The New Prometheus: Depictions of the Romantic Hero in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Introduction

Mary Shelley, though lacked formal education, rose to become one of the prominent British writers of all times. Born as Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin in 1797, London, England, Shelley was a daughter to William Godwin, a philosopher and political writer and Mary Wollstonecraft, a famed feminist writer (Hall, 2018). Mary Shelley came from a background of the liberal elite in London but her life changed when she lost her biological mother and was denied formal education by her step-mother (Hall, 2018). Nevertheless, she was determined to control her destiny by educating herself at home using her father's extensive library as well as utilizing her mother's books. Her efforts bore fruits when her novel Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, published in 1818 became a hit and is now renowned as the most gothic novel to date. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein sparked the foundation of the genre of science fiction because it tells the tales of a scientist Victor Frankenstein, who created a monster out of cadavers (Hall, 2018). Most notably, Mary Shelley depicts Victor Frankenstein and the monster as romantic heroes in her novel, Frankenstein.

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Victor Frankenstein: A Romantic Dreamer and Rebel

Victor Frankenstein is a romantic character preoccupied with attainable ideals and otherworldly concerns driven by his nature of an ultimate dreamer. Victor is an accomplished scientist of high-born obsessed with the pursuit for greatness by making a creation that would improve the human race (Shelley, n.d). Mary Shelley portrays Victor as an individual with a high level of romanticism by illustrating how his ambitions are far-fetched. The protagonist Victor innocent childhood ideals makes him a dreamer with the highest level of curiosity and discovery. In the novel, Victor stipulates that his earliest sensations were to learn and discover the hidden laws of nature and believed that the world was to be a secret which he desired to divine. As such, his innocent childhood ideals present a romantic point of view before he is corrupted by the desire of being god-like in the sense of creating a living creature.

Mary Shelley presents Victor as a romantic hero in the sense that he is ready to stand against the society's accepted standards and create his own codes. Therefore, Victor Frankenstein feels deeply and his scientific direction makes him a kind of outcast due to his individuality over social and theological conventions. With this regard, Mary Shelley uses Robert Walton's letters to his sister to form a frame of Victor's tragic story. In Walton's second letter, Shelley builds the theme of isolation and the feelings of loneliness to shed light on the romantic hero Victor. "You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend" ("Frankenstein - Letter 2 (by Mary Shelley)," n.d.). In the letter, Walton laments that he has no friend an attribute that depicts the sense of separation from others and despair. Likewise, Victor Frankenstein embodies the rebellious aspect of romanticism to pursue his forbidden knowledge, a factor that makes him unique from other men. In addition, Victor's quest to create life from death leads him to neglect family and friends.

Victor Frankenstein: The Lonely Outcast and Rejected Hero

Mary Shelley uses Victor to explore man's capacity for reason as the protagonist uses science to control the natural world although romantic in his rebellious isolation and creativity. Victor uses his scientific knowledge to animate dead tissue and creates life without the help of a mother. The creature acts like a child and instead of caring for the monster of his creation, Frankenstein flees from his parental responsibility (Shelley, n.d.). Therefore, Victor is a romantic hero because he deviated from society's norms considering the love and support he received from his parents. Victor Frankenstein abandons his creation to fend for its own presenting another isolation figure in the novel. In a juxtaposition state, Shelley illustrates how Victor escapes to the countryside where the serenity of the surrounding environment is in contrast with his troubled mind.

The Monster: A Romantic Hero in Frankenstein

On the other hand, Mary Shelley also depicts the monster created by Frankenstein as a romantic hero. Since Victor wanted to reincarnate human life using science, the creature had some set of weaknesses implying that there is no perfection in life. First, the physical appearance of the monster made it different from other human beings, implying its title 'monster.' Second, just like Walton in his letters, the creature needed a companion and was driven by the desire for acceptance. Nevertheless, the lack of acceptance led the monster to a path of revenge by committing violent acts by bringing death and destruction. In other words, the violence and threats spearheaded by the creature are as a result of humanity's wrongdoings. Victor runs away from his problems instead of confronting the monster and teach it what it means to be human, and instead lets it hurt his loved ones (Shelley, n.d.).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a gothic novel that presents Victor Frankenstein and his monster as romantic heroes. Born from an elite family during the age of industrialization and urbanization, Shelley feels the need of escaping from the horrors of life. As a result, the novel Frankenstein depicts the theme of isolation or alienation from the society as a romantic attribute of the character of Victor and his monster. Therefore, Shelley depicts how Frankenstein's isolation is by choice but the same is forced upon the creature. Similarly, Victors evades companionship while the monster longs for it. Likewise, the concept of romantic hero can be summarized in the sense that as Victor creates life, the monster brings death and destruction.

References

Frankenstein - Letter 2 (by Mary Shelley). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.authorama.com/frankenstein-2.html

Hall, H. (2018, July 6). Who was Mary Shelley and what inspired Frankenstein? Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/mary-shelley-movie-frankenstein-books-husband-trailer-biography-quotes-a8433531.html

Shelley, M. (n.d). Frankenstein. Retrieved from http://www.authorama.com/frankenstein-1.html