In what ways does a comparative study accentuate the distinctive contexts of Frankenstein and Blade
Runner?
Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein (1818) and Ridley Scott’s neo-noir film Blade Runner: The
Director’s Cut (1992) mirror the sociocultural circumstances of their time. These contextual influences permeate through the texts revealing the beliefs and values of their eras. Although composed almost two centuries apart with significant contextual differences, both texts share the core values of compassion and sensibility in exploring the ideas of unbridled ambition and the human identity providing insight into moral and ethical concerns. It is connections such as these that exemplify the distinctive contexts of each text. [91]
Adopting the title, “The Modern Prometheus”, Shelley parallels both Victor and the creature to Greek mythology thus examining how one’s unbridled ambition leads to an individual’s emotional and physical destruction. Influenced by the 1800’s Enlightenment era and experiments with galvanism, Shelley elucidates her fear on how the beliefs of science and progress will lead to a degrading moral framework.
The high modality of Victor’s “fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature” reveals his initial ardent ambition to achieve progress in science. Resonating with aspects of galvanism, Victor held contrasting views of animating a constructed corpse, illustrated through emotive language from the
“beauty of the dream” to his “breathless horror”. This highlights the devastating effects of his ambition for science as he abandons his creature out of fear exemplifying his lack of empathy and degraded sense of morality. The creature’s destructive vengeance gives rise to his guilt which “preyed upon [his] health” leading to his “deep, dark, deathlike solitude”. This gothic imagery expresses the emotional and physical deterioration caused by his irresponsibility and void moral framework. Hence, Shelley