Analysis of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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Analysis of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Analyzing a book can be a killer. Especially when it contains tons of subtle little messages and hints that are not picked up unless one really dissects the material. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a prime example. It is analyzed by scholars all the time because of the subtle messages it sends through its themes, one of which needs to be discussed that is called Romanticism. Romanticism dealt with simplifying things as a break from the previous age which deal with grandeur. Romantics highly valued nature as well as isolation for salvation and healing. Frankenstein has all of these elements but some are more muted than others. There are also subtle nods to other works or the Romantic era throughout the book. However, let's start with obvious examples of Romanticism. Romanticism deals a lot with elements and how they affect human beings. In the very beginning of the story, Captain Walton finds Victor nearly dead after his ship is stuck in a sea of ice, where he says, "...and we beheld, stretched out in every direction, vast and irregular plains of ice, which seemed to have no end." (12). Ice symbolizes death and pain or illness in Romantic novels. This shows there is no coincidence in Victor's state of being and the environment they are in at the time. This is also one of those subtle nods towards former works Shelley had read. For anyone who has read "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (another Romantic work), his ship was stuck in a sea of ice as well. This theme of nature directly affecting, displaying, and sometimes even predicting, things that will happen in the novel is very much the Romantic style. We still use nature as symbols all the time as well. Fung Shua deals ... ... middle of paper ... ...sun, heaven and hell, and good and evil. The Creature and Victor through out the story are perfect dual characters that mirror each other. Victor is stripped of all his loved ones by the Creature and the Creature loses his loved ones (the cottagers). They are also thought of as evil but have good intentions at heart. Romantic examples flood this novel and make it intriguing for scholars even today because of its remarkable ability to give subtle nods to things that strike our inner most emotions. Mary Shelley managed to take our sympathy and pour it onto the Creature and tell the story in a truly Romantic fashion. Works Cited Almeida, Hermione. "Preface: Romanticism and the Science of Life" Spring 2004. Vol 43 Issue 1 pg 1-4 Rajan, Tilottama. "The Prose of the World: Romanticism" Dec 2006 Vol 67 Issue 4 Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein Pearson Education Inc 2007

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