Romanticism In Frankenstein Research Paper

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Shelley’s novel Frankenstein emphasizes intense emotion, nature, and problems with scientific advancement to stress to the reader the importance of Romanticism. While conceived as a horror story, Shelley being a Romantic, Frankenstein has many instances of beauty and emotion. Lots of the story takes place in the amazing mountains of France and among the stunning castles of the Rhine River. Misery and terror in the midst of extreme elegance creates a very unique story for the reader. This novel represents Romanticism in that it utilized strong, powerful language, vivid scenery, and puts down scientific advancement.
Shelley uses grand and magnificent scenery as the setting for most of the story. Nature, being one of the ideals of Romanticism …show more content…

Victor loses those closest to him one by one, and each time, his mental and physical state are trampled and he sinks deeper into a pit of despair: “After an interval I arose...made me shudder and resolved to return to Geneva with all possible speed”(pg 197-198). This passage is a great example for the different steps of sorrow Victor experiences at the hands of the monster. Victor has no way of predicting the next move of the fiend, so he is constantly in a trance of intense anguish: “But I had suffered him to depart, and he had directed...I will be with you on your wedding-night”(pg 168). While the monster sticks to the shadows and plots his next move, Victor has no way of knowing what to expect. He is eventually driven mad, and at the end of the story, accepts his demise and passes knowing that he was the cause of his terrible reality.
Shelley had to use the most sickening and rattling language to genuinely reach the reader and to express the main idea of Romanticism to leave science alone, get in touch with nature, to value true emotion, and to live a simple life. By creating a story as terrorizing as Frankenstein, Shelley scares the reader into avoiding science like the plague. Just seeing how terribly Victor’s life was destroyed could make people today think twice about science and some of the developments happening

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