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Nature And Romanticism In Frankenstein

Good Essays

Abraham Kassis
Ms. Kyle
English 12AP
12 December 2017
Beauty and the Beast
“The science of today is the technology of tomorrow.” So says Edward Teller, echoing his thoughts as a noted physicist that science isn’t just the future, but indeed what creates the future. But what about Mary Shelley? A noted romanticist, Mary Shelley’s views may have been a bit different from those of Teller. In fact, Mary Shelley’s first novel, Frankenstein, might just be the best example of her thoughts on the matter. Throughout the novel, Shelley emphasizes the importance of scientific responsibility, and is clearly against science playing the role of God. However, this is not for any real religious purpose. Instead, Shelley uses science to express gradual degradation of what she had viewed as the natural world that that she had treasured during her time period, and the gradual destruction of natural beauty in the world, using the novel and its characters to support her demonization of science in favor of a more natural world. The terror of the scientific creation of Frakenstein contrasted with the serenity of the natural world as portrayed in the novel Frankenstein give the novel a clearly romantic message that preaches about the importance of the Earth’s natural aspect.

Romanticism is a philosophy that was incredibly popular at the turn of the 19th century. In art, romanticism is defined by the awesome power of nature, so much so that a common feature of romantic paintings of the era was

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