Shelley's Aspects Of Romanticism In Frankenstein By Mary Shelley

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Of primordial importance to romanticism is the emphasis on the individual’s expression of emotion; an aspect of literature that Shelley embraces when she places the monster in an environment and develops his ability to feel. For example, the monster describes that “sometimes I tried to imitate the pleasant songs of the birds but was unable. Sometimes I wished to express my sensations in my own mode, but the uncouth and inarticulate sounds which broke from me frightened me into silence again” (54). Although the monster is unnatural and unable to express himself, he is only beginning his journey of expression. Soon, the monster begins to think that the “gentle manners of the girl enticed my love” (57). An expression towards Agatha that is a great achievement in the scheme of romanticism. Then, when she “knelt at his feet. …show more content…

Then, the monster could not “describe the delight I felt when I learned the ideas appropriated to each of these sounds and was able to pronounce them” (60). This indicates that he begins to feel overwhelmed with all of the humane feelings; a moment that would mark the milestone of ultimate assimilation into the social atmosphere of human life. In another moment, the monster notices a woman come by and “Felix seemed ravished with delight when he saw her, every trait of sorrow vanished from his face, and it instantly expressed a degree of ecstatic joy, of which I could hardly have believed it capable; his eyes sparkled, as his cheek flushed with pleasure” (63). At this moment the monster begins to understand human emotion. However, he also begins to develop feelings of envy because he knows subconsciously that he might not be accepted by a society filled with beautiful people. As shown by the next scene in which the monster, “cherished hope, it is true, but it vanished when I beheld my person reflected in water or my shadow in the moonshine, even as that frail image and that inconstant shade”

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