Ozymandias And Frankenstein Comparison Essay

Many times throughout history, one person has tried to prove themselves better than God or nature. Nature, however, always prevails in the end. The Romantics of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries believed that nature was a glorious and powerful force that was one with God, and emphasized this point in their works. Two such romantics were the couple Percy and Mary Shelley, who through their works Ozymandias and Frankenstein, showed the disastrous consequences defying nature could have. Both authors had experienced loss; the loss of some of their children and later Mary’s loss of Percy in a boating accident. These experiences showed them how powerful nature was, and how pointless it was to defy it. Both Mary and Percy’s belief in this showed through in their writing. So, despite how different Frankenstein and Ozymandias seem at first, both works reveal a common lesson: One should never believe themselves to be above nature, and if one does it will never end well.

In Frankenstein, Victor exhibits extreme hubris, believing himself to be above everyone and

everything, including nature. His primary motivation in creating this creature is bringing glory to himself: “A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. I might in process of time (although I now found it impossible) renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption.” (54) He believes that he can become just as powerful as God and nature by creating life. Even when his plans go awry, this does not change his thinking. Despite the fact that Victor has created a creature faster and stronger than a human being, Victor still believes that he can control it, because he is the creator and therefore above it, just as God is above human beings. Even once he realizes the destruction his creation is causing, he will not tell anyone the truth, as doing so would hurt his pride. When he finally goes to the magistrate, having realized that he cannot stop the monster on his own, he still believes he knows better than everyone else:
But to a Genevan magistrate, whose mind was occupied by far other ideas than those of devotion and heroism, this elevation of mind had much the appearance of madness. …
‘Man,’ I cried, ‘how ignorant art thou in thy pride of wisdom! Cease; you know not what it is you say.’ I broke from the house angry and disturbed. (248)
When Victor is disagreed with, he changes his mind about getting help, and sets about chasing the monster on his own, putting his pride above ensuring the safety of others and doing the right thing.
Due to Victor’s hubris and defiance of nature, his plans not only do not turn out as he planned, but end only in destruction and despair. After Victor pridefully refuses to help his creation, he decides to destroy Victor’s life, and does so easily, despite Victor’s efforts to stop him.
[The creature] had pronounced the words ‘I shall be with you on your wedding-night,’ I should regard the threatened fate as unavoidable. But death was no evil to me if the loss of Elizabeth were balanced with it, and I therefore, with a contented and even cheerful countenance, agreed with my father that if my cousin would consent, the ceremony should take place in ten days, and thus put, as I imagined, the seal to my fate. (235)
Because of Victor’s pride and self-centered nature, he believes the creature intends to kill him on his wedding night, not Elizabeth. It never crosses his mind that his creation may be clever enough to act in any way which he could not anticipate: even after listening to his creation’s entire story, he still thinks his creation’s life is only about him. His creator’s arrogance, pride and steadfast belief that he is above nature get in the way of helping his creation, and later preventing the destruction of his life. The destruction caused by the creation in turn leads to despair, also the result of Victor’s hubris. Despite Victor’s despair over the actions of his creation, and his responsibility for them, he does not consider until the end of the novel that he may need help ending his creature’s rampage. When he finally does ask for help, he does not accept when it is offered, still believing that he knows best despite his failures. Victor’s pride prevents him from seeing the world clearly, and as a result is not able to do what most would consider the right thing: confessing to his actions and letting others help fix his mistakes. Victor’s life ends in ruin, and he only has himself to blame. Frankenstein is a cautionary tale, warning that if one thinks themselves to be above nature, their life will end in ruin as well.
Ozymandias’s hubris and defiance of nature also ends in ruin. While Ozymandias believes that his work will last forever, as shown in lines 4-8, his sculptor believes otherwise:
... whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read ...
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. (4-5, 7-8)
Ozymandias’s hubris prevents him from seeing what his sculptor sees: that no man is above nature, and that nature will take back his empire in time. While his empire was once great, the sands of time have taken it back over, leaving only Ozymandias’s message to be mocked by those who know no one can defeat nature. Just as in Frankenstein, the defiance of nature leads only to nature proving herself more powerful than even the most amazing creative feats in history. At the end of both works, nature prevails, reaffirming the natural order.
Despite their differences, the lesson to be taken from both Frankenstein and Ozymandias is that no one should think himself to be above nature, because nature always takes back what is hers in the end.Victor Frankenstein’s life ends in ruin after he pridefully considers himself to be above nature and attempts to create life.

While he does succeed, his plans go awry, and his life ends in ruin, due only to his hubris. Similarly, Ozymandias succeeds at what he sets out to do, but cannot foresee that his power will not be eternal due to his hubris. In both works, the main character tries and fails at defying nature, something which should never be attempted. Both authors, being Romantics, strongly believed in the sanctity of nature, and this showed through in their works. Through the fates of their characters, they show that the defiance of nature is futile, and that one should never attempt to be above

God.