Revolutions in Frankenstein and the ampyre
With close reference to ONE male writer and ONE female writer studied in the module, show how the writers in the period 1780-1830 represented revolution in very different ways and to different ends. ('Revolution' here refers most obviously to the French revolution, but it could also be taken to refer to any of the revolutions in British society and culture which were talked about in the period, some of which will be addressed in the lectures of this module).Frankenstein and The Vampyre and the influence and effect of 'revolutions.' Within the texts of Frankenstein (1818) and The Vampyre (1819) there are obvious influences from the current revolutions effecting Britain and Western Europe. Both Shelley and Polidori give us many insights into the key issues effecting contempories of the time through the medium of the texts. I chose these two texts as they are closely linked from the alleged trading of ghost stories between Bryon, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelly and Polidori and it is argued that Mary Shelley had more impact on Polidori's work. The most immediately obvious form of revolution effecting the authors here is the working-class driven French revolution, however there is also the industrial revolution; creating a great fe
"(Davenport-Hines 194) The characters of Frankenstein's monster and Lord Ruthven also differ greatly in their fundamental mindset, Lord Ruthven is a killer who preys on the vulnerability of women, we get the impression from the outset that his being is evil, there is never any time within the text that the reader may empathise with him, he is inherently and supernaturally evil. Another key element within both texts when referring to revolution is the type of 'prey' each of the monsters kill. When considering these texts we must account for the situation of Mary Shelley. There were many debates created by this of how human life was brought into existence and whether technology could simulate life and this is obviously a key issue in Frankenstein. Her father, William Godwin, was a dissenter-turned atheist who wrote An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice in 1793, this radical text reflected Godwin's personal anarchic viewpoint and he is now recognised as the father on English anarchism. Shelley and Polidori deal with these in very different ways and their gender, upbringing and social status play a very important part. From the late 18th century onwards, the world was dramatically changing, science had taken huge leaps forward and people were both fascinated and terrified by what technology could eventually achieve. The fact that the monster is made up of many different human body parts shifts us toward thinking of the monster as a collective rather than an individual, there is a direct and obvious comparison here between the creature and the working classes. Wc: 2172 BibliographyDavenport-Hines, Richard. ar of artificial power, which in turn led to many debates as to what makes us human and do we have a soul and finally can human life be simulated by artificial, man-made workings? The French revolution, though popular at first, soon struck fear into the hearts of many of the Western-European countries' Bourgeois classes, Britain was no different as great fear spread as to what the proletariat could do if they united against the 'ruling' classes in an attempt to redistribute the power within the country. The creation of Victor Frankenstein however is simply childlike and has no idea how to control the emotions he is experiencing, this childlike quality creates both empathy and pity within the reader and displays yet another link with the state of the working classes at the time, this immensely strong being who has no idea of his power does not understand the fundamental laws of controlling himself, similarly to the monster, the working classes, having just realised that they do possess power yet are both unsure how to use it or what they should use it for. The third major theme of revolution existing in Frankenstein -no example within The Vampyre- is the effects of the industrial revolution. In a time where the aristocratic classes were greatly fearing the possibility of revolution, Lord Ruthven represents the near impossibility of removing the dominance of the aged aristocratic rule without changing the country completely, this is shown from Aubrey's desire to "free the world from such a wretch; but death he [Aubrey] remembered, had been already mocked. The most immediate thing noticed about Frankenstein is the fact the creature simply bears his creator's name, rather than getting his own, this has direct connotations and links to the loss of a women's surname through marriage, it is interested however to note that Mary Wolstencraft Shelley neither took her father's name or fully removed her maiden name after marriage.
Common topics in this essay:
Lord Ruthven,
Bourgeois Victor,
Victor Frankenstein,
Revolution Victor's,
Mary Shelley,
Victor Elizabeth,
Shelley Polidori,
Mary Shelley's,
,
Ruthven Vampyre,
lord ruthven,
frankenstein's monster,
french revolution,
penguin classics,
mary wolstencraft,
london penguin,
classics 1992,
london penguin classics,
penguin classics 1992,
recently realised power,
key issues,
lord ruthven represents,
shelley polidori,
britain western,
britain western europe,
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Acceptance Essays
