The Use Of Romanticism In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

French poet Charles Baudelaire once said, “To say the word Romanticism is to say modern art- that is, intimacy, spirituality, color, aspiration towards the infinite, expressed by every means available to the arts.” Being an influential romantic writer himself, Baudelaire had a strong sense and understanding of the true meaning of Romanticism. Romanticism was a literary period that valued intuition, emotion, and imagination over logic. The Romantic period was clearly defined by its divergence from the concepts and styles of the literary period that preceded it, which was more scientific and realistic in nature. Romantic writings, such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, include specific traits, such as imagery, description, and supernatural

Frankenstein often dealt with many hardships in his life and although some of them were a result of his own actions, he believes nature was the escape path to bliss or at least some form of serene solitude. According to Matthew Brennan, this was also Mary Shelley’s way of escaping the grief and pain that she felt throughout her life. Brennan states, “Through this projection, Mary Shelley releases herself from the censorship the conscious mind places on painful memories and starts to work through her unresolved grief” (Brennan). In addition to Mary Shelley being a Romantic writer herself, it seems that she is a Romantic character as well. Mary Shelley’s use of exquisite description and the sublime in her novel truly set it apart from the other Romantic writings of that

The monster is a supernatural character himself because Romantic/Gothic stories often includes monsters, goblins, ghosts, etc. The overall concept that Victor was able to create such a monster is also not very realistic; however with today’s scientific advancements it may not seem as improbable. Nevertheless, the process of using electricity and dead body parts to create life is quite fictitious. Victor Frankenstein is also a romantic character because of his unnatural desires. Victor says, “Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil, as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave, or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay?” (Shelley 40). In this quote Frankenstein appears to be some kind of “dark magician” sinning against natural order in order to conduct his experiments. Frankenstein’s disturbing passion to create the monster compels him to dig graves for body parts. The main purpose of using these supernatural elements varies. According to Sir Walter Scott, “A more philosophical and refined use of the supernatural in works of fiction, is proper to that class in which the laws of nature are represented as altered, not for the purpose of pampering the imagination with wonders, but in order to show the probable effect which the supposed miracles would produce on those who witnessed them” (Sir Walter Scott). In Scott’s view, Romantic authors use