It is said that the monster’s ‘hideous looks’ represents Victor’s abnormal personality. The theme of isolation also represents doubling between Victor and the monster. Although Victor appears to be surrounded by a loving family, he ‘shuns the face of man’ and decides to become isolated from his family and the world and is trapped in a bubble of science and galvanism. Similarly, isolation is shown through the monster. He is rejected by the De Laceys and Frankenstein and ponders the question: ‘Am I not alone, miserably alone?’.
The theme of disruption refers to the unbalancing of what is natural, a theme which is explored and opinionated in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (1817) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (Director’s cut), where ‘disruptive’ actions of individuals, involving the exploitation of nature, bring about [ironically] the character’s own downfall, and more importantly, an undesired outcome whilst playing god. The critical theme outlined in both texts is humanity’s desire for power which leads to the rejection of our natural world, and this, by extension, means turning to technology and other unconventional methods in order to gain knowledge and distinction. Shelley specifically cautions against scientific advancement and the obsession which follows
The Gothic genre allows the purpose to reach the audience. In Chapter two, Victor meets his creation in the presence of nature, contrasting the scientifically created monster. The sublime gothic technique emphasises the power of nature to adjust Victor's mood, giving perspective of its relative importance. The novel's epistolary structure, as an example of realism, contains the personal accounts of Frankenstein and his monster. Their downfall due to technology gives credibility to the warning.
The ending of the story, when Victor almost chases to monster to the north pole, is also a glimmering example of how Victor has changed internally from a Geneva, to a cold, harsh, inhuman monster. The main characters, Victor and the monster, are both interesting mixes of good, as well as evil. Victor, on the one hand, is good in the sense that he wants to understand science to further humanity. He does have an ugly side, however. For example, Victor abandons his monster after he creates it because he realizes what he has done.
Despite being written nearly two centuries apart, Scott’s Blade Runner contains many similar themes to that of Shelley’s Frankenstein. By examining each composer’s contextual concerns and values we can see that prophetic extrapolation highlights their fear of humanities ramification on our worldspace and personal identity. However, differing zeitgeists has altered these values and presented two fundamentally similar but thematically different texts. The worldspaces established by each composer reflects their values and concerns. Inspired by a retreat into the Swiss Alps, Shelley constructs her text in the setting of the nature-rich Geneva.
The concept of the sublime is heavily displayed in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein through the use of extreme environmental imagery. Frankenstein is only able to identify with immense, sublime landscapes since they are the only sceneries extreme enough to communicate what Victor feels inside. Frankenstein’s emotions and moods are directly parallel to the natural environment that surrounds him. From the time Frankenstein created his monster, he finds little solace in the beauty of nature. Nature’s beauty also has the power over Frankenstein to evoke strong emotions.
Although changes in context lead to changed values being reflected in texts, common concerns resonate over time and between texts. Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (1818) and the film Bladerunner (1992), directed by Ridley Scott, both explore the consequences of an unrestrained pursuit of science and knowledge and the nature of humanity. Although both composers raise similar ideas and concerns, they are presented to the audience differently due to the differing contexts in which the two texts were composed. Mary Shelley composed her novel in the midst of the industrial revolution and during the Age of Enlightenment, while Ridley Scott developed his film at a time of unfettered capitalism and consumerism alongside technological advances in computing and genetic modification. In Frankenstein, Shelley displays the dire consequences that accompany the unrestrained pursuit of knowledge.
In what ways is your appreciation of both texts enhanced by a comparative study of ambition on Frankenstein and Blade runner? Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Ridley Scott's Bladerunner both project dystopian images of society and morality, propelled by the main characters' ambition and egotism. It is through this that an audience’s appreciation for texts is enhanced. These complex texts can be seen as a pair that differs in context, seeing as they are separated through time. Frankenstein driven by romantic imagery and set in historic context, that analysis the European divide in society perpetuated by superficiality.
IN WHAT WAYS DOES A COMPARATIVE STUDY ACCENTUATE THE DISTINCTIVE CONTEXTS OF FRANKENSTEIN AND BLADERUNNER? The comparative study of Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley and Bladerunner directed by Ridley Scot, accentuates the timeless themes of humanity and lack of morality. These are both powerful themes of both novel and film, which relate closely to the values of responsibility and over ambition seen in both texts. Humanity was under close question in scientific discoveries of both eras as in the 18oo’s and the 1980’s were causing huge controversy over whether the experiments were boarding on ‘playing God’, this co-insides with the lack of humanity and over ambition. Humanity is seen in both novel and film show humans in a more monstrous
“Gothic and Romanticism” – David Punter Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus and a Monster’s inevitable doom In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, it appears that Shelley attempts to draw an important analogy between the lone genius Prometheus, the archetypal seeker after forbidden wisdom, and her own protagonist Victor Frankenstein, who also dares to transgress boundaries in order to create life. Thus the subtitle The Modern Prometheus. However, it is crucial to note the invariable difference between both old and modern Prometheus. Whereas old Prometheus suffers alone for his sin, in the case of Shelley’s Prometheus, Frankenstein, the monster involuntarily partakes in the sin, by being its final product, and therefore has to suffer too. To the reader, it seems that Shelly consistently reminds us of the lack of responsibility on the part of Frankenstein, and the monster’s inherent innocence, who is only made evil by his circumstances.