Fact Or Science Fiction: Frankenstein By Mary Shelley

Many of the main ideas behind the literary movement of Romanticism can be seen in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Although the dark motifs of her most remembered work, Frankenstein may not seem to conform to the brighter tones and subjects of the poems of her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, and their contemporaries and friends, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Mary Shelley was a contemporary of the romantic poets. Despite this apparent difference, Mary Shelley was deeply influenced by the romantics, and the reader of Frankenstein can certainly identify a number of characteristics of romanticism in this novel. Some critics have argued that Frankenstein is actually more sophisticated than the prose of other romantic writers, as

The gothic genre has many defining qualities and features, and as a gothic novel, Frankenstein (or the Modern Prometheus) exhibits some of these traits. However, due to the time period in which it was written by Mary Shelley there are also many features of Romanticism apparent in the novel, such as the emphasis on the beauty and restorative powers of nature in chapters 8 and 9. Therefore it is questionable which aspects of the Gothic genre are to be found within Frankenstein.

The last important historical relevance that Shelley discovered in her novel Frankenstein was Romanticism. Romanticism is a movement from the 18 century that involves the Enlightenment, and scientific thoughts of nature. It also helps expanding the thought of individualism and emotion through the novel. Frankenstein is considered a romantic novel and it focuses on the individualism in society. An example from the novel is that she uses the creature as a romantic hero. Shelley also uses science, imagination, nature, and other elements in the novel to express her interpretations of romanticism. Shelley says” I feel exquisite pleasure in dwelling on recollections of childhood, before misfortune had tainted my mind . . .”(Shelley 38). This quote illustrates how nature and the romantic time era shows

“During my first experiment, a kind of enthusiastic frenzy had blinded me to the horror of my employment; my mind was intently fixed on the consummation of my labour, and my eyes were shut to the horror of my proceedings. But now I went to it in cold blood, and my heart often sickened at the work of my hands.” (Shelley, 178) The Romantic Movement began in the 1970’s and ended in the 1850’s. One of the key ideas shared by Romantics was that a literal and metaphorical return to nature was necessary. They believed that the individual was the most important part of society. Romantics rejected the Scientific and Industrial Revolution. They believed that cities prevented individuals from discovering the sublime. Mary Shelley’s Romantic and Gothic novel, Frankenstein, opens with a series of letters from Robert Walton, an explorer, to his sister. Throughout these letters, Victor Frankenstein’s story is told. He was born into a wealthy family, and studies at a well-known school, where he develops an interest in biology. Eventually, Frankenstein is able to bring corpse back to life. He is horrified by his creation and abandons the monster. The monster eventually kills everyone that Frankenstein loves and in doing so, he also indirectly kills Victor. The monster then feels guilty and kills himself. Frankenstein reflects the Romantic views of Mary Shelly. There are many Romantic elements in Frankenstein. There is the evident dehumanization of the Industrial Revolution. Shelley also

Mary Shelley, and her impressive story of mankind's obsession on two contradicting powers: creation and science, keeps on drawing readers with Frankenstein's numerous meanings and impact on society. Frankenstein has had a noteworthy impact in literature and popular culture. Frankenstein is well known for being viewed as a sci-fi novel. In Frankenstein, a portion of the primary ideas behind the scholarly development of Romanticism can be found. Mary Shelley was a partner to numerous Romantic artists, for example, her husband Percy Shelley, and their friends William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge, despite the fact that the subjects inside Frankenstein are darker given that the Industrial Revolution affected society, including how individuals thought, felt, worked, and identified with each other, it is possible that such a change may have been the motivation behind why Romanticism was immediately embraced. Romanticism gave individuals the opportunity to dream once more, and to investigate their dreams. In Frankenstein, Shelley expressed the celebration of nature, the limitations of humans, and imagination.

Mary Shelley wrote her first novel, Frankenstein, in 1818, using a mixture of gothic and romantic conventions. Shelley depicts a complex relationship between a creator, Victor Frankenstein, and his creation. While the romantic setting helps to characterize Frankenstein and his creation, the dark gothic nature of the work helps to build suspense. While Frankenstein and his creation are talking for the first time, their true emotions toward one another are revealed. Through the use of various literary techniques, Shelley conveys the relationship between Victor Frankenstein and his creation as one absorbed with deep hatred and misunderstanding established through assumptions.

In the gothic novel, Frankenstein, written in 1818, author Mary Shelley tells a blood chilling story of Victor Frankenstein and his monstrous creation. Many of the main concepts in the Romantic literary movement are prevalent throughout the novel. Some of these concepts include nature as beauty and truth, strong personal motivation, and gothicism which inhibits intense emotion and complex psychology. Victor’s  monstrous creation can be categorized as a romantic hero because of his continuous rejection from all forms of society. On the surface level the novel is of suspense and horror, yet it  profoundly aims to highlight the dangers of overstepping the boundaries of ethical science. Written during an era of vast technological and

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

The above quote by Bloom is an explanation of the view that all the gothic novels are interpretation of psychological and social factors and this is especially true in the case of Mary Shelley. Shelley began her novel at the age of 18 when the most prominent materials in the consciousness and unconsciousness of Shelley were concerned with the conflicts stemming from the death of her mother. Frankenstein is the outcome of Shelley’s unresolved grief for the death of her mother which was the crisis she needed to work through to forget her own adult identity.

Mary Shelley wrote the story Frankenstein as a challenge in Switzerland. The idea of a man creating life in the form of a monster came to her in a dream. She incorporated this idea when she wrote the novel. Shelley used the characteristics from the Romantic period while writing the story. She also used gothic elements in the story. The characteristics from the Romantic period help show the connection that Victor

Frankenstein written by Mary Shelly is a romantic novel. The Romantic Movement originated in the late 18th century. It was an era that included an artistic, literary and intellectual movement. Societies began to change their ways of thinking due to the Age of Enlightenment. People began to let go of religion and tradition and were focused on science. The Romantic Era was a mood that inspired many artists. The movement began to surface during the 1760’s. Creativity started to range from poems to stories, where the main theme was a mysterious type of romance. Romantic Literature usually emphasized a love for nature, imagination, emotion, and value for the common man. The genres include; the medieval past, the mystical the supernatural, the

Even though it is mysterious and cannot be fathomed, just like Romanticism, the mystery in Gothic Literature is horrific, while in Romanticism it is beautiful. Gothic fiction relates to prudishness (especially in the Victorian era) as it focuses on taboo subjects, such as: sex, vice, and murder. Therefore, it is, to great extent, going beyond peoples emotional limitations. To add to that, the typical feature of Gothic Literature would be expressing nature in the threat of monsters, ghosts, or in other words, supernatural forces conflicting with humanity. On the whole, a great representation of these gothic and romantic influences would be the novel Frankenstein (or The Modern Prometheus) by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, which was published in 1818 and written during the Romantic Period.

Frankenstein is a novel that expresses the themes of a Gothic novel and also fits many of the characteristics of a Romantic novel. Gothic novels usually involve mystery and supernatural beings. Shelley brings the reader into the realm of a paranormal story that involves Romantic characteristics such as nature portraying the mood, which foreshadows the events to come, supernatural elements such as raising of the dead and fundamentals of science experimentation that may parallel with religion. Victor is a romantic working against the boundaries and limitations placed on our existence. Mary Shelley conglomerates several components so that the reader understands the meaning of what a Gothic novel is and how Romanticism plays into that.

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

Throughout chapter five of Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, the ideas of tragedy and despair are profound elements that convey the elements of a gothic novel. Mary Shelley’s use of gothic elements such as settings of dreary uneasiness that suggests something beyond the comprehension of humankind, supernatural events such as apparitions showing themselves with certain characters, and metonymy of gloom and horror foreboding the upcoming events, helps us understand the weight of the situation occurring within the book. With Victor Frankenstein’s creation of the monster, a situation in which transcends the limits of life and death is created – further supporting the gothic elements present within the novel. The use of these gothic elements