Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula Evil features in both ‘Dracula’ and ‘Frankenstein’ but the personification of this evil is different in both novels. A feeling of menace and doom pervades ‘Dracula’ because of his supernatural powers. One feels that he has control of the evil and he has the power to manipulate the environment and people for his own ends. ‘Frankenstein’ centres on the creation of a monster made from parts of dead bodies and the fear created by the monster due to circumstance and the ignorance of society. Also, one feels a certain amount of apprehension that the monster is deserted by his creator and loses control without his support and guidance.
At the same time, she feels that the powers of the humans are oppressed by this faith. This position is articulated by the narrator of the novel, Victor Frankenstein, who says that “nothing contributes so much to tranquillize the mind as a steady purpose, - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye” (Shelley 6). This logic and pure scientific rationalism is drastically changed after the failure and the creation of the monster. Frankenstein is disillusioned and claims that he can really create something. Though, the choice whether this creation will be prone to bad or to good nature is after nature, God, or fate (Shelley 239).
The monster feels more indeed of betrayal of Victor because what he does to him. In the Novel Victor Frankenstein is a betrayal of life itself because it should be given naturally and not created by a scientist man. The monster is actually the one who is majorly betrayed, he may look like a hideous dangerous monster on the outside but, not one within himself.. From the beginning of the novel, Victor betrays the monster, and this betrayal is seen on many levels throughout the novel. The tragic figure in Mary Shelley’s horror novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, is truly the instrument of betrayal to his creation of the monster because life should be given naturally not by creation of suffering and horrific which is made by
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.
Even though Victor is successful in creating a human heart beat with the use of dead human rem... ... middle of paper ... ... accused mankind of being barbaric. If Victor and society would have been able to get past their prejudices of the unfamiliar, Victor, his family, and the monster may have been fortunate enough to avoid their doomed endings. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein focuses on several social and emotional themes throughout the novel. The consequence of obtaining too much knowledge for one’s good begins Victor Frankenstein on a canter to an early, lonely grave. The theme of isolation inevitably creates two dangerous monsters within Victor and his creation.
Gothic fiction emerged in the late eighteenth century and it was an extension of Romanticism. The principal characteristic of Gothic is the account of terrifying situations with elements like the sublime, madness, mystery, death, supernatural and horror. But as all the literary genres it underwent a transition. In the nineteenth century, the coming of Queen Victoria to the throne, the introduction of new scientific theories, the publication of The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin and industrialization modified the structures of society , its motivation, and believes. This influenced the genre, creating a new literary movement: Victorian Gothic, and therefore also the novels written in these different periods.
The romantic period flourished during the eighteenth century, and differed from the literary period that preceded it, which was more rational. Romanticism on the other hand, relied more on the imagination, and reflected readers own internal conflicts and desires. A key characteristic of the historical period was the romantic narrative, where the speakers were indistinguishable from the authors themselves. People found themselves finding sublime meanings all throughout romantic literature helping their writers to get their messages across. Mary Shelly redefines these previous assumptions in her novel Frankenstein by the use of various points of view through the characters Victor Frankenstein, the unnamed monster, and Robert Walton which conveys the overall theme of monstrosity.
When authors write a story they “tell a particular story to a particular audience in a particular situation for, presumably, a particular purpose” (Phelan 4). Northanger Abbey and Frankenstein came out in the same year, were both gothic novels, and were both written by female authors. Despite these similarities, the two authors produced very different works of fiction and have very different authorial intentions for their stories. Austen and Shelley both use gothic elements to portray their purpose for their stories. The two authors create characters exhibiting powerful emotions and moralize through the usage of these emotions.
Frankenstein Often times an author’s background shapes their writing thus instilling a sense of curiosity in the audience. In her work, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley exposes the grotesque aspects of life as it resonates with her past. Considered a Gothic novel, and one of the first Science Fictions, Frankenstein also contains several components of the Romantic Movement. The Romantic Movement was a period in British history when people felt a deep connection to nature, science, and their emotions. Shelley uses the foundation of a Romantic novel to construct a work unlike any other of its time period.
Also, Frankenstein warns a modern audience against prejudiced. Mary Shelley does this by creating pity towards his creation and lastly the reader empathises with the monster. Furthermore, Frankenstein also contains warning against bad parenting. As Victor, his creator abandoned the creation, and the relationship between Victor and the monster is not how a father and son relationship is meant to be. Lastly, the novel warns the dangers of interfering nature.