Frankenstein
While skimming through different poems from poets Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, and Percy Shelly I found it difficult to find a poem that I could relate both the idealism of romanticism and what I have read of Frankenstein. While reading the poem “Most Sweet It Is” by William Wordsworth I found the most satisfying for both the criteria. Therefore I chose to use it in for this response paper. Wordsworth first publicized the poem, “Most Sweet It Is” in 1835 which is just on the tail end of the “Romantic Era”. It is easy to identify it with romanticism because of the style of writing used. Wordsworth writes about a wild nature when we write about “pacing the ground, if path be there or none”. This seems very adventurous and daring and the Romanic Era has often been characterized by such attitudes. My interpretation of the poem “Most Sweet It Is” is that Wordsworth is writing about the process of following in and out of love with someone or something. I understand it as someone who is looking at something with a new perspective and is enlightened by it. With the words “to pace the ground, if path be there or none” I interpret that as someone taking a chance and experiencing something new, possibly trying something that has never been done before. I relate this line of the poem with Frankenstein because the writer of the letters is on a trip and almost seems to be in an identity crisis trying to find himself. He is on some sort of voyage and doesn’t really
know what lies ahead but is taking a chance and is optimistic. The author of the letters in the book Frankenstein writes to his sister about him feeling very lonely. I relate these words to the words of Wordsworth in the poem “Most Sweet it is” “while a fair region round the traveler lies, which he forbears again to look upon”. I translate it as the write of the letters is far away from everyone he cares about and he is pretty much a lone (while a fair region round the traveler lies) and he is lonely and is not happy about that (which he forebears again to look upon).
In these aspirations, whereas the Romantic poets value the permanence of nature in contrast to that of manmade creations, Frankenstein connects his Romantic sentiments with icy climates which shift and fade. The drastic change in tone from his speech to Walton’s crew to his final speech to Walton is an echo of the ice that melts a few days after his speech to Walton’s crew. Frankenstein’s sublime experience on the icy heights of Mont Blanc (Shelley 66) and his praise of the Arctic’s sublimity (Shelley 155) are also notable in that they both take place in the typically warmer months of August (Shelley 64) and September (Shelley 154). While such alienation from reality is typical of the Romantic poet, Frankenstein’s two experiences in these icy landscapes lead to his greatest failures: the Creature’s request for a wife (Shelley 101), which when Frankenstein refuses (Shelley 120), results in the “destruction” of his friends, family, and himself (Shelley 157). Frankenstein’s praise of the isolating sublime is characteristic of the Romantic poet, but the mutability of his icy landscapes leads to his demise rather than to the prosperous legacies the Romantic poets hoped
When the novel “Frankenstein”, by Mary Shelley came out in 1831 the general public was introduced to the idea of man creating another man, scientifically without the use of reproduction. The disasters that followed, in the novel, demonstrated the horrid fact that creating humans was not natural. That was in 1831, when the knowledge of science had not yet evolved enough to act on such an idea. Now as the start of a new millenium approaches, having the capability to scientifically produce one human who is genetically identical to another, or cloning a human, has a lot of people questioning weather or not it is our moral right to do such a thing. It is a classic debate between principles of science and principles of religion.
Victor Frankenstein creates a creature that he considers to be treacherous. Since the creature was created it obtains no knowledge of what it is or what is happening. Victor abandons the creature and the creature becomes filled with hate as it is constantly rejected by humans. The creature uses nature to survive. The creature also self teaches himself and becomes aware that he is a monster. He then swears to get revenge on Victor for leaving him alone. He gets his revenge by killing Victor's family. Victor then swears to get revenge on the creature, and decides that the best way to do so is by bringing the creature as far away from human civilization as possible. Thesis?!
because of the way he is just abandoned by Victor and the way in which
obtain love from something , it is easy and very possible to have love for
The human heart is simply forgiving and caring, except in the most extreme circumstances. Romanticism was a time of becoming "in tune with one's self as well as nature." (Rajan 3) They view simplistic happiness as the foundation of a happy life and Mary Shelley makes the reader feel as if the creature has been robbed of a chance of the experience while Victor has had it stripped away from him. This is the other subtle example of Romanticism in Frankenstein.
Ever since the earliest scientists, including the likes of Aristotle and Plato, the question of the morality of man's meddling in nature has been a prevalent issue. While science can provide boundless amounts of invaluable contributions to mankind, ultimately some scientific endeavors should never have been pursued. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelly explores the ethics involved in this query through the creation of a wonder of science, and its inevitable consequences.
The wise Uncle Ben once told Peter Parker, “remember, with great power. Comes great responsibility.” There is no greater power than that acquired by the infamous Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein when he discovers the secret to creating life. Shelley’s Frankenstein is a tale of creation that depicts acts of human conception and discovery. The Oxford English Dictionary defines creation as “the action or process of bringing something into existence from nothing by divine or natural agency; the fact of being so created.” It defies the natural order of things and creates a world of its own. The multiple acts of creation and discovery bring upon a certain set of responsibilities and implications as depicted by David Collings who analyzes the responsibilities that come as a result of these acts in his essay “The Monster and the Maternal Thing: Mary Shelley’s Critique of Ideology”. The main act of creation is evident through Victor Frankenstein’s creation of the Being which is depicted most prominently in the novel. However, there are multiple other acts of creation and discovery that may not be apparent at first sight. One of the most important being, Victor’s discovery of the knowledge required to create life. Apart from initially creating the Being, Victor also plays a critical role in the Being’s evolution into a raging and vengeful creature. Perhaps above all other acts of creation and discovery is Victor’s personal creation of himself into a monster. As stated by Collings most of these acts of creation on Victor’s part are subconsciously brought upon because of their lack of a maternal figure but also in part because of his desire for fame and glory. However, he is blinded by his motives and forgets that with his...
In today’s world of genetically engineered hearts and genetically altered glowing rats, the story of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, seems as if it could be seen in the newspapers in our near future. The discoveries seen in modern science, as well as in the novel, often have controversy and negative consequences that follow them, the biggest of which being the responsibility the creator of life has to what has been created. Victor Frankenstein suffers from a variety of internal and external conflicts stemming from the creation of his monster, which in return also experiences similar problems. Shelley uses these tumultuous issues to portray the discrepancies between right and wrong, particularly through romanticism and the knowledge of science.
Compassion and empathy are often described as human-kind's greatest quality. Yet, many things can distract or overpower our compassion to allow room for things like cruelty, selfishness, and the need for vengeance. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein has no compassion for his creation; however, his creation is born with large amounts of compassion, but Frankenstein ignores and abuses his monster. Victor’s lack of compassion towards the monster, makes the monster lose his own compassion in a need for vengeance to make his abuser feel the same pain he does.
Every artist draws inspiration from somewhere, and the inspiration shows in their work. When looking deeper into the life of Mary Shelley, it is easy to say that the inspiration she drew to create her novel Frankenstein, came from her own personal experiences. Frankenstein is riddled parallels to Marry Shelley’s own life. It was not just by mere coincidences either, Mary Shelley makes various references to family members (specifically by name), places she visited, and situations she faced, herself, all of these experiences are documented in her novel Frankenstein.
Beginning with first wave ecocriticism, the focus on 19th century literature positions Frankenstein right in the radar of the early period of American "nature writing" as well as British writers dealing with humanity and nature as an effect of Romanticism, such as William Wordsworth, John Keats, Samuel Taylor Coleridge among others. Mary Shelley directly quotes Wordsworth and Coleridge through the voice of what could be considered the most "human" of the main characters within Frankenstein, Victor. While lamenting over the loss of his friend Clerval, Victor refers to a passage from Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" to express the high value he holds for his departed friend, highlighting important interactions between human interests and nature. Many of the images of beauty expressed through Wordsworth's lines shows the appreciation for nature and its importance over human concerns, and an examination of the deep connections between humanity and nature that ideally should b...
The literary elements of remote and desolate settings, a metonymy of gloom and horror, and women in distress, clearly show “Frankenstein” to be a Gothic Romantic work. Mary Shelley used this writing style to effectively allow the reader to feel Victor Frankenstein’s regret and wretchedness. In writing “Frankenstein” Mary Shelley wrote one the most popular Gothic Romantic novels of all time.
Mary Shelley, with her brilliant tale of mankind's obsession with two opposing forces: creation and science, continues to draw readers with Frankenstein's many meanings and effect on society. Frankenstein has had a major influence across literature and pop culture and was one of the major contributors to a completely new genre of horror. Frankenstein is most famous for being arguably considered the first fully-realized science fiction novel. In Frankenstein, some of the main concepts behind the literary movement of Romanticism can be found. Mary Shelley was a colleague of many Romantic poets such as her husband Percy Shelley, and their friends William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge, even though the themes within Frankenstein are darker than their brighter subjects and poems. Still, she was very influenced by Romantics and the Romantic Period, and readers can find many examples of Romanticism in this book. Some people actually argue that Frankenstein “initiates a rethinking of romantic rhetoric”1, or is a more cultured novel than the writings of other Romantics. Shelley questions and interacts with the classic Romantic tropes, causing this rethink of a novel that goes deeper into societal history than it appears. For example, the introduction of Gothic ideas to Frankenstein challenges the typical stereotyped assumptions of Romanticism, giving new meaning and context to the novel. Mary Shelley challenges Romanticism by highlighting certain aspects of the movement while questioning and interacting with the Romantic movement through her writing.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a gothic science fiction novel written in the romantic era that focuses on the elements of life. The romantic era was sparked by the changing social environment, including the industrial revolution. It was a form of revolt against the scientific revolutions of the era by developing a form of literature that romanticize nature and giving nature godliness. This element of romanticized nature is a recurrent element in Frankenstein and is used to reflect emotions, as a place for relaxation and as foreshadowing. Frankenstein also includes various other elements of romanticism including strong emotions and interest in the common people.