“Romanticism, is an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850” (Wikipedia). In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, she exercises this movement by painting artistic and literary illustrations of how Victor, as well as the Monster lives through seasonal and surrounding areas. Shelley shows the complex emotional state found in Victor and the Monster. Depression and guilt has caused victor to feel a sense of seclusion from the death of his brother, William, and the conviction and execution of Justine, whom he saw has a sister. Due to the depression, he experiences, Victor travels to seclusion on the mountain although, “… [he] could hardly see the dark mountains” (page 82) showing his desperation of seeking the isolation. This is an effort to restore his previous happiness before the deaths of his two loved ones at the hands of his creation, the Monster. Shelly …show more content…
embraces the mountains nature for her romantic styled writing by mirroring the growth of a mountain to where Victor is emotionally focused. A mountain is seen to have strength only after it has experienced the pressure of the earth pushing it higher and higher. Similarly, Victor is now having the pressure of his depression pushing him into reestablishing his meaning of life. Like the mountain, Victor is going to have to face the pressures he is experiencing emotionally before he can restore the strength he must have. Also, Shelley uses the isolation of the mountain to show how Victor’s depression is causing him to emotionally and now physically feel alone as well as the rough terrain mountains exhibit to symbolize how it will be difficult for Victor to overcome this obstacle and period of time in his life. As for the monster, he is seeking revenge on Victor for abandoning him based on his lack of society’s standard of beauty. Victor saw his creation as a, “… catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom such infinite pains…”(Chapter 5, page 58), which caused the monster then to retaliate and take away the love that Victor had but never showed him, by taking the lives of the ones he cared for most. Shelley uses the nature of seasons to show the growth the monster makes.
From beginning with a harsh winter and abandonment of the monster and shifting to a much lighter season of spring. Shelley represents the change in heart the monster makes. During winter many plants are suffocated by the darkness and heaviness of the weather which causes much foliage to die and wait for anew, which comes during spring. Spring allows for the vegetation to experience regrowth. The monster, although has never been able to experience love, he was still able to notice the need of a family and put them before himself, for example, “I remember the first time that I did this, the young woman, when she opened the door in the morning, appeared greatly astonished on seeing a great pile of wood on the outside.”(Chapter 12, page 130). Shelley uses this as a form of symbolism with nature which causes an emphasis on the monsters new perspective and shows rebirth in mind and
heart. Overall, Shelley shows the shift in the life of Victor from when he was growing up as a young boy in a home supplied of love, to a man who exude hatred and isolation. Through this process, although Victor lost ones that he loved, he learned how to love himself. Victor finally reached his high point in life after going through the pressures of his depression and suffering. Though the monster was created out of lust and the seeking of perfection, he was far from it. The monster was perceived on a negative light based on what society names imperfections. He was named, mocked, and taunted by those who took no time to truly embrace his inward beauty. Granting he was treated poorly, he allowed himself to pursue those who were causing him emotional turmoil which caused him to notice that love is ever growing and has no limit, no matter the circumstances life puts you in. To tie in Romanticism, Shelley uses a Mountain to illustrate the growth in Victor, and Shelley uses seasonal shifts to also illustrate the growth and rebirth in the Monster.
The connection with nature is immediate, and it also links him to the innocence of his childhood. He says, "I remember the first time I became capable of observing outward objects with any kind of pleasure, I perceived that the fallen leaves had disappeared and that the young buds were shooting forth from the trees that shaded my window. It was a divine spring” (63). The "divine spring" contrasts with the "dreary night of November," showing that any tampering of nature will cause the loss of nature. Leaves sprout in the spring, but rot and fall in November, and humans need to make sure they don't disrupt nature and cause permanent rotting and death. As he recovers, Frankenstein seeks comfort in nature and the imagery makes the reader enjoy and love nature as well. Shelley is showing that nature is exquisite when not manipulated, but the moment man tries to change it and do something unnatural, we are left with disasters and ugly
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.
self-centered. His life is the mirror of a Greed Tragedy. In his case, the flaw
“I do know that for the sympathy of one lives being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely think and rage the likes of which you would not suppose. If I cannot sate the one, I will indulge the other.” (Shelley) Mary Shelley wrote the book Frankenstein which features many gothic elements. Some of the gothic elements in Frankenstein include dark setting and supernatural, but it sometimes gets confused with romantic literature. Shelley also had gothic element in her life. Frankenstein is the most recognizable moving piece to have ever been created.
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.
In the Romantic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, the selection in chapter five recounting the birth of Dr. Frankenstein’s monster plays a vital role in explaining the relationship between the doctor and his creation. Shelley’s use of literary contrast and Gothic diction eloquently set the scene of Frankenstein’s hard work and ambition coming to life, only to transform his way of thinking about the world forever with its first breath.
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 effects of death.
Mary Shelley initially introduces us to the character of Victor Frankenstein through the voice of Robert Walton in her epistolary structuring. Through this alternative voice we receive a contrasting view of Frankenstein compared to the persona that arguably dominates the rest of the novel concerning his character from the reader’s perspective. Walton uses a semantic field of love in relation to Victor’s character, for example he uses the words “sweetness”, “benevolence” and “kindness”. However, through reading the rest of the novel, many readers will see that the opinions set by Walton’s character are not entirely valid and instead would view Frankenstein as selfish and self-conflicting of his troubles.
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.
After reading Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein, the reader can clearly see that it represents many of the ideals behind the British Romantics literary movement of the 1800’s. The British Romantic characteristics looked at life and the way you wrote about it differently than the period of writing prior to it. What was once factually and very scientific in writings was now being changed to a more dream like or even fictional writing style. It was very personal and often came from a first person perspective, which also included the imaginary perspective of the individual telling the story. This fits the writing style of Shelley in her book Frankenstein, as she tells of Victor Frankenstein 's life, the people that are close to him, and the struggle
Romanticism was a rebellion, in a sense, from the intellectualism and formality of the Enlightenment. This movement began in Europe in the mid-eighteenth century and eventually spread through Europe and North America over the course of the next century. During this time, a novel written by a young English woman would come to define the science fiction genre and is read by students even today. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, first published in 1818 when the author was just 20 years old, has had far-reaching influence in culture and literature over the last 200 years. It is generally thought of as the first sci-fi story in the Western canon and is one of the most well-known examples
Romanticism was an artistic and literary movement that began in the late 18th century Europe that stressed the individual’s expression of emotion and imagination, glorification of the past and nature, and departure from forms of classicism. The movement emerged as a reaction against the ideas
Romanticism itself actually originated from Europe in Germany by the publication of Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther. It then moved to England; not until 1830, Romanticism appeared in America. “American Romanticism was a movement that marked the reaction in literature, philosophy, art, religion, and politics” (Scheidenhelm). It was an age of westward expansion, and a rebellion against the Age of Reason. It was the return to classics. Historically, this period of tensions resulted in the Civil War. Romantic Literature was personal, intense, and showe...
Shelley uses the gothic genre to show the dark side of human nature. Victor became so carried away with his with his experiments that he did not consider that it would be evil to try to play God. “I had deprived myself of rest and health” (51, Shelley). It can be seen here that Victor what very involved In his studies of the reanimation of life, he does not think of the moral issues that might arise from his experiments. It is Victor that controls the technology and knowledge of life, but he insists on creating the monster.
monster rides along the fine line between protagonist and antagonist as his tale is told,