“The scientific world just after the Industrial Revolution was delving into the unknown, and limitless possibilities also caused fear and apprehension for many as to the consequences of such horrific possibilities.”(Wikipedia: Frankenstein)
Frankenstein was written at the time of the Industrial revolution in Britain; although it cannot be precise the rough dates for this are 1750 – 1850. This period of time was one of great upheaval as the population grew and moved to cities like Manchester. It was a time of apprehension and fear as the future became uncertain with a fast changing economy and lifestyle as agrarian society was overthrown by industry. Nothing seemed impossible as science and inventions changed everything, could it be responsible for creating life?
Below JMW Turner, the romanticist artist in his painting Rain Steam and Speed depicts a small hare crossing the track in front of a steam train which may symbolise industry removing the previous natural order.
The French revolution was said to have influenced the romanticism period (a key genre at the time). During the revolution, republicanism replaced the country’s absolute monarchy. This meant the citizens had more say in the country’s actions; a key convention within romanticism was the importance of the individual. The slogan ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’ outlived the revolution and was used to promote democracy and overthrow oppressive governments, it also outlines the importance of freedom and how a person’s personality, views and opinions are essential and must be taken into account similar to the romantic ideals. “Romanticism elevated the achievements of what it perceived as misunderstood heroic individuals” (Wikipedia: Romanticism) this quote may link to the protagonist of the novel; Victor Frankenstein.
Napoleon Bonaparte himself drove individualism to new heights. Leading an empire which had great influential powers across Europe, when ruling France in the chaotic times, he “created new styles, tastes, and even laws with disregard for public opinion and fascinated the people of the time.” () He would thus influence the majority of the population and different nations to pursue their own tastes and creative styles and this would make him a crucial character in stimulating the movement’s motives with individualism.
Shelley indulges in describing the atmosphere, habitat and characteristics with romantic conventions especially in the commencing chapters revealing Frankenstein’s childhood. Shelley would relate to his childhood with more romantic conventions to show the innocence of the child, a key feature in the movement. Though Frankenstein depicts himself as being “earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture,” and “deeply smitten with the thirst of knowledge” showing his eagerness to gain knowledge this opposes the movement’s beliefs of creativity and imagination and elevating the Enlightenment’s qualities. Evidently this irony was used by Shelley as it would be the protagonist’s knowledge and curiosity of it which would lead to his downfall. This would only bewilder the audience and ask the questions such as; did Shelley use Frankenstein’s characteristics to warn the audience of his potential villainy? And why would Shelley use anti romantic characteristics with this dubious hero?
Though using antic romantic descriptions showing Shelley’s rebellious side and feelings towards the movement, Shelley may have sympathized with Frankenstein’s ambitions to learn the unknown facts of life and thus uses him as the main exemplar of this novel. Frankenstein himself admits he “was indifferent”, suppressing his individual, did Shelley suppress her true personality, in order to be acknowledged by her peers especially her being of different gender. Was this novel her way of proving her individual or simply to devour the Romantic traits of the time?
However, Shelley does display in Frankenstein’s traits some that are typically of the Romantics. For example, his desire to learn is his own individual attribute even though it is in the area of knowledge and fact, it his own personal taste. Furthermore he has peers who have distinct Romantic features, for instance his sister Elizabeth busied herself with “aerial creations of the poets and in the majestic and wondrous scenes” showing she had a creative nature and an ardour for poetry, much like Shelley’s spouse Percy Shelley. Frankenstein is also ‘surrounded by nature’; he lives in Geneva, in the countryside with his sister which could bring about influences to the literary arts as it does his sister and his best friend Henry Clerval and away from scientific investigation. Perhaps this is where the innocence of Frankenstein emanates, the innocence that Shelley tries to give him.
Romantic features within the novel differentiate before and after the creation of the monster. The most obvious change before the creation is how the atmosphere and setting are described, for instance Shelley describes the seasons, illustrating a more colourful scene in the reader’s mind and the seasons also represent nature and tranquillity. The making and creating of the monster was executed within a dim city, a very anti romantic setting, Shelley would have used this setting to exaggerate depression and darkness within the chapters during the creation. Shelley also mentions disease and famine being unleashed in the city of Ingolstadt; the author might have used this disease to warn citizens and even the reader of the evil to come; the monster. After the creation Victor and the monster both travel through countryside and remote places such as Scotland and Ireland which fit the Romantic ideals. But the monster ‘invades’ the tranquillity and peace of the romantic setting, as he represents disease and darkness. His heinous crimes including the murder of Victor’s young brother, William, occurred in the rural and isolated areas. Shelley also challenges the idea of the innocence of childhood, when William encounters the monster he exclaims words such as, “Monster! Ugly wretch!” So Shelley allows the child to use foul language such as ‘wretch’. The children are no longer innocent; the invading monster from the city has corrupted both the rural idyll and the innocence of youth. Shelley may be using the monster as an allegory of the changes in society, the industrial revolution the despoiling of the countryside and the oppression of young children forced to work in the factories. As we can see there is a similar story in Turner’s painting.
The sentence structures within Chapter 5 show complex descriptions; Shelley uses long sentences broken by frequent commas and semi-colons to increase the tension and to exaggerate Frankenstein’s feelings. The sentences are composed of thoughts Victor is having and the language is dark and brooding, “her lips…became livid with the hue of death.”, black and comfortless sky” and “My heart palpitated with the sickness of fear.”. The short sharp breaks of the sentences give the impression of speed reflecting Victors attempt to escape the monster and even it seems his own thoughts. It’s as if he is imprisoned and trying desperately to run away.
Also the grim and sinister vocabulary is used to indicate the turmoil that has been unleashed both in the city and Frankenstein’s mind. “Even Dante could not have conceived”, Dante being the poet who wrote ‘The Divine Comedy’ that describes the horrors of Hell. This writing can be described as Gothic concentrating on dark thoughts and miserable weather giving a gloomy picture to the reader.
The sentences in Chapter 10 are very similar, quite long but broken with commas. Yet the impression is much more serene. Shelley has taken Victor back to the open countryside of the Alps and the descriptions are not of his mind but what he sees. The sharp breaks in the sentences seem to say that Victor has escaped; he’s free to roam and has time to see his surroundings. The language depicted in this chapter expresses a calm side of nature and peace both in the surroundings and even in the protagonist up to the meeting with his creation, his son. He remembers the effect of sighting Montanvert when he was young “ it had filled me with a sublime ecstasy” this is a key quote showing how the romantic conventions change after the creation, as a romantic scene no longer fills him with happiness as it did in his childhood, when he was embraced with the innocence of youth.
The vocabulary used when Frankenstein meets his creation expresses how the monster ‘intrudes’ the romantic scene, as if his being artificial is sensed in the atmosphere and causes the language to dramatically convert into fouler phrases, “abhorred monster! Fiend that thou art!”, “devil”, “vile insect”, Victor expresses his rage and malice in the wilderness; it is as if the emotion of ‘anger’ and ‘hate’ are more easily defined by him than the joys of Mother Nature, Shelley may have used this purposely to portray a more villainous side to Victor and how he may have mutated in to a monster himself. So the ‘fiend’ does not use extensive vile words in his argument or even expresses a deep tone of anger in his voice compared to that of his master. He does not merely insult Frankenstein but criticises him and even the human race itself, so we sympathise with the monster because of how he has been treated, “you my creator detest and spurn me”, and this phrase could signify that Frankenstein expresses more malignity then the monster himself and that creating the monster was a more villainous crime than murder. “How dare you sport thus with life?”, “you accuse me of murder and yet you would, with a satisfied conscience, destroy your own creature”.
In this key scene Shelley demolishes the father and son relationship to exaggerate Frankenstein’s hatred towards his creation, Shelley may have used the character to display a weakness in man and how easily ‘abhorrent’ feelings can fill them, even towards their own son.
Shelley uses a range of vocabulary to maintain the reader’s attention and feelings towards characters. For example, Shelley uses more wicked phrases when describing the monster; this is purposely done so she can exaggerate its ugliness and malicious nature, so the audience have a clear picture of the fiend in their minds. When describing scenery, however she displays a more harmonic tone in the atmosphere and adds significant detail to the environment evidently to create a ‘picturesque’ scene, bias to romanticism and enthralling to the reader.
The novel itself is very influential upon writers of the time and to this day; it is considered the first science fiction novel using technology and experiments to create something out of the unknown. New modern discoveries could be linked with this novel such as DNA being used to create another living organism; evidently the monster was formed by parts of deceased persons.
Shelley could have written this book in order to teach or remind people of the time about morals. Frankenstein’s refusal to help his creation or son cost him his friends and family, this message could signal that people should help others in need or even to be grateful to have children as there were a high percentage of miscarriages in that period; Shelley suffered from this.
This novel has also said to have biblical references and tells the terrible consequences of playing god and how Frankenstein is punished for his actions. The novel’s subtitle ‘The Modern Prometheus’ links also to god, Prometheus being the Greek titan who stole fire from the gods and was punished by Zeus. Although the Latin version of the tale consists of Prometheus making man from clay and water, both versions link greatly to Frankenstein, though Frankenstein is not punished by God directly but by his suffering made by his own creation and thoughts.
The novel can also be seen as Shelley demoting the romanticist’s ideals, although she does not demolish their motives but instead questions them. For instance the reason for the death of William challenges the idea of the innocence of childhood and why all the deaths within the novel occur in the wild when in fact the romanticists believed nature to be a peaceful and serene place. Other suggestions may be the protagonist’s characteristics and how he is fascinated by knowledge and not literature, poetry or even another form of art.
From the two sections I have studied, these being chapters five and ten, Chapter five shows significant gothic and anti romantic themes, as the chapter itself reflects turmoil and darkness in the grim descriptions of Frankenstein’s surroundings and in his own grim thoughts. Whereas Chapter 10 displays more romantic forms with the peaceful scenes of nature, though forms of anti romanticism are expressed in the chapter when the ‘fiend’ infiltrates this environ with the essence of darkness and despair.
References:
- Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein including introduction (1831) and preface (1818). Penguin Popular Classics published, 1994.
- Wikipedia search:
Romanticism, Frankenstein, Science fiction, gothic horror,
French revolution, Industrial revolution.
