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Influences Frankenstein had on popular culture
Gothic literature and culture
Mary shelly frankenstein literary analysis
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Mary Shelley’s gothic book Frankenstein shows allusions and shares comparisons with Rime Of The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Coleridge. Some of these can be found in the first 16 pages of the novel, in Robert Walton’s letters. Whilst stuck in the ice on page nine, Robert sees a figure on a sled, and writes, “a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the sledge and guided the dogs...We were, as we believed, many hundred miles from any land” (Shelley 9). The man in the sledge comes as an omen to Robert and his crew. Far from civilization, the person that is seen by them is a sign of the future. Similarly, in Rime of The Ancient Mariner, an omen presents itself to them, “At length did cross an Albatross: Through
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein concludes with a series of speeches from Victor Frankenstein and the Creature to Captain Walton, including one where Frankenstein expends his physical strength to persuade Walton’s crew to complete their mission. This speech is striking considering Frankenstein’s previous dangerously ambitious and irresponsible actions. His speech is one of heroics and sublimity, two major values of the Romantic poet. Reading Frankenstein as a reflection of the Romantic poets who surrounded Mary Shelley while she wrote the novel, Frankenstein’s speech is one of a failed Romantic poet – one who takes Shelley’s contemporaries’ ideals too far. Shelley highlights the irony of Frankenstein’s speech through his uncharacteristic use of
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. Edited with an Introduction and notes by Maurice Hindle. Penguin books, 1992
Shelley, Mary "Frankenstein". The Presence of Others. Comp Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruskiewicz. New York: St. Martins, 1997 230-235.
In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, Victor and his creature share many characteristics, although they are opposing forces because of their differences. Even though our perception of Frankenstein is a creature created by a mad scientist during a dark stormy day, waiting for a lightning bolt to strike the creature and yelling “It’s Alive!” the actual story in Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, has more depth and meaning to what Frankenstein and his creature really is. The story takes place during the late 18th century during Robert Wilson's voyage through the Arctic Ocean. After many weeks at sea, his ship suddenly gets stuck in ice, and becomes stranded as they wait for the ice to thaw out.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein opens with Robert Walton’s ship surrounded in ice, and Robert Walton watching, along with his crew, as a huge, malformed "traveller" on a dog sled vanished across the ice. The next morning, the fog lifted and the ice separated and they found a man, that was almost frozen lying on a slab of floating ice. By giving him hot soup and rubbing his body with brandy, the crew restored him to his health. A few days later he was able to speak and the stranger, Victor Frankenstein, seemed distressed to learn that a sled had been sighted prior to his rescue from the ice. Then he began to tell his story.
This essay has argued that both works, Frankenstein and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, have similarities in terms of themes and narrative structure. Shelley and Coleridge used various narrators to tell their stories, and by doing that,14 Furthermore, both works are structured in the same form, with the frame narration, a story within a story, which provides a frame of verisimilitude to an improbable tale. In brief, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a constant presence in the novel Frankenstein.
The first allusion occurs in the letters. Robert Walton writes to his sister Margaret to not worry because he “shall kill no albatross; therefore do not be alarmed for my safety or if I should come back to you as worn and woeful as the ‘Ancient Mariner” (Shelley 15). The Mariner he refers to, killed an albatross while on a voyage to the south pole, bringing back luck and death to his crew. Only after realizing all God’s creatures are beautiful and need respect does good luck finally follow him. Walton’s allusion informs Margaret he will literally kill no albatross as well as be careful and kind to all creatures. He follows suit with his promise by nursing a stranger and respecting the wishes of his crew members to return south when the ice breaks up. In the same fashion, several allusions in the plot occur between the two stories. Like the Mariner towards the albatross, Victor Frankenstein believes his creation to be a hideous monster. He then rejects his creation and later tries to kill him. In this situation, Frankenstein plays the role of God, because he created life, and the Creature represents the albatross, the life Frankenstein created. By rejecting his creation, Frankenstein disrespects it, similar to when the Mariner kills the albatross, foretelling of bad luck which plagues him thereafter. Frankenstein does not learn to respect and love his creation like God loves all his creatures and as his duty as a creator obligates him to. Thus, the Creature torments his creator for ignoring his obligations and needs. Shelley incorporates parallels to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner to foreshadow Walton’s kindness and subsequent safe travels as well as Frankenstein’s
“Stay here and listen to the nightmares of the sea” - Iron Maiden (Rime of the Ancient Mariner) In “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Samuel Taylor Coleridge illustrates the story through the belief in God, and Christian faith. Throughout Mariner’s journey, many signified meanings interpret an important role such as, religious and natural symbolisms.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a novel in conscious dialogue with canonical classics and contemporary works. It contains references to Coleridge, Wordsworth, and P. B. Shelley, but also to Cervantes and Milton. It is the latter's Paradise Lost which informs the themes and structure of the novel more than any other source. Like many of her contemporaries, Mary Shelley draws parallels between Milton's Satan and the Titan Prometheus of Greek myth. However, the two are not simply equated (as in Byron's poem, "Prometheus"), but appear in various facets through both Victor Frankenstein and his creation. Furthermore, God, Zeus, and Adam are also evoked through these characters. Though its treatment of these mythical figures identifies it with Romantic Satanism,1[1] Frankenstein reaches a moral conclusion at odds with the ideals of Shelley's contemporaries, and far closer to those of Milton.
Shelley’s allusions display the creature’s anguish of being alone in the world and how it causes him to feel. “He bounded over the crevices in the ice, among which I had walked with caution.” (69), the monster has chosen to make his residence among the uneven surface of a glacier. His shack on the glacier is a symbol of his perennial isolation from man and never finding acceptance in this world. A second symbol of isolation and loneliness is large bodies of water.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. Edited with an Introduction and notes by Maurice Hindle. Penguin books, 1992
She uses these references to show the relationship between God’s Adam and Frankenstein’s creature, and how nothing turns out as great as God’s creation. Mary Shelley’s goal is to teach a lesson on how destructive the desire for knowledge really is. Robert Walton, an Arctic explorer, demonstrates the idea of knowledge as “dangerous” through his letters to his sister. He shows determination while on his quest, but it is glory that he seeks the most. Walton states, “I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man”(8).
The events in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley surrounding fire and ice are far from coincidental. From Walton's dream of reaching a country of “eternal light” (Shelley, 51) to the image of the creature drifting off into the darkness on an ice-raft, Frankenstein repetitively revolves around these two opposing elements. Separately, fire and ice symbolize several themes in this novel. To begin, fire symbolizes themes such as knowledge or destruction. For example, knowledge, like fire, can advance us in many ways, but can also harm us if used improperly or pursued too far, which Victor soon realizes. Alternatively, ice can be seen as a symbol of fate, isolation, or revenge. Ultimately Victor’s life becomes focused on the chase and pursuit between
There are many very obvious parallels between the Mariner of “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and Frankenstein. These characters are both forced to tell their stories and hold their audience captive, the Mariner with “his glittering eye” (Coleridge) and Frankenstein with “his
Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner can be interpreted in many different ways regarding the question of the relationship between the man and the nature. According to Geoffrey H. Hartman "Coleridge's poem traces the 'dim and perilous way' of a soul that has broken with nature and feels the burdenous guilt of selfhood" (48). Robert Penn Warren explains his perception and “the primary theme in this poem as the theme of sacramental vision, or the