Title: The Mummy!: A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century

Author: Jane Webb (as by Anonymous)

Date of First Publication: 1827

Place of Publication: Henry Colburn

Type: Novel

Characters: The Creature; Victor Frankenstein

Themes: WOMEN WRITING MONSTERS; ANDROID; RACE/POLITICS; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER

Critical Summary: The Mummy! is a tale depicting the future. Cheops, the mummy, has been revivified in the year 2126 where he now aids in political decisions. The mummy’s restoration was noted as an act of god rather than an act of science. Dr. Entwerfen and Edric are the masterminds behind the life of the mummy. They take on the impossible task, but after seeing the mummy, the doctor runs in fear. Cheops is a sympathetic character. His role in the story is not like the creature. The creature was the bane of Victor’s life. In contrast, Cheops uses his wisdom and his age to aid those in the new world. Additionally, Cheops is able to speak the language of those around him from the time of his awakening.

Much like Shelley’s Frankenstein, this tale places mirrors up to the world and forces it to look at what it has created. The fact that the world Webb constructed was led by an unmarried woman who was voted in by her fellow countrymen added a new perspective. However, this feminist innovation in the story is rendered irrelevant when the former king, the mummy, comes back to fix the countries problems.

Webb’s novel speculates on the further rise of the British Empire. At the beginning of her novel, the British people are discontented even after they conquered a majority of the world, have forced nature to bend to their will, and have brought the world to “civility.” Webb reflects on the way the British people created the world in their own selfish image.

Administrative Notes: Christina Petersen, CSUF; Alexandra Roman CSUF (edited)