The Many Romantic Elements of Frankenstein

637 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Frankenstein and the female role

The Many Romantic Elements of Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein exhibits many gothic elements, but most would argue that it is more of a Romantic novel considering its idea of true inspiration. Victor Frankenstein takes only his love for knowledge and science, and creates life. Although it ends up disappointing him and becomes the ruin of Victor, this monster came from much creativity. To create something from absolutely nothing is a most inspiring thing, classifying it as a romantic. Frankenstein is composed of many elements of romanticism, such as supernatural being, emotions produced by the characters of the story, and the effect of nature.
Frankenstein itself consists of many supernatural occurrences that relate back to romanticism. What Victor created was not considered human, although it had some human characteristics, it was handmade and resembled that of a monster. Though he had good intentions, this creature was rejected from society and mankind, based on his hideous looks, making him a Romantic hero to many. He was never really a monster until society made him one by corrupting and despising him, causing him to turn towards murder. Most would classify Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as a horror story because of all of the innocent people in which the “daemon” had killed. These people, and even a pure child, had done nothing to disturb the creature; selfishly, the creature murdered them out of pure revenge for his creator just because of his own misery. However, Victor Frankenstein achieved his goal of "bestowing animation upon lifeless matter" (p. 48), representing Mary Shelley’s belief that even the impossible could be accomplished.
In the story of Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein takes into consideration his...

... middle of paper ...

...plessness that he feels and he often turns to it throughout the book.
Victor Frankenstein created a monster who ended up being the ruin of him, but one cannot blame the monster for his acts when he was misunderstood and rejected from everyone. It was Victor’s duty and responsibility, as his creator, to take him in and love his creation as he was and not abandon him based on his looks, therefore in a way, Victor got what he deserved. His emotions got the best of him and he desired revenge on his creator and all whom his creator loved. The so called monster or “daemon," whom everyone saw disgust in, is the genuine Romantic hero. Though Frankenstein has many gothic elements, such as the gore of the story, it is a true Romantic novel and exhibits many qualities of romanticism from the power of nature and the supernatural, to the works of ones emotions and inspiration.

Show More
Related

  • Frankenstein Annotated Bibliography

    587 Words  | 2 Pages

    Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature highlights Frankenstein as the work of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, published in 1818, and it brought into the Western world one of its best known monsters. Elements of gothic romance and science fiction help in telling the story of young Swiss scientist Victor Frankenstein, as he creates a horrible monster by putting together limbs and veins, leading to destruction and his later regret. The creature is left alone in the world, even by his own creator, for his hideous appearance, and through watching humans he learns their ways of living. Haunting Victor due to his loneliness, he forcefully makes Victor agree to make him a female companion, but Victor’s regret and misery enables him to tear up his

    Read More

  • Accountability of Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1514 Words  | 4 Pages

    Although humans have the tendency to set idealistic goals to better future generations, often the results can prove disastrous, even deadly. The tale of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, focuses on the outcome of one man's idealistic motives and desires of dabbling with nature, which result in the creation of horrific creature. Victor Frankenstein was not doomed to failure from his initial desire to overstep the natural bounds of human knowledge. Rather, it was his poor parenting of his progeny that lead to his creation's thirst for the vindication of his unjust life. In his idealism, Victor is blinded, and so the creation accuses him for delivering him into a world where he could not ever be entirely received by the people who inhabit it. Not only failing to foresee his faulty idealism, nearing the end of the tale, he embarks upon a final journey, consciously choosing to pursue his creation in vengeance, while admitting he himself that it may result in his own doom. The creation of an unloved being and the quest for the elixir of life holds Victor Frankenstein more accountable for his own death than the creation himself.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Victor Frankenstein And The Monster

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    The gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley highlights the idea that the real monsters of the world are humans and society, and that most traits that most humans despise are actually within all of us. Frankenstein shows that any human can be so corrupt as to be a “monster”, and that beings society considers repulsive and evil can be human at heart. Shelley exposes human faults such as hubris and irresponsibility through the main character of the novel Victor Frankenstein, who creates a living being and refuses to care for it, sending it into the unwelcoming hands of society. Victors irresponsible actions lead to many deaths and events. As the novel progresses, Dr. Victor Frankenstein and the Monster he creates become more and more similar

    Read More

  • Effects Of Abandoned Child Syndrome In Frankenstein

    1775 Words  | 4 Pages

    With the appearance of a monster and the mind of a sociopath, it could be perceived that the true villain of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is the creature that Victor Frankenstein created. However, despite the creature killing the family members that Frankenstein loved the most in revenge for his abandonment, Victor Frankenstein is the true monster of Frankenstein, mostly because of his narcissism, but also because he believes himself to be the only victim, he is continuously disgusted by and abandons his creation, and the way that Frankenstein treats his creature in the times after he meets the creature again is more evil than anything that the creature has done to Frankenstein. Frankenstein, obsessed with bringing the dead back to life, sets

    Read More

  • Frankenstein Comparison Essay

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel, Frankenstein, a doctor named Victor Frankenstein created a monster. Victor’s monster was created using old human parts, chemicals, and a “spark.” Victor wanted to create this monster in order to benefit mankind, and for the purpose of playing God. Victor thought his creation would turn out great, but in all actuality, his monster ended up terribly wrong (Shelley, 145). The monster was a deformed man, standing eight feet tall, with yellow eyes, black hair, black lips, and skin that did not conceal his internal features (Shelley, 144-145). Even though the monster was very grown, he had the mind of a newborn child, and he was very kind and gentle (Shelley, 327). The monster’s appearance terrified Victor, and he immediately abandoned it. Dr. Victor Frankenstein also never named his creation because he disliked it that much. The monster was longing for love, and since no one loved him, he became very violent. He ended up killing Victor’s brother and best friend out of pure revenge (Shelley, 193). Anytime the monster tried to help people, he was bea...

    Read More

  • Frankenstein Out of Class Essay

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a tragic hero, Victor’s tragedies begin with his overly obsessive thirst for knowledge. Throughout his life, Victor has always been looking for new things to learn in the areas of science and philosophy. He goes so far with his knowledge that he ends up creating a living creature. Victor has extremely high expectations for his creation but is highly disappointed with the outcome. He says, “I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley 35). Frankenstein neglects the creature because of his horrifying looks, which spark the beginning of numerous conflicts and tragedies. At this point, the creature becomes a monster because of Victor’s neglect and irresponsibility. The monster is forced to learn to survive on his own, without anyone or anything to guide him along the way. Plus, the monster’s ugly looks cause society to turn against him, ad...

    Read More

  • Victor is the True Villain of Frankenstein

    1243 Words  | 3 Pages

    At first glance, the monster in Frankenstein is a symbol of evil, whose only desire is to ruin lives. He has been called "A creature that wreaks havoc by destroying innocent lives often without remorse. He can be viewed as the antagonist, the element Victor must overcome to restore balance and tranquility to the world." But after the novel is looked at on different levels, one becomes aware that the creature wasn't responsible for his actions, and was just a victim of circumstance. The real villain of Frankenstein isn't the creature, but rather his creator, Victor.

    Read More

  • Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein: The Romantic Hero

    572 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shelley’s writing was heavily influenced by the artistic movement that emerged in the 19th century in England. One of her most popular novels, Frankenstein, features one of the key aspects of romanticism: the romantic hero. In the excerpt from this novel in Fiero’s The Humanistic Tradition Dr. Frankenstein is shown to possess the qualities of said hero. The plot of Shelly’s Frankenstein highlights the unmanageable quest of Dr. Frankenstein’s attempt to overcome the decaying effect of death. His aspirations and ultimate “failure” are what brand his character the romantic hero of the novel.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Love In Frankenstein

    2110 Words  | 5 Pages

    Someone once said, “No one can hate more than someone who used to love you”. In other words, hate comes from love. We hate the ones we once use to love, and that same love can be shifted towards hate due rejections of acceptance. Some say that hate is natural and other says it is taught. Though out the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, we see the same love and hate relationship between the creature and victor. Shelley provides numerical examples in which we see that the creature learns to hate because of Victor. Victor and the creature did not get along because Victor sees the creature as “The other” therefore the creature begins to view himself as such and begins to hate.

    Read More

  • Frankenstein and the Gothic Genre

    2205 Words  | 5 Pages

    As can be seen Frankenstein utilises many of the conventions of the gothic genre and can thus be considered a gothic novel. Its links to the Romantic movement are also evident. The stereotypical settings, characters and plots, interest in the sublime, emphasis on suspense, the production of excessive emotion in the reader ( particularly that of terror and horror), the presence of the supernatural and the notion of the ’double’ are all features of Frankenstein that illustrate this.

    Read More

  • Who Is the Real Monster in Frankenstein?

    1708 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout Frankenstein, one assumes that Frankenstein’s creation is the true monster. While the creation’s actions are indeed monstrous, one must also realize that his creator, Victor Frankenstein, is also a villain. His inconsiderate and selfish acts as well as his passion for science result in the death of his friend and family members and ultimately in his own demise. Throughout the novel, Shelley investigates the idea of monstrosity. She makes the point that a monster does not have to be genuinely evil in order to be considered monstrous.

    Read More

  • Romantic and Enlightenment Ideas in Frankenstein

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Enlightenment age encouraged everyone to use reason and science in order to rid the world of barbarism and superstition. In fact, Kant argued that the "public use of one's reason must always be free, and it alone can bring about enlightenment among men" (Kant 3). Enlightenment thinking not only influenced philosophy and the sciences, but also literature (especially in Pope's Essay on Man). In reaction to Enlightenment's strict empiricism, Romanticism was born. In Frankenstein, Shelley argues (1) that Victor Frankenstein's role as an Enlightenment hero, not only pulled him out of nature, but made him a slave to his creation; (2) that Frankenstein's role as a revolting romantic failed, because he didn't take responsibility for his creation; and (3) mankind must find a balance between the Enlightenment and Romantic ideologies.

    Read More

  • Mary Shelley´s Frankenstein, an Example of Gothic Romance

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s world renowned book, “Frankenstein”, is a narrative of how Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant chemist, succeeds in creating a living being. Although Frankenstein’s creation is benevolent to begin with, he soon turns murderous after being mistreated by humans. His anger turns towards Frankenstein, as he was the one who brought him into the world that shuns him. The Monster then spends the rest of the story trying to make his creator’s life as miserable as his own. This novel is an excellent example of the Gothic Romantic style of literature, as it features some core Gothic Romantic elements such as remote and desolate settings, a metonymy of gloom and horror, and women in distress.

    Read More

  • Romanticism in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    2058 Words  | 5 Pages

    Mary Shelley, with her brilliant tale of mankind's obsession with two opposing forces: creation and science, continues to draw readers with Frankenstein's many meanings and effect on society. Frankenstein has had a major influence across literature and pop culture and was one of the major contributors to a completely new genre of horror. Frankenstein is most famous for being arguably considered the first fully-realized science fiction novel. In Frankenstein, some of the main concepts behind the literary movement of Romanticism can be found. Mary Shelley was a colleague of many Romantic poets such as her husband Percy Shelley, and their friends William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge, even though the themes within Frankenstein are darker than their brighter subjects and poems. Still, she was very influenced by Romantics and the Romantic Period, and readers can find many examples of Romanticism in this book. Some people actually argue that Frankenstein “initiates a rethinking of romantic rhetoric”1, or is a more cultured novel than the writings of other Romantics. Shelley questions and interacts with the classic Romantic tropes, causing this rethink of a novel that goes deeper into societal history than it appears. For example, the introduction of Gothic ideas to Frankenstein challenges the typical stereotyped assumptions of Romanticism, giving new meaning and context to the novel. Mary Shelley challenges Romanticism by highlighting certain aspects of the movement while questioning and interacting with the Romantic movement through her writing.

    Read More

  • Romanticism and Nature in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

    770 Words  | 2 Pages

    Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a gothic science fiction novel written in the romantic era that focuses on the elements of life. The romantic era was sparked by the changing social environment, including the industrial revolution. It was a form of revolt against the scientific revolutions of the era by developing a form of literature that romanticize nature and giving nature godliness. This element of romanticized nature is a recurrent element in Frankenstein and is used to reflect emotions, as a place for relaxation and as foreshadowing. Frankenstein also includes various other elements of romanticism including strong emotions and interest in the common people.

    Read More

More about The Many Romantic Elements of Frankenstein

Open Document