Frankenstein Gabriela’s Response
I would like to write about Frankenstein and Romanticism. I found a wonderful PowerPoint that I will link below.
According to Terri Beth Miller, “Romanticism’s most important features were its celebration of nature, its juxtaposition of the beautiful and the grotesque, and it’s valorization of the struggle of the individual against society.’’ ( Miller, “Romanticism in Frankenstein”, https://study.com/academy/lesson/romanticism-in-frankenstein.html)
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley simultaneously celebrates the ideals of Romanticism through her poetic imagery of nature while unexpectedly criticizing the Romantic movement through her characterization of the novel’s protagonist.
I believe that Shelley’s novel is more of a celebration of Romanticism than a critique of it, evidenced by the way Victor always finds his much needed solace and guidance in nature.
In Frankenstein, Victor says, “I remained two days at Lausanne, in this painful state of mind. I contemplated the lake: the waters were placid; all around was calm; and the snowy mountains, `the palaces of nature,’ were not changed. By degrees the calm and heavenly scene restored me, and I continued my journey towards Geneva.The road ran by the side of the lake, which became narrower as I approached my native town. I discovered more distinctly the black sides of Jura, and the bright summit of Mont Blanc.” (Shelley, Frankenstein, Ch.7) This “return to nature” embodies one of the key values of the Romantic movement.
Writer Samira Sansani proposes in her paper “No Romantic Prometheus: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” that Mary Shelley actually strongly rejects romanticism in her novel Frankenstein. Sasani writes “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.” ( Sansani, No Romantic Prometheus, https://www.scribd.com/mobile/document/328612766/No-Romantic-Prometheus-Marry-Shelley-s-Frankenstein-and-Rejection-of-Romanticism).
She later continues with: “the purpose here is to show how Mary Shelley opposes the associated qualities with the character of Prometheus, and how she even doubts the propriety of these Romantic ideas stemming from a different discourse rather than the Romantic one… Although she is not the sole person who dislikes the notion of the utter freedom on the part of the creator, as the god, she powerfully arranges an antithesis to those sets of beliefs.’’(Sasani).
Although Shelley intentionally characterizes Victor as a flawed Prometheus in an effort to attack the Romantic movement, as Sasani suggests, Shelley’s novel still shows a reverence for the romantic movement.
Sansani writes that Shelley did not show “any affiliation with freedom and limitless ability of human beings” ( see above citation). I think the novel is much more nuanced than Sansani portrays it to be.Why would Shelley make Frankenstein capable of creating and bringing life into the world in the first place, if she did not show any ‘’affiliation’’ for ” the limitless ability of human beings”?
In the novel, the creature appears to be ugly, heinous, and decrepit at first, but did he originally have the potential to be good? If Shelley wanted to outright attack Frankenstein’s brave and daring act of creation, why did she briefly bestow the creature with virtues? If Shelley wanted to blatantly criticize Victor Frankenstein’s efforts, why did she make the creature almost human?
The creature also rescued a young girl, and supported the cottagers early in his life. Was Shelley rebuking Victor’s creation and his “crime against nature” in those moments? I hope that when you read this paper and take a quick look at the PowerPoint, one thing becomes apparent. Mary Shelley was a complex individual, ostensibly with a myriad of feelings. Though Shelley attacks the romantic movement in Frankenstein at times, her novel is primarily an embodiment of romantic ideals.
PPT link:
http://faculty.atu.edu/dbarber/Intro/romanticism.ppt
Hello, Gabby,
I’m looking forward to discussing the later readings with you.
What’s interesting about the depictions of nature in the novel is that they frequently include other Romantic elements. I think the description of Mont Blanc is both emotional (Victor is terrified but also freed by the danger of an avalanche) and supernatural (there are spiritual and mysterious ideas about the indifferent cruelty and beauty of the landscape). I don’t think it’s any coincidence that this is where Victor first speaks to the monster.
It’s interesting that it’s only an imagining of nature that helps restore Victor to health. He isn’t out in nature. This difference between the dream/imagination and the reality is telling.