Although sharing little in setting or premise, the texts Frankenstein and Blade Runner share many of the same concerns as they both challenge the values and morals of the societies in which they were set, most notably the notion of what it means to be human, as well as articulating the composers' critique of the advancement in science and technology. Both texts also exhibit the consequences of imprudent creation and the hubris of an individual to rise above and disrupt the natural order. Written in the eighteen hundreds by aggrieved writer Mary Shelley, the novel Frankenstein presents readers with a Romanticist perspective of technology ‘dehumanizing’ mankind as society was not made clear of their indistinct boundaries. Through Victor’s regression, “I, the true murderer, felt the never dying worm alive in my bosom”, the symbols of the ‘worm’ explore the downfall in
Mary Shelley’s gothic promethean novel, Frankenstein (1818), was released during the industrial revolution as romanticism was thriving, while Ridley Scott’s futuristic sci-fi Blade runner (1992) grew with the dawning of a capitalistic increasingly globalised and technologically driven society. The comparative study of these texts encompasses themes of humanity and playing God through a tone of moral warning and allows the responder to explore how similar content in different contexts will reflect changing, but also constant values. Through the use of filmic techniques, Scott demonstrates how nature and religion are absent in a world overrun by consumerism and technology. Due to her context, Shelley alternatively uses imagery and allusions to hint at the consequences humanity will suffer if they try to better God through the misuse of science and the corruption of nature. Both of these texts reflect the distinctive contexts in which they were written; although separated by over 100 years of history, they still present similar issues and dilemmas which affected the form and features of the individual texts.
It is Frankenstein’s responsibility to teach the monster and see it as a friend. It’s because Frankenstein rejects his creature that causes it to become evil. “Oh No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then, but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing suck as even Dante could not have conceived.”(pg.49) Each time the monster killed it was a consequence of Victor’s actions.
Shelley portrays the desire of knowledge as lust which, if left unhindered, can drive a man to peril. Although Frankenstein's initial intentions were to exceed the boundaries of science the over ambitious nature led him to be 'hidden in darkness' and 'locked up from nature' leading the monster to Frankenstein's peril. A feature of the gothic genre is Victor's psychotic nature which emphasizes the dark side of the human psyche in emotional and physical form. Some critics such as Rebecca Wallis have argued that the 'dark Sid elf the human psyche' can be found within victor's sexuality. The point in the novel which this critic focuses on is the moment before intercourse between Victor and Elizabeth when Victor states ' this night is dreadful, very dreadful'.
Mary Shelley uses different narrators to manipulate our views back and forth. For example if Frankenstein was narrating the story he would be against the ‘creation’. Frankenstein clearly hated how ‘delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains’ he had created. His emotions strongly influence our response to the ‘creation.’ Whereas if the story was being narrated by the ‘creation’ we would feel empathy and sympathy for the creation. ‘My heart sank with bitter sickness, as I
Their downfall due to technology gives credibility to the warning. Religious imagery within Frankenstein highlights the responsibilities associated with 'playing God'. Repeated references to Frankenstein's creature as a "wretched devil", and Victor as his "God", display Frankenstein's inability to manage the consequences of his actions. The physical ability to create life does not
He also creates the unhappiness amongst his replicants, “it created a virus so lethal the subject was dead before it even left the table,” through the flippant tone we see his lack of responsibility, like Frankenstein, he acts more like the monster than his creation. “Also extraordinary things, reveal in your time,” Tyrell’s dismissive tone, gives a similar impression of his lack of morality and care for others. Even when faced with the threat of death, he refuses to increase the happiness of his creation, much like Frankenstein when faced with the proposition of the creature; “I refused, and I did right in
The role of the monster is deprived in a variety of different ways throughout gothic fiction and images of the monster can be found in writings by the prophetic historian and social commentator Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881, both in The French Revolution, 1837, and in his many comments on the growing strength and articulation of the mass of industrial workers and their increasing political demands. The novelist Charles Dickens, 1812-1870, inherited from his reading of Carlyle a strong sense that society was becoming mechanized so that people were beginning to be transformed into a robotic state. In Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein, 1818, creates a phenomenal creature which makes the reader question humanity and the way people are treated. The monster although uneducated becomes eloquent and brave but is still seen as an outcast due to his grotesque appearance and the fact he has had no parenting. The French Revolution, which began in 1789, resulted in the overthrow of the French monarchy and ultimately helped Napoleon Bonaparte to seize control in 1799.
The Oxford Dictionary of English states that “monster” is an inhumane, cruel, or wicked person; or a thing or animal that is excessively or dauntingly large; how about to criticize or reprimand severely; or the Latin word “monstrum” meaning portent, omen, or well monster. The purpose of my research here is to show the similarities between us and those infamous creatures that we’ve feared since childhood. All monsters share some character flaws like greed, envy, recklessness, obsession, and the urge or need to cause destruction. Humans share these flaws with monsters. We share greed, greed sadly is what drives and motivates all of us someway or some how Van Fossen Most if not all monsters are characterized by being gross, large, crude.
Frankenstein wanted to recreate his mother, but instead he made a creature comprised of the socially repressed elements of Frankenstein (the monster) and his wish for his mother. Frankenstein's creature comprises all of the unacceptable traits of humans, those we usually suppress. These traits may actually be a representation of those traits that Frankenstein wishes he had. Mary Shelley tries to humanize the position of the impossible monster to imagine what it would be like for a monster to sustain personhood when everybody around him treats him as an utterly outcast to society. Shelley is trying to show that the creature is not inherently monstrous, but