay, marry a christian man, and be able to have some say, even as a woman, because Asia culturally didn't accept women at the time. The second time Asia is mentioned is in Volume three, Chpater seven. It is simply an example of how far Victor Frankenstien would go to complete his project. With Asia being mentioned twice, we're forced to question why it was relevant, so after doing some research I found that to the English people, Asia was seen as a mere economic trade continent. They were a simple provider of spices, textiles, and teas. When mentioning Asia in writings there was typically a romanic sense of "western supioriority."

I think that Asia plays a large role in the novel because it helps us explore those ideas of freedom. As mentioned before Safie didn't want to return to Asia because it would mean giving up her freedom. I also thinks it helps us visualize the distance that victor Frankenstien would go through for his project, and finally I think it helps us develop an idea that British people wanted to push their ideas, culture, and beliefs onto the Asian continent.

“Asia.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 21 Feb. 2025, www.britannica.com/place/Asia.

Stock, Paul. “The Idea of Asia in British Geographical Thought, 1652–1832: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society.” Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press, 20 Mar. 2023, www.cambridge.org/core/journals/transactions-of-the-royal-historical-soc....

Ten Stunning Asian Landmarks You Need to Visit - the Getaway, thegetaway.com/destinations/ten-stunning-asian-landmarks-you-need-to-visit. Accessed 25 Feb. 2025.