Works of Mary Shelley, William Wordsworth, and Lord Byron
Literature is filled with the rise and fall of heroes, of civilizations, of men in general. The Romantic Era in England turned out works that dealt specifically with the rise and fall of the human spirit. Writers examined what makes us thrive as humans, and similarly what makes us fail. Such works commonly contain the theme of spiritual or social atrophy, and because the Industrial Revolution was in full swing at the time, these works often address the modern human break with the natural world. The question posed is this: Have we as humans sold out, and can we be saved from our own destruction? Works by Mary Shelley, William Wordsworth and Lord Byron demonstrate the atrophy of humanity, but all three works present a solution for redemption.
Lord Byron's "Darkness" serves as an indirect warning to the reader. Byron makes no "call to action"; in the first line he suggests that his vision is "not all a dream," (l. 1) but simply what will happen if change does not occur-even what has already begun to happen. The poem is aptly titled; its theme is the reign of darkness in the last days of man. The only light in Byron's dream comes from the fire of destruction: "the habitations of all things which dwell were burnt for beacons," (l. 13). Homes (which represent civilization) are destroyed to aid survival. The humans in Byron's vision hastened their own destruction, they "fed their funeral piles with fuel." (l. 38). In Byron's vision, the birds have "useless wings," famine reigns, and even dogs attack the corpses of their masters. One dog provides an isolated occasion of hope in the poem: "he was faithful to a corse, and kept the birds and beast and famish'd men at...
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...th nature the entire time, he would not have experienced such despair and loss.
Though Victor Frankenstein was doomed to destruction, by his story Shelley presents a solution for the reader: Do not lose your connection with the natural world or with your family and friends. Wordsworth and Byron beckon similarly to the reader to foster love and passion for life, because such pursuits will keep the reader's spirit from atrophy. Wordsworth uses himself as an example, writing that a poet is "a man pleased with his own passions and volitions, and who rejoices more than other men in the spirit of life," (Wordsworth 1443). All three writers agree that in order to keep his spirit alive, a man must pursue things outside of himself, whether that pursuit is love, awe of nature or a passion for poetry. Their message is clear: Stay passionate, and you will stay alive.
The unwavering desire for knowledge may cause the decay of relationships. This idea is displayed as Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist, continually desires to create human life from inanimate materials, which leads to the destruction of many of his relationships. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, exhibits how the constant desire for information may cause the deterioration of relationships through the decayed relationships Victor has with himself, his family, and society. The constant desire for knowledge may cause the obliteration of the relationship one has with themselves. Victor becomes obsessed with creating life, and this causes his overall health to decay.
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley highlights on the experiences her characters undergo through the internal war of passion and responsibility. Victor Frankenstein lets his eagerness of knowledge and creating life get so out of hand that he fails to realize what the outcome of such a creature would affect humankind. Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, highlights on how Frankenstein’s passion of knowledge is what ultimately causes the decline of his health and the death of him and his loved ones.
According to the history books, the era of Romanticism and the subsequent Enlightenment have long since past, but their far-reaching effects are still evident in literature written in the 20th century. The importance of human merit and worth rooted in Romantic thought has transcended the bounds of time and manifested itself in the novels of Caldwell and Himes through a preoccupation with what it means to be human. In God’s Little Acre, not only are readers prone to question whether or not the Walden family is subhuman because of their problematic behaviors, but the character of Buck remarks that “God put us in the bodies of animals and ...
The Romantic period in American literature is different than what it initially sounds like. There is a lot of talk of evaluation and judgement of human life as we know it to be. In works like “The Devil and Tom Walker”, “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment”, and “The Pit and the Pendulum” humanity seems to be put on trial and assessed to the fullest degree. This paper will further analyze humanity as a whole, based on the representations of these works above.
Literature is often used to convey messages to their audience, through art, play or poetry. Whether it is intentional or not, an author can not help to include some aspect of the political events that happened during that time period. Two movements discussed in this essay are Enlightenment (17th – 18th Century) and Romanticism (18th – 19th Century) and through literature, we come to acknowledge the presence and representation of evil and how they shape society. Enlightenment thinkers value reason, rationality and moderation, whereas Romanticism encouraged imagination, emotion and individual sensibility. Tartuffe by Moliere demonstrates all of the Enlightenment values in his play, whereas Frankenstein by Mary Shelley emphasizes emotion, passion and the natural world. This essay will explore ways in which human reason and society can be evil and deceiving; although some individuals may think that evil is instilled in us from the day we were born.
The Romantic period at its height extended over just a bit more than a century, from the latter half of the eighteenth century through to nearly the end of the nineteenth century. During this period, a new school of poetry was forged, and with it, a new moral philosophy. But, as the nineteenth century wound down, the Romantic movement seemed to be proving itself far more dependent on the specific cultural events it spanned than many believed; that is, the movement was beginning to wind down in time with the ebbing of the industrial and urban boom in much the same way that the movement grew out of the initial period of industrial and urban growth. Thus, it would be easy to classify the Romantic movement as inherently tied to its cultural context. The difficulty, then, comes when poets and authors outside of this time period-and indeed in contexts quite different then those of the original Romantic poets-begin to label themselves as Romantics.
In Frankenstein, Shelley describes Walton’s perception of Victor’s perilous adventure to eliminate his life-threatening creation. In accounting Frankenstein’s journey, she adds a cautionary message to society by illustrating the devastating consequences of scientific inquiry and the overall acquirement of knowledge. She uses both Victor and Walton as examples of men attempting to exceed human limits. From Victor’s initial “success” with reanimation, his creation ultimately symbolizes the unpredictability of unrestricted experimentation. His creation throws him into multiple depressions and Victor struggles to maintain a stable life. In the end, Walton considers Victor’s demise from a disastrous appetite for “nature’s secrets” as a lesson for his own conquest for glory and knowledge. In this, Shelley uses Frankenstein to warn society about its further audacity in pushing boundaries to uncomfortable limits.
While immersed in its beauty, Victor and his creation escaped worldly problems and entered a supernatural bliss. In short, Shelley presents nature as very powerful. It has the power to put the humanity back into man when the unnatural world has stripped him of his moral fiber. In comparison to the pure beauty of nature, the unnatural acts of man are far more emphasized; therefore, the reader is clearly aware of man’s faults and their repercussions. Unfortunately, not even the power of nature could balance the work of man: “the cup of life was poisoned forever.”
In the three chosen works of literature, Ordinary people by Judith Guest, Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and Antigone by Sophocles, alienation, initiation, journey, suffering and reconciliation are among the themes covered by the these great works of literature. The writers through the various characters in the scripts have clearly brought out the five themes as the main themes. These works of literature act as a reflection of what was happening in the society then. In terms of literature not much has changed and would still expect the same to be happening in the society today. As acknowledged, literature indeed reflects the society, its ill values and good values. In mirroring of the ills of the society, the view is to make the society realize its mistakes and make amends. The good values are set out for others to emulate. As an imitation of human actions, literature presents an image of what people do, think and do in the society.
The idea of duality permeates the literary world. Certain contradictory commonplace themes exist throughout great works, creation versus destruction, light versus dark, love versus lust, to name a few, and this trend continues in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The pivotal pair in this text however, is monotony versus individuality. The opposing entities of this pairing greatly contrast against each other in Frankenstein, but individuality proves more dominant of the two in this book.
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...
Mary Shelley discusses many important themes in her famous novel Frankenstein. She presents these themes through the characters and their actions, and many of them represent occurrences from her own life. Many of the themes present debateable issues, and Shelley's thoughts on them. Three of the most important themes in the novel are birth and creation; alienation; and the family and the domestic affections.
The political, ideological, and economic climate of the late 18th and early 19th centuries was ideal for allowing the Romantic Revolution to take hold and flourish. It began primarily in England and France, but soon spread to much of Europe and to the United States. This essay will focus on the Romantic’s relationship with the natural world, their distaste for the Industrial Revolution, and how the Romantic poets valued imagination and emotional connections. The Romantics had a lasting impact on European and American society, political ideals, and the regard we hold for ideals and values such as nature and childhood. The Romantic’s ideas ran counter to much of the thinking of the intellectual community and to the values of industry and government of the time. By changing and challenging the minds of the masses to think differently they created a revolution in literature.
Since the beginning of time itself, there have been many different individuals who have significantly impacted the world. These impacts on the world can have a range, but are not limited to categories such as science, mathematics, literature, politics, music, athletics and much more. However, of all things, among those categories, one of the most significant impacts on the world, comes from none other than that of literature. The achievements of literature have been known to strike deeper into the hearts of people than many other achievements throughout history. In Fact, many of the most significant works of literature come from one man. This man was considered one of the most influential Romantic Writers of all time and was incredibly well renown for his dramatic, lyrical, and narrative works. The person was none other than that of George Gordon Byron, otherwise referred to as Lord Byron. (The sixth Lord Byron) He was famous for writing eight different plays, focusing on very speculative, or even historical subjects (Although, never intended for stage), and created what is referred to as a very “brooding and defiant personna,” called the Byronic Hero. (Snyder 40). Lord Byron was a well renown poet from the nineteenth century onward because of his very significant works of literature, squandered fortune, ambiguous sexuality, as well as his intense political convictions.
Both Shelley, in "Ode to the West Wind," and Wordsworth, in "Intimations of Immortality," are very similar in their use of nature to describe the life and death of the human spirit. As they both describe nature these two poets use the comparison of how the Earth and all its life is the same as our own human life. I feel that Shelley uses the seasons as a way of portraying the human life during reincarnation. Wordsworth seems to concentrate more on the stages that a person goes through during life. Shelley compares himself to such things as clouds, leaves, and waves. He is writing the poem as if he were an object of the earth, and what it is like to once live and then die only to be reborn. On the other hand, Wordsworth takes images like meadows, fields, and birds and uses them to show what gives him life. Life being what ever a person needs to move on, and with out those objects can't have life. Wordsworth does not compare himself to these things like Shelley, but instead uses them as an example of how he feels about the stages of living. Starting from an infant to a young boy into a man, a man who knows death is coming and can do nothing about it because it's part of life.