The desire for social progression has always shrouded society. Both Mary Shelley’sFrankenstein (1818) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) were produced duringeras of technological exploration. Through depicting technology breeching moral boundaries through context, characterisation and intertextuality, both Scott andShelley highlight the dangers of progression with the absence of ethical emotion – atimeless social issues which binds these two texts.Written during the industrial revolution and the emerging era of existentialism andexploration – Shelley’s Frankenstein can be interpreted as a warning to thetechnologically curious. This curious nature is personified throughout the protagonistVictor Frankenstein, who tragically falls victim to
The comparative study of Mary Shelley’s romantic gothic novel, Frankenstein (1818) and Ridley Scott’s futuristic hybrid film, Blade Runner: Director’s Cut (1991), both significantly demonstrate the personal struggles experienced by individuals due to the loss of nature and humanity as a result of technological advancement. Mary Shelly explores how Victor Frankenstein’s desire to pursue knowledge and power without personal responsibility leads to both the Creature’s and his own struggles in life. Likewise, Ridley Scott show how Tyrell’s unethical actions of creating replicants and a lack of parental responsibility for them result in their personal struggles in a disintegrating society in the near future. In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein’s unethical enquiries into the source of life and the attempt to usurp the role of God cause the Creature to experience various struggles in life. Shelley’s use of Galvanism and Genesis, with the support of biblical allusion to criticise humanity’s disregard for nature during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century is used to exemplify the detrimental consequences of science on individuals.
One of the ways Shelley explores the dark side of the human psyche is the suppressed and forbidden knowledge which Victor Frankenstein is hungry for. We can see this when Frankenstein states 'how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge'. However it will ultimately lead to a happier life that the man 'who believes his native town to be the whole world'. This drives Frankenstein to exceed the boundaries of science hence create new life. Shelley portrays the desire of knowledge as lust which, if left unhindered, can drive a man to peril.
Although contextual principles and ideologies evolve consistently alongside society, perpetual values regarding humanity and its profound interest in scientific progress continue to resonate over time. The didactical texts, Mary Shelley’s, ‘Frankenstein’, and Ridley Scott’s 1991 film, ‘Blade Runner-Director’s Cut,’ critique society’ definition of humanity and its values. When analysed in cohesion, the influences pertaining to the Romantic and Post-modernist contexts challenge the responder to question the ethical and moral concerns of its era. These include the violent, implacable and hubristic behaviour engrained within human beings, thus demonstrating the similarity between their respective contexts and textual mediums. Consequently, the nature of humanity and scientific progress are reflected through literary and filmic techniques, addressing the exploitation of mankind’s progress and ultimately questioning what it means to be human.
To what extent does a comparative study accentuate the influence of context on Frankenstein and Blade Runner? While issues change throughout history, values are often similar but presented from the perspective of an era. Mary Shelley's 1800's Frankenstein and Ridley Scott's 1982 Director's cut of Blade Runner essentially explore the same themes. The messages of ambition and science to usurp God and the loss of humanity reflect the time and contexts of the texts. Frankenstein depicts the ambition to use science to usurp God, influenced by the eighteenth century Enlightenment movement (encouraging reasoning to understand the universe), advancements in science in the nineteenth century and the concept of restoration of life through electricity, known as 'galvanism'.
To what extent does the time in which the composers live influence their response to enduring human emotion? Our morality shapes us and forces us to explore new avenues, but our crude desire to unravel and expose the mysteries of life will drive and reveal a future void of moral and ethical compassion. It is this fatal warning which Mary Shelley and Ridley Scott seek to convey in their retrospective texts, Frankenstein and Blade Runner. Drawing upon their personal contextual concerns, both composers uniquely inform an ambitious humanity of that the implications of the ruthless pursuit of knowledge and our innate craving to penetrate the secrets of nature will inevitably drive humanity towards a dystopian future. Shaped by their distinctly different contexts, Shelley and Scott strive to convey this notion, through bold cinematic and literary techniques, characterisation and themes, of the fatal path humanity has placed itself on.
As he is a product of the Romantic value of egocentrism; he is blind to the consequences of his overwhelming desire to be omnipotent and is driven to discover the “secret of life”. To Victor, this secret is a metaphor for life yet ironically, it is his lack of communication that results in the immoral execution of Justine. Shelley echoes his blindness through the symbolism of light as enlightenment, stating that this ‘secret’ will bring a “torrent of light into our dark world” (page 55). Similarly, the recurring motifs of eyes in Blade Runner are symbolic of knowledge and perception. In the opening scenes, the extreme close-up of the eyes with blazing fires foreshadows the concept of dangerous knowledge.
However, the values remain consistent and thus via the respective forms of the text, composers explore issues relating to humanity and unchecked science. Within each text, the composers similarly explore how when scientific endeavour is pursued without a moral frame, the consequences for creator and created, and furthermore humanity, are devastating. The impact on mankind is reflected as Victor Frankenstein brings his monster into existence. This is evident through the use of high modality as he says ‘a new species would bless me as its creator’ and ‘natures would owe their being to me’. Victor’s distant and cold language reveals his overwhelming hubris and reflects the conflation of scientific and Romantic paradigms.
In the novel Frankenstein, author Marry Shelley depicts character Victor Frankenstein as a scientist with a strong passion for forbidden knowledge and finding the answers to life through science. Though his intentions are good this leads him to the creation of a monster. Throughout the novel Frankenstein is constantly encountered by obstacles that test his passions for science and responsibility for his creation. For Victor it seems that the choice to abandon the monster is the easier path, rather than taking care of his creation. In the beginning of the book, right after the creation of the monster, Victor fled his home to get away from the creature, only to return and find that it had escaped.
The source of this conflict stems from the fact that both Science and Religion, attempt to do the same thing: to explain the world around us, and offer solutions to our problems. Science and Religion enter into conflict when their age is examined. Religion compromises very old explanations and solutions; Science only has newer ones. It was in ancient Israel – the answer was God and Creation, as described in the book of Genesis. But human knowledge has advanced and grown, different explanations have arisen: namely, the Big Bang and Evolution.