frankenstein and romanticism essay

Frankenstein

Mary shelley, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Romantic writers portrayed nature as the greatest and most perfect force in the universe. They used words like "sublime" (as Mary Shelley herself does in describing Mont Blanc in Frankenstein ) to convey the unfathomable power and flawlessness of the natural world. In contrast, Victor describes people as "half made up." The implication is clear: human beings, weighed down by petty concerns and countless flaws such as vanity and prejudice, pale in comparison to nature's perfection.

It should come as no surprise, then, that crises and suffering result when, in Frankenstein , imperfect men disturb nature's perfection. Victor in his pride attempts to discover the "mysteries of creation," to "pioneer a new way" by penetrating the "citadel of nature." But just as a wave will take down even the strongest swimmer, nature prevails in the end and Victor is destroyed for his misguided attempt to manipulate its power.

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ROMANTICISM: IMAGINING FREEDOM: The rebellious artist, the attraction to the dark side, love and death, and the primacy of nature—all of these are themes that suffused the artistic and ideological revolution known as Romanticism. This program vividly conveys how new ways of thinking and seeing reshaped the humanities in the 18th and 19th centuries. The writings of Hölderlin, Emerson, Poe, Whitman, Byron, Wordsworth, and Keats, as well as the paintings of Turner and Goya and the music of Beethoven, are vibrantly presented. Scholars Susan Wolfson, professor of English at Princeton University; Rafael Argullol Murgados, director of the Institut Universitari de Cultura; Xavier Antich, professor of aesthetics at the Universitat de Girona; and David Reynolds, distinguished professor of English at Baruch College, CUNY, discuss the characteristics of this influential movement and its impact on contemporary culture.

THE CITY AND THE SOUL: As the Industrial Revolution promised more and more inexplicable wonders of the modern world, Gothic art and literature became both backward and forward looking. In her novel  Frankenstein , Mary Shelley warned of the dangers of how science could get out of control, while Sir Giles Gilbert Scott used Gothic architecture to memorialise Prince Albert as a medieval hero. Meanwhile, poets indulged in hallucinatory drugs to reach new Gothic heights. Where would it all end? A BBC Production.

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Exploring Romanticism Through Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein

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Introduction to Romanticism and its Contrast with Enlightenment

Mary Shelley's Context and Writing of "Frankenstein"

"frankenstein" as a work of romanticism, nature in "frankenstein", emotional expression and desires in "frankenstein".

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Romanticism in Frankenstein

Related Papers

Subhendu Sarkar

This note discusses the elements of romanticism in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein.

Jaqueline Bohn Donada

Romantic English literature – written at a time when prose fiction was predominantly a medium for sheer entertainment – is rooted in poetry. One or two novelists may exceptionally be granted the adjective “Romantic”, but Mary Shelley is not ranked among them. For centuries, her work has been restricted to that section in handbooks reserved for exotic Gothic literature. This thesis argues that literary criticism has failed to recognize Frankenstein’s obvious relation with the movement. The argument will be fostered by a brief look at such handbooks, and developed through the analysis of the imagery of the novel, so as to trace the Romantic elements there contained. The analysis relies mainly on the frame developed by Northrop Frye concerning the nature and function of imagery in literature. The concept of intertextuality will also be useful as a tool to account for the insertion of images in the novel, and for the novel’s insertion within the Romantic context. The work is divided int...

Grace Lapointe

In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, the monster exhibits several qualities associated with poets and artists in the Romantic tradition. Like many poets and artist figures in Romantic writing, he is often physically isolated from others, and his intellect seems to alienate him emotionally...The monster illustrates qualities often associated with artists in Romantic poetry, such as sensitivity, curiosity, and alienation, showing that these traits are inherent rather than instilled through culture.

Vittoria S Rubino, Ph.D.

Pieces of literature are never written in isolation from transitional periods in time, allowing works to become symbolic structures of history. During the 19th century in Europe, Romantics sought to dispute the values of Enlightenment ideals while also developing a humanistic critique of the Industrial Revolution, and the indications are transparent in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Mary Shelley intentionally draws upon a number of contemporary sources for her understanding of electrical science in the novel. New Historicism, or Cultural Poetics, emphasizes the interaction between the historical context of a work and a modern reader’s understanding and interpretation of the work. Reading the novel Frankenstein within the framework of New Historicism and Cultural Criticism renders a more modern interpretation of the novel as a judgment of science, and depicts the influence of the ideals of the Romantic Movement: freedom of thought and expression, skepticism about science, society’s potential to be transformed by the individual, the plight of the individual, and the appeal of nature to affect one’s emotions. Mary Shelley’s novel is a reaction to the hollowness and vanity of Enlightenment thought that later led to the Industrial Revolution. Victor Frankenstein is presented as a doctor who is discontent with his mediocre life, living outside of Romantic ideals. Frankenstein believes he will achieve satisfaction through the use of scientific and alchemic measures, which helps him accomplish the creation of his Monster. In her criticism of the Enlightenment, Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein articulates the revolutionary spirit of the Romantic era, and anticipates the coming of the Industrial Revolution.

International Journal of English Language and Translation Studies

The tool for Mary Shelley to criticize and satirize Romanticism is her famous character, Victor Frankenstein, or as the subtitle of the novel suggests: The Modern Prometheus. In Romantic beliefs, Prometheus was the symbol of limitless ability and freedom to whom many Romantic Poets pay tribute. In contrast, in Mary Shelley's opinion, this 'metaphysical revolt' cannot go unpunished. The aim of this paper is to examine, through a Foucauldian reading, the mythic character of Prometheus in Romantic era, and the differences existing between Marry Shelley's presentations of the modern version of the character and the Romantic version, and to show how Mary Shelley, belonging to other discourses rather than the dominant one, opposes the Romantic-related ideas. As Foucault believes there exist other discourses along with the dominant one all of which are in a constant struggle over power in a hierarchy. Mary Shelley follows some marginalized discourses, and her opposition to Romantic ideals stems from her relationship with other major Romantic Poets, and also from getting influence from some scientific experimentations of her day. She witnesses the harshness in her relationships with Romantic Poets, and their doomed aspirations, which agonizingly affect her life.

Jaqueline Donada

Irem Altunsuyu

The Gothic Movement originated together with the Romanticism Movement, which attract attention in the 18th century. Frankenstein or Modern Prometheus, one of the earliest works of science fiction, was written by Mary Shelley, one of the English pioneers of this field. At the time it was written, Frankenstein was acclaimed in the literature. Although Mary Shelley's name was not included in the book's first printing, she published it under her name in the second and quickly came to fame as a writer. At the same time, she gained enormous popularity as a writer and as a character, and numerous stage performances were turned into films and television shows. A significant character in the book is Frankenstein. Mary Shelley discussed her personal life when drafting this book, and a claim she made with her friends served as one of the inspirations for it. One more example of the book's originality is when the author begins to write after seeing the character in his dreams. “Victor Frankenstein”, the book's main character, looks like a god. Even “John Milton's Paradise Lost” was mentioned by Mary Shelley in the text. The book's key themes are “Victorian industrialization and technical advancements”. The surname of a significant figure in British politics is Frankenstein. After creating a creature that he does not desire, the main character must confront the creature. In essence, it describes the balance between God and Man. However, the reader ultimately determines whether God or Man is at fault. Mary Shelley emphasizes the human phenomena in a capitalist society in this situation. The work, which combined industrialization and technology with horrific elements during the peak of the “Romanticism Movement”, is a masterpiece of the “Gothic Romanticism Movement.”

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Shun-liang Chao

Influenced by Enlightenment philosophes like Rousseau and Smith, Romantic writers, such as Coleridge and Percy Shelley, celebrate the sublime power of sympathetic love to merge the self and the other (be it human or inhuman) into a wondrous whole, thereby precluding the dangers of solitude and solipsism. Not all Romantic writers, however, share the same sanguine view of love. In Frankenstein, for instance, Mary Shelley offers an alternative to the optimistic perspective on the capacity of (mutual) sympathy. She shapes the novel into tales of bitter solitude, one caused by the lack of sympathetic understanding between Victor and nature, between the Monster and the De Laceys, and between the Monster and his father Victor. In these mutual relations, I argue, Shelley evokes elements of Enlightenment/ Romantic love, only to revoke its sublime power and furthermore turn it into despair. Rather than the Romantic joy of transcendent plenitude, the novel is shrouded in Gothic despair, the outright negation of redemption.

Wordsworth Editions Blog

Stephen Carver

To read Frankenstein is to enter a realm of intersecting myths. It is there immediately in the novel’s original subtitle ‘The Modern Prometheus’, a comparison between the Faustian Victor Frankenstein and the Titan who stole fire from the gods and was punished horribly for gifting it to humanity. As a response to Milton’s Paradise Lost the novel explores and interrogates the Christian myths of creation and fall. Frankenstein is also the source of one of the shaping myths of modern culture, a cautionary tale in which a scientist in pursuit of truth but unfettered by morality is destroyed by his own creation. That most people encounter the story first through one of the numerous film versions adds a further mythic layer populated by visions of Boris Karloff’s monster and Peter Cushing’s mad doctor, of De Niro’s tragic outcast, Herman Munster, Bladerunner, and the Bride of Re-Animator to name a few of the many. In gothic terms, only the Dracula mythos is as culturally endemic...

Dustin Gish

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• DOI: 10.35552/0247.11.1.503
• Corpus ID: 258030081

The Gothic, Frankenstein, and the Romantics

• Said I. Abedlwahed
• Published in An-Najah University Journal… 1 January 1997
• An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities)

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Frankenstein — Romanticism And Pathetic Fallacy In Frankenstein

Romanticism and Pathetic Fallacy in Frankenstein

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“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley Essay

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A summary of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”

“Frankenstein” is a science fiction novel written by Mary Shelley. It revolves around a young boy named Victor Frankenstein who had an obsession with death and through this obsession he was able to create life from nothing. After creating life he is however terrified and disgusted of how it looks and he decides to abandon it without giving it a name as its physical appearance is scary and nothing at all as he expected.

He therefore tries to live a normal life and makes an effort to forget his own creation. Due to the abandonment the monster is left perplexed, annoyed and frightened. After his tiring work of creating human life, Victor falls ill and it takes four months for his youth friend to nurse him back to health. The monster then travels to Geneva and meets a little boy called William in the woods, where he hopes that the young boy who is not yet corrupted by the views of older people and the world will accept him as he is.

The monster is however wrong and when the Frankenstein sees it; he hurls invectives infuriating the monster. The monster however tries its best to talk to the boy but falls on deaf ears, the monster then covers the boy mouth to keep him quiet but this ends in the boy suffocating. Frankenstein receives a letter from his father stating that his younger brother is dead and that he was murdered. Despite the fact that this act was not intended, the monster took this as the first act of revenge towards his creator.

He places a necklace the boy was wearing on a sleeping girl, the nanny to the boy. Justine the boys nanny was tried and found guilty fro the murder and executed. When Frankenstein arrives he saw the creature in the woods and knew that the monster had killed his brother and placed his mother’s locket on the sleeping nanny.

Frankenstein, troubled and heavily burdened by anguish and self reproach for creating the monster that caused so much devastation, he flees to the mountains to find peace. After a while alone, the monster approaches Frankenstein, who tries to kill it. But the monster being physically bigger, stronger and more alert than his creator gets away and gives Frankenstein some time to cool off and compose himself.

The monster tells Frankenstein of its encounters with humans and how terrified it was of them. He spend a year observing a family from a cabin he was living in, this gave him more knowledge and self conscience concluding that his physical appearance was very different from the humans he was observing.

On revealing himself however, the humans rejected him and were horror struck by his appearance and reacted ferociously, a reaction that made the monster angrier and he seeks vengeance on his creator.

The monster demanded that Frankenstein create a female companion for him as it had the right to be happy. The monster promises that they will vanish into the wilderness and not bother any more about humans. Frankenstein however does not create a companion for the monster and destroys all the work he was doing.

The monster witnesses Frankenstein destroying his creation and vows to revenge on it. The monster murders Clerval and implicates Frankenstein. Frankenstein is acquitted and he returns home to marry his cousin Elizabeth, who is murdered on their wedding night by the monster as part of the monsters revenge.

Frankenstein father dies after this tragedy as he could not handle the tremendous loss of William, Justine, Clerval, and Elizabeth. Frankenstein vows to go after the monster and destroy it. They chase each other for several months and they end up in the North Pole where Frankenstein dies form illness and the monster mourns for Frankenstein justifying its revenge and expressing remorse. Afterwards, the monster travels further towards the pole to destroy itself so that nobody never finds out of it existence.

Comparing Shelley’s portrayal of the natural sciences in “Frankenstein” to her portrayal of other types of knowledge in that novel

According to Shelley, Frankenstein believed more in science than he did in humanity. His obsession with death from the time he was a young boy made him believe that he could eliminate death through science. This passion led him to pursue chemistry which became almost his sole purpose in life to use chemistry to create life and eliminate death. In the university, Frankenstein attempts to create life from nothing and he surprisingly manages to do so.

The only thing is his creation turns out not differently than he expected, the creature if gigantic and it horrifies him to look at. He sees it as an eyesore, a disgrace and the creature escape into the society leaving it at the mercy of humanity. The point at which the creature escapes brings in the humanity aspect in the novel (55-56).

However, after escaping into the society the creature is met with human hostility and feels rejected. The rejection forces the creature to vow revenge on his creator by killing all his close and loved ones (97). The creature carries out its vengeance on Frankenstein by killing his brother William, his friend Clerval and his wife Elizabeth (116).

The creature also mourns for Frankenstein after his death showing that it has a sensitive human side and then it goes of to kill itself as it terms and takes responsibility for causing the death of its creator. This shows that science and humanity came together in the creation and shaping of the creature. Science was used to bring the creature to life while humanity was used to shape how the creature interacted with people and how it handled its feelings and emotions. (173)

In Shelley’s view, science and humanities are separated by how they are carried out and how one comes into contact with them. Humanities take root when the creature observes a family from the woods learning to speak and also develop emotionally. If the creature had not observed the family then nurturing of the creature may have not taken place.

Science is preserved and maintained in the laboratory to make life from scratch while the humanities come into play as soon as the creature comes to life. Humanities take centre stage when the creature is first of all rejected by its creator and all other people follow suit.

This makes the creature feel as if he is not good enough and that it is its destiny to be alone without any companionship for eternity. This humanity in the creature forces it to go back to his creator to demand that he creates a companion but this turns out badly as Frankenstein does not go through with it (114). Humanity in this novel is also seen when Frankenstein experiences death of his loved ones that eventually pushed him to the scientific notion of creating life.

Frankenstein’s mother’s death and his father’s professor rebuking him fro reading trash which was in essence lightning that had destroyed a tree, pushed him to learn more about science becoming obsessed with it. If these events had not taken place maybe the creation of the creature would not have taken place leaving a very different story in its place.

In reference to Shelley, sciences have an effect on the people who study them. This is simply because the book shows us how one person’s irresponsibility and ambition can harm other people who are not directly involved on eh science project. Science made Victor Frankenstein create a monster and on realizing that the creature did not turn out to be how he expected, he abandoned and rejected it (73).

This rejection made the creature go on a rampage and kill innocent people related to the creator. The innocent people did not have to die but they lost their lives because of one Victor Frankenstein’s obsession and ambition to create life. Life is scared and surely to attempt to create it from dead body parts of other human beings is most likely than not expected to bring havoc and misery on unsuspecting individuals.

The main point in this book is every person should take responsibility of their actions and not expect other people to pay for their shortcomings. Science is something that every person who practices it should be aware that there is a probability of an experiment going wrong and therefore amply and adequately prepare for the outcomes of the experiment whether good or bad.

Humanities on the other hand are portrayed as how one builds his own personal character among the people around him and the people he encounters. In this novel, humanity is depicted in the loss of loved ones that makes Victor Frankenstein to be obsessed with death and try to find a cure for it.

Humanity is also seen whereby Frankenstein is anguished by the death of his brother, friend, Justine and Elizabeth that he vows to kill or be killed by the monster (Shelley 86). This shows that however much Victor was obsessed with science he also had strong feelings for the people around him and it tore him apart when the creature he created killed them.

Humanity in the creature is shown when he feels dejected by his creator and very other human who sets eyes on him and when he observes a family from a distance learns how to speak and develops emotionally.

The fact that everyone showed a hostile human side to the creature made the creature vulnerable and it went on a rampage killing innocent people (Shelley 208). In this novel the creature displays humanity when he demands for a companion to be created so as he can have someone to share his life with and also when he mourns over the death of his creator and implicates himself as the cause of the death of his creator.

In her novel Shelley portrays the knowledge of humanity more as compared to the knowledge of science. This is seen when she portrays that young Victor Frankenstein got an interest in science after experiencing the trauma of losing his mother. This loss made Frankenstein obsessed with death and he tried to find a cure for death.

Through his quest and ambition to cure death he created the Frankenstein monster from dead decomposing body parts of other human beings that were sewn together and brought to life with the help of science (Shelley 73). Humanities is shown as more valuable and ethical as it forms the basis of how one will be portrayed by the society and how one will react to different things and people in society.

Humanity is portrayed as better than science in this novel as it shows different relationships between different people and how actions of one person adversely affect other people. For example, the decision by Victor Frankenstein to create life from dead body parts that brought for the creature termed as a monster brings serious effects and consequences to his family members not to mention the monster itself.

Humanity allowed the creature to develop emotionally and learn how to speak trough observation and experience kindness from a blind man and while saving a young girl form drowning, however in both instances the creature was reprimanded and driven off as people were not welcoming enough. Science only creates that creature but it is humanity that the creature has to deal with and understand why humans are so hostile towards him.

Similarities between science and humanities in this novel are brought out in that both concepts are interdependent and both of these concepts aim to bring improvements to the society as a whole and reduce human misery. The fact that humanity pushed Frankenstein to look for scientific ways to eliminate death from the society after his other loved ones died shows that these two concepts are correlated and work hand in hand with each other to make the society a better place to live in.

The differences on the other hand are that ethics or the pillars of humanities while blind innovation and creativity is the pillar of science. This is to say that scientists do not take into consideration the effects and consequences of their experiments that at times may have a negative effect in humanity.

This is seen when Frankenstein’s ambition makes him create a monster that is much bigger than the human race that caused havoc and misery among human kind. Humanity is seen when Frankenstein is haunted by his conscience after the monster goes on a rampage killing his loved ones. This shows that humanity has consequences and that people should take intro consideration the feelings of other people before they make decisions.

In conclusion, “Frankenstein” tells of a young boy named Frankenstein who attempted to create life, though he succeeded the experiment turned out to be scary and wrecked havoc.

The novel shows as much as science is innovative and interrelated with humanity, ethical issues should also be taken into consideration for most so that innocent people do not suffer. One man’s decision caused the death of three individuals this is not justified. If Victor Frankenstein had thought of the ethical issues of his creation a lot of suffering, misery and death would have been avoided.

Works Cited

Shelley, Marry. Frankenstein . New York: Norton, 1996. Print.

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Frankenstein Analytical Essay: how Frankenstein embodies Romanticism?

ggreif 2 / 5   Jan 19, 2012   #1 You don't need to have read Frankenstein for this essay; I'm just looking for feedback on whether I get my point across and I fully address the prompt. Thanks! :) Prompt: It can easily be argued the Frankenstein is a "classic" Romantic novel. Explain how Frankenstein embodies Romanticism. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, contains and embodies many signature Romantic tropes. Though Shelley may incorporate gothic elements into her story, the heart of the novel is one of true and sincere Romanticism. Almost all Romantic ideals are presented in the novel, and imbedded in the narrative so thoroughly that Frankenstein cannot be said to be anything but a member of the Romantic genre. Among these Romantic principles are the use of nature as a beautiful and powerful force, the Romantic ideal of creating "something" from nothing, and the Romantic reverence for the hallowed cycle of life and death. One of the themes most associated with Romantic works is the power and beauty of nature. When Frankenstein's monster, lonely and abandoned, takes to the forest in an attempt to track down his creator, he finds consolation only in the beauty of the first of spring, claiming that he "felt emotions of gentleness and pleasure that had long appeared dead, revive within [him]" (p. 148).This Romantic idea of nature's benevolence and spiritual healing abilities is juxtaposed by another idea synonymous with Romantics: the pure power of the natural world. As a child, Victor Frankenstein is astounded by the way that lightning eviscerates a large oak tree, stating that he had never "beheld anything so completely and utterly destroyed" (p. 32). The destruction not only indicates the power of nature, but also foreshadows Frankenstein's creation of the monster later in the novel. Among the ideals most valued and sought after in the Romantic community was the idea of true inspiration, stemming from one's own imagination and brilliance. This is why the Romantics were among the first to speak out against copying the works of others, claiming that the most beautiful art is that which was "created from nothing". In this sense, Victor Frankenstein was a true Romantic; his goal of "bestowing animation upon lifeless matter" (p. 48) is the epitome of creation from nothingness. In addition to this, his desire to do as no others have done before, breaking new ground with lofty and seemingly unachievable goals, was one thing Romantics took pride in. The success of Victor Frankenstein's creation reflects Mary Shelley's belief that, with sufficient determination, even the seemingly impossible can be achieved. This idea of Victor Frankenstein as a Romantic may lead one to ask the question, "Why, then, did things turn out so poorly for the Romantic idealist in this Romantic novel?" And the answer is this: Frankenstein broke a cardinal rule of Romanticism; he attempted to disturb the sacred cycle of life and death. He created the monster in an attempt to one day "Renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption." (p. 48), however, in the eyes of a devout Romantic, this would be an abomination and affront to God in accordance with Romantic reverence for all things natural, including death. Because of this disrespect for Romantic beliefs, Victor Frankenstein was forced to pay the ultimate price. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein can, and should, be considered a true Romantic novel. Though some of the plot and setting may have been borrowed from Gothic literature, the morals and principles of the book find their home with Romanticism. From inherent respect of all things natural, to the supremacy of human creation and imagination, Frankenstein embodies the Romantic spirit almost flawlessly.

Thors Hammer 5 / 60   Jan 20, 2012   #2 Very fluid and enjoyable to read. I'm not sure your comma is needed for your expression in the second to last paragraph.

OP ggreif 2 / 5   Jan 20, 2012   #3 Yeah, I wasn't too sure about that comment either haha. Thanks for the feedback :D