Module A HSC Paper
Our interest in the parallels between Frankenstein and Blade Runner is further enhanced by consideration of their marked differences in textual form.
Evaluate this statement in light of your comparative study of Frankenstein and Blade Runner.
Composers construct their imaginations within characters, yet inexplicably explore and address the societal issues and paradigms that are prevalent of their eras. Albert Einstein, once proclaimed, “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” The central message embodied within the physicist’s words become the backbone of Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic novel, Frankenstein and Ridley Scott’s 1991 sci-fi film, Blade Runner whereby both composers construct their characters by imbuing them with qualities that challenge the established social values of that time. Despite the disparity in contexts, these texts convey the universal idea that the fatal consequences of humanity’s desire for omnipotence and unbridled ambition ultimately leads to a detached society through Shelley’s use of a macabre, gothic undertone and Scott’s film noir.
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley illustrates a confronting image when contrasting the personalities of Victor and the monster in their reunion, after the initial creation in Ingolstadt using Galvani’s concept of electricity as a reanimating force. This unchartered use of scientific thinking defies societal milieu of the time, causing the responder to realise Frankenstein’s grave mistake. Within the fragmented epistolary style, their confrontation in the “desert mountains and dreary glaciers,” represents their polarised attitudes; a noble savage vs. an egocentric scientist. The monster rhetorically asks in a pleading tone, “have I not suffered enough, that you seek to increase my misery? ...I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel... Make me happy.” This Biblical allusion reiterates Shelley’s faith in the divine whereby the reference to Milton’s
Evaluate this statement in light of your comparative study of Frankenstein and Blade Runner.
Composers construct their imaginations within characters, yet inexplicably explore and address the societal issues and paradigms that are prevalent of their eras. Albert Einstein, once proclaimed, “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” The central message embodied within the physicist’s words become the backbone of Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic novel, Frankenstein and Ridley Scott’s 1991 sci-fi film, Blade Runner whereby both composers construct their characters by imbuing them with qualities that challenge the established social values of that time. Despite the disparity in contexts, these texts convey the universal idea that the fatal consequences of humanity’s desire for omnipotence and unbridled ambition ultimately leads to a detached society through Shelley’s use of a macabre, gothic undertone and Scott’s film noir.
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley illustrates a confronting image when contrasting the personalities of Victor and the monster in their reunion, after the initial creation in Ingolstadt using Galvani’s concept of electricity as a reanimating force. This unchartered use of scientific thinking defies societal milieu of the time, causing the responder to realise Frankenstein’s grave mistake. Within the fragmented epistolary style, their confrontation in the “desert mountains and dreary glaciers,” represents their polarised attitudes; a noble savage vs. an egocentric scientist. The monster rhetorically asks in a pleading tone, “have I not suffered enough, that you seek to increase my misery? ...I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel... Make me happy.” This Biblical allusion reiterates Shelley’s faith in the divine whereby the reference to Milton’s