Romanticism In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Written in 1818 by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein is widely considered to be among the novels that fully exemplify Romantic-era literary achievement. The Romantic movement is a general term used to denote the intellectual evolution in literature and the arts, primarily in 19th century Europe. Substantial facets of literary Romanticism include belief in the innate virtue of humans, the bounds of nature, as well as the polarity of human emotion, all of which are embodied in Shelley’s Frankenstein. Through reading Shelley’s novel, some of the fundamental ideals of Romanticism genuinely become obvious.

The inherent good in humanity is a concept utilized throughout the novel. Victor Frankenstein is born in warm Naples to a wealthy Genevan
Throughout the novel, emotion of all kinds of heights and depths are explored. Shelley writes “This discovery was so great and overwhelming” (Shelley, 52), to exemplify the exhilaration Frankenstein feels exploring his interests. Frankenstein claims that he “fell senseless on the ground” (Shelley, 212) to encapsulate what he felt when Elizabeth was taken from him and the monster says “To him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge” (Shelley, 153) to show the extent of his hate for his creator. Frankenstein in its entirety shows the whole spectrum of human emotions. From Victor Frankenstein’s perspective, the childhood and even collegiate years have have no major trauma aside from his mother’s death. Frankenstein’s childhood depicts a very elated and passionate state as he mentions “I read and studied the fancies of these writers with delight” (Shelley, 38). At this point he’s very jovial and all those he holds dear including his mother, father, Elizabeth, and Henry Clerval are all close by. Before he enters Ingolstadt, there is a marked change in his life as his mother passes away. He narrates, “It is so long before the mind can persuade itself that she whom we saw everyday and whose very existence appeared a part of her own can have departed forever” (Shelley, 43). His mother’s death causes an emotional toll on Victor and even delays his journey to Ingolstadt. Although this stage of his narration is not as jolly as his childhood, it is less terrifying than the later portion of his story. Despite the tragedy of his mother’s death, Victor is still immersed in the studies that he is passionate about while at Ingolstadt. However, he still isolates himself and his health deteriorates, as his friend Henry Clerval notes that Frankenstein looks “so thin and pale” (Shelley, 62). Frankenstein’s life makes a turn for the worse once he reaches fruition of his