English Romanticism's Influences on the Works of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Mary Shelley's novel, "Frankenstein" pinpoints the life of Victor Frankenstein, an intelligent and ardent man to natural philosophy and science, who consequently animates a creature who he believes to be an omen to his existence. The novel introduces Victor's upbringing with an adored family, his contemptible creation of the monster, and the doleful murder of his brother William.

In 1818 Mary Shelley wrote a horrific novel titled Frankenstein. It was such a hit back then, that it is still people still republish and make shows and movies from the book. Frankenstein, is about a young man, Victor Frankenstein, who is obsessed with science and trying to find the secret to life. While he is away at college, he thinks he has found it and begins putting a person together using various body parts. As soon as the person has life, Victor realizes his creation is a monster and immediately regrets the monster he has brought to life. He goes several years with hearing nothing from the monster and then finds it killed his youngest brother. On his return home, he decides he will track the monster down. It does not go so well though.

Romanticism Influenced American Romantic Authors Romanticism was a philosophical movement that began to emerge in the U.S. during the 1800's and had many writers emerge from the shadows. These writers wished for a change yet wished to conserve a bit of classical ideas. Washington Irving displayed morals through adventures as well as James Fenimore Cooper, Bret Harte and Herman Melville who deeply involved nature. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe had dark views on romantic issues. American Romantic authors expressed heartfelt emotions in opposition to the Age of Reason, displayed bold ideas of individualism, and captured the beauty of nature and its sense of adventure.

Sometimes considered one of the first science fiction novels of supernatural terror, Frankenstein proved itself an instant success when released anonymously in 1818. The mad scientist Victor Frankenstein and his creation provoke readers with the fear of the unknown and the power of natures forces. A deeper look into the character of Victor Frankenstein, the role of scientific experimentation and the intricate settings of nature in which the story evolves, prove Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein , a worthy example of both Romantic and Gothic representation in nineteenth century British Literature.

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

Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, is a novel about a creature that is produced by Victor Frankenstein, as a result of his desire to discover the secret of life. Dr. Frankenstein founded this secret by animating dead flesh and stitching human corpses together to create a superhuman. As a reader, one realizes the consequences of Victor’s discoveries through series of unfortunate events that occur in the novel. The story begins with four letters which help introduce the story from Walton’s perspective as he meets Victor and learns the truth and tragedy behind Dr. Frankenstein. However, throughout the novel, letters are sent from Elizabeth and Alphonse, which further develop the story.

“But Sorrow Only Increased with Knowledge:” A Critique on Romantic Ideals in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Frankenstein is a story concerning a scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein. In this story, Victor Frankenstein creates a monster out of human parts and galvanism. This unimaginable creation

Romanticism began to make a great influence on art and literature during the eighteenth to the nineteenth century. Frankenstein was first published in 1818 during that period and the novel is flooded with Mary Shelley’s feelings of extreme good and bad emotions. English literature during the romanticism period is believed to be the most expressive in style, subject, and content. The discrepancy and chaos concerning the essential principles and competing philosophies were believed to be fascinating for several famous novelists along with poets that cited the Romantics as being their most eminent motivational voices. Romanticism in literary context means a movement in art and literature that depicts an emotional matter within an imaginative

The book Frankenstein is by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, is about a man named Victor Frankenstein who creates a monster and reaps the consequences, for making such a hideous beast. He loved science, so he went to school in Ingolstadt, and read lots of books talked to some smart people who recommended some better books than he had already read at home, Frankenstein discovered, and unfolded secrets that other men had only dreamed of accomplishing. Frankenstein creates a monster, and seeks to make another but does not, and in the end he seeks vengeance until death for the destruction caused by the monstrous wretch.

The world around us holds so many different things. There is the natural beauty of nature, found in waterfalls, and forests, deserts and beaches, that help us to appreciate where we come from. There is the supernatural, almost the exact opposite, being something that we either envy and want or despise and fear, such as witches and vampires, superheroes and magic. Everything we feel as people, as individuals plays into what we want and how we act. All of these things are aspects of Romanticism, which we can see in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Romanticism was a movement that swept over all of Europe; it affected all areas of life and society, not only just literatruture. At its base was a belief in the rights of man and this impetus led to two enormously important resolutions: the American Revolution and the French Resolution. Romanticism does not only mean romantic love, it is a literary term characterized by elements. Some elements of romanticism are growth of industrialization, mingling of races, frontier, experimentation, and optimism. One of the writers that include romanticism in their writings is Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was published in 1818 and introduced many elements of Romanticism that were presented. Romanticism was a movement that was most popular during the 18th century particularly 1800 to 1850, this movement was an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe that was characterized by many different elements that will be examine throughout. This movement is a rebellion against social rules and conventions. Romanticism was much different from how we partake it today. One may think that is based around love, kissing, and hugging but it is much more than that. This movement fell right into the area when Mary Shelley was creating her novel so it is obvious that she would jump on the bandwagon due to its popularity. The popularity of it would help her novel become more popular as well as allow for more in depth understanding of the principles she presented in her novel. There are many different romanticism elements in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein that are presented while going through the novel. The elements that are most prevalent in the book are celebration of nature, juxtaposition of the beautiful and the gross, and valorization of the struggle of the individual against society. By quick note it is obvious that many of these elements are presented in the novel by anyone that has had the chance to read it. The novel emphasized inspiration, subjectivity, and the importance of the individual. Mary Shelley was brilliant enough to incorporate these

God created life. He is the creator of all things, including man. Although man is in God’s image, man falls within a cycle of death and birth called life. This is something that is drilled into society, especially in the 1800’s. The teachings of the Bible hold true for the life that was present, all but one man questioning outside the pages, Victor Frankenstein. A man who had an interest in science, or rather understanding how to create life himself. One could say that he had a God complex, wanting to be God. Creating life at his own will driven by curiosity. Something that is not allowed or accepted in the bible or in society. Humans did not have the ability to create life from something non-living.Victor wanted to understand science and

Unlike the ideas from the period of Enlightenment, which were comparatively more scientific and rational in nature, the ideas from the period of Romanticism aimed to elevate the role of emotion, instinct, spirit and soul. Although a number of critics argue that Frankenstein does not conform to the brighter themes and subjects of the works of Mary Shelley’s contemporaries, many critics argue that Victor Frankenstein’s story “initiates a rethinking of romantic rhetoric” (Guyer 76). Several central themes and characteristics from the Romantic era are highlighted in the text. Romantic poets always seemed to capture the sublime moment and experience, comparing the beautiful to