Analysis of Fiction
3) In what way(s) is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein a Romantic novel? Justify and exemplify.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a Romantic novel in the following aspects:
• Subjective point of view
Throughout the novel, there are three different first-person narrators (Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein and the monster). All of them have a subjective point of view.
• Dissatisfaction with the known
This aspect is illustrated by Walton’s wish of reaching the North Pole and Frankenstein’s obsession with source of life and how to bestow animation upon lifeless matter:
“I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man.” (Letter 1)
“Whence, I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed? It was a bold question, and one which has ever been considered as a mystery; yet with how many things are we upon the brink of becoming acquainted, if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries.” (Ch 4)
• Emphasis on feelings and emotional reactions
In the novel, there are detailed descriptions of the characters’ feelings. In addition, the characters of Frankenstein and the creature tend to react in very passionate way:
“But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy; and the absence of the object of which I now feel as a most severe evil. I have no friend” (Letter 2)
“How can I describe my sensations on beholding it? I feel yet parched with horror, nor can I reflect on that terrible moment without shuddering and agony. […] I gasped for breath; and, throwing myself on the body…” (Ch 21)
“…I gave vent to my anguish in fearful howlings. I was like a wild beast that had broken the toils; destroying the objects that obstructed me…” (Ch 16)
• Interest in the supernatural and exotic
This is reflected in Victor Frankenstein’s interest in alchemy:
“I read and studied the wild fancies of these writers with delight; they appeared to
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a Romantic novel in the following aspects:
• Subjective point of view
Throughout the novel, there are three different first-person narrators (Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein and the monster). All of them have a subjective point of view.
• Dissatisfaction with the known
This aspect is illustrated by Walton’s wish of reaching the North Pole and Frankenstein’s obsession with source of life and how to bestow animation upon lifeless matter:
“I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man.” (Letter 1)
“Whence, I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed? It was a bold question, and one which has ever been considered as a mystery; yet with how many things are we upon the brink of becoming acquainted, if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries.” (Ch 4)
• Emphasis on feelings and emotional reactions
In the novel, there are detailed descriptions of the characters’ feelings. In addition, the characters of Frankenstein and the creature tend to react in very passionate way:
“But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy; and the absence of the object of which I now feel as a most severe evil. I have no friend” (Letter 2)
“How can I describe my sensations on beholding it? I feel yet parched with horror, nor can I reflect on that terrible moment without shuddering and agony. […] I gasped for breath; and, throwing myself on the body…” (Ch 21)
“…I gave vent to my anguish in fearful howlings. I was like a wild beast that had broken the toils; destroying the objects that obstructed me…” (Ch 16)
• Interest in the supernatural and exotic
This is reflected in Victor Frankenstein’s interest in alchemy:
“I read and studied the wild fancies of these writers with delight; they appeared to