Throughout the novel Frankenstein, author Mary Shelley defines morality based on a nature and nurture of ones and it plays relevant role on a person life. Shelley explains sometimes a mankind’s morality can be bad and she mentions it through her the characters Victor Frankenstein, the creature and Robert Walden. Frankenstein’s great desire of creating life endanger his family and goes against nature, his careless disregard for a naïve creature turns it into vicious exterminator and Walden’s unachievable fantasy of finding north pole put his crew in deadly
Texts reflect the social, economic and historical contexts of which the author compose their work in. Both Mary Shelley’s 19th century gothic novel “Frankenstein” and the science fiction film “Blade Runner” directed by Ridley Scott propose similar concepts even though their work were compose during different era. As a Romanticist, Shelley put down the idea of man playing ‘God’, Scott’s responds to Shelley warning is also condemn man’s thoughtless ambition. However the context of greed and mass industrialisation shifts the criticism onto the pursuit of commercial dominance. Both texts have used many language techniques and features to describe similar dystopian visions result from man’s abandonment of nature.
‘Frankenstein’ and the so called ‘Monster’ Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ examines human nature. A first time reader may be used to the unfaithful Hollywood adaptions of this timeless masterpiece but can find profound levels of depth and meaning in the art of Shelley’s storytelling. The creature in the story is a creation of Victor Frankenstein who is obsessed by "a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature" (Shelley 21). It is the creatures treatment by society and his creator Frankenstein that leads him to indulge in vengeful and evil behavior. Although this behavior is horrible and not at all sane or acceptable, it does not mean that the creature is an animal or ‘monster.’ Some people, legally and illegally, commit and enjoy
There is also Dr Lanyon, who is seen to be completely opposed to the science of Jekyll but loses his Victorian values to his curiosity when Jekyll reveals his secret. The contrast of “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case” to the narrative of Mr Utterson in the other chapters of this book shows duality because Mr Utterson uses the other characters as a point of view whereas Jekyll’s statement of the case looks from only his perspective. Stevenson uses the lasting moral message that good and evil are conflicting inside people - the way that savagery and civilisation contrast and our effects on religion and science. Robert Louis Stevenson uses the character of Sir Danvers Carew to portray that civilisation and religion are important for good people whereas Mr Hyde shows evil through his curiosity of life and his height to represent youth, showing that Jekyll’s youthful sins; which were not explained in detail are replicated as Hyde. This is a comment on Victorian values that Stevenson is making.
The Novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley and the film Blade runner by Ridley Scott, though composed in different centuries, share a number of common key issues including the excessive ambition and the lengths one will go to achieve that desires; the importance of nature to society; and what true humanity is. By considering the two texts together, we gain a clearer understanding of the issue within and significance of each text. Both texts warn about the terrible consequences of excessive ambition as the motivation is predominately selfish, rather than for the common good. Both Victor and Tyrell are blind to the results of their irresponsible scientific experimentation and so both suffer grievously at the hands of their creation, not considering the extreme consequences of medalling with nature, We feel an empathy towards the creatures rather than the creators due to their indecent and morally wrong acts, and also their reactions. Tyrell is a god-like individual who represents corporate greed, ambition and the willingness to sacrifice mortality and humanity.
Frankenstein was composed during the Romantic period; which involved challenging previously accepted, scientific statements, regarding the practical and ethical possibilities arising from human enquiries into the sources of life and human knowledge in general. Romantics such as Shelley held firm views in the rejection of science and rationalism, espousing the sublimity of nature and emotional experiences. This ideology involved the concept that mechanical production, such as seen through the Industrial Revolution, led to the alienation of man from essential human nature. Shelley’s Gothic writing style was heavily influenced by such ideologies; evident through her use of vivid imagery, juxtaposing the beauty of natural elements and the hideousness of scientifically manufactured beings, a symbol of the Enlightenment; “I watched
Victor Frankenstein is affected by such views, and reflects a swing back and forth from Romantic to Enlightenment. The novel is mainly focused on how humans treat nature and how it affects their lives. There is a complex line between the Romantic's respect towards nature and the enlightened thinker's emphasis on rational thought and ambition, and we can see several examples of this in the novel. Victor Frankenstein explores the Enlightenment point of view and due to the creation of the monster undergoes a complete shift towards the Romantic point of view on science and knowledge. The Romantics disliked enlightened thinkers' emphasis on rational thought.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1992) express their growing concerns of the destructive consequences of alienation and the suffering that results of this. Influenced by the rapid growth of technology and environmental concerns of their composing times, they illustrate their concerns from different perspectives. Both texts explore the suffering of the environment when one isolates themselves or neglects the natural world. Shelley who was heavily influenced by the principles of Romanticism and was personally exposed to writers and poets who believed in the sublime and rejuvenating power of nature, focuses on the suffering that can occur when one isolates themself from the natural world. It is when Victor
In Huxley’s world of the World State, humanity is conditioned to reject the nature as the natural rhythms of birth and ageing as well as emotions that are evolved when in contact with nature are considered to threaten the stability of civilization. Huxley predicts that if conditioning humanity is continued, the very featured that define what it means to be human will be abolished, such as in this case compassion and individual freedom. The contrast in the characterisation between Lenina and John the Savage demonstrates this. When is contact with such elements of the natural world such as breast-feeding, Lenina quotes hypnopaedia taught slogans such as “cleanliness in next to Fordliness”, demonstrating her conditioning to reject the natural. John the savage on the other hand who has not been conditioned is disgusted by the control
Shelley draws from the characteristics of gothic fiction influenced by The Romantic Movement, through employing sinister connotations that forebode Victor’s downfall, “…the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out…” This portrays the reality that the value of creating life is unattainable, which is furthermore explored in Blade Runner, as Scott presents a world in which technology has eliminated the defining features of humanity. Shelley also alludes to The Promethean Myth and the symbolism of oppressing fire, “…the glimmer of the half-extinguished light…” to emphasise the danger of attaining knowledge beyond accepted boundaries. Shelley’s admonition of excessive knowledge is explored additionally within Blade Runner. Blade Runner is dominated by capitalism and social hierarchy, therefore mirroring the values of the 18th century context of Frankenstein. Scott, influenced by the gothic-novel features in Frankenstein, has employed the style of