Frankenstein Romanticism Analysis

foreshadow the dark events that will unfold in Victor’s life when he witnessed, as a kid, a lightning bolt completely burning a tree down to ashes, and then later describing himself “but I am a blasted tree; the bolt has entered my soul; and I felt then that I should survive to exhibit what I shall soon cease to be – a miserable spectacle of wrecked humanity, pitiable to other, and intolerable to myself.” Instances of foreshadowing were recurrent throughout the narration, Victor occasionally took pauses to compose himself and prepare the Walton, and the readers, about the horror that will follow “I must pause here; for it requires all my fortitude to recall the memory of the frightful events which I am about to relate, in proper detail, to …show more content…
Both works can also be categorized as ones that exist within the currents of the time which they were published, namely, the Romantic Era, both encompass the fundamental features that uniquely identify Romanticism in literature, that is, the emphasis on the human emotion, imagination and elements of supernatural occurrences and such like. However, there lies the fundamental difference between these two works, and that is the utilization of Romanticism, as in, the aspects of romanticism which were explored, light and dark romanticism. Frankenstein clearly included numerous aspects of the light romanticism which was shown before, these involved feelings of hope, tranquility, and sympathy that overtook the feelings of grief, horror and sorrow from the characters as well as the readers; this ultimately diluted and reduced the gothic impact, which was still present strongly, but undoubtedly, weakened. However, within Poe’s work, where he explored the dark romanticism’s turf, his work was solely focused and pivoted on these aspects of dark romanticism which are strongly ties with the gothic elements, wherein both enkindle the feelings of utmost horror accompanied by unspeakable despair, this was not diluted by the presence of light romanticism, unlike with Shelly’s Frankenstein, hence it can be concluded that these aspects of dark romanticism, uncontaminated by its parent genre amplifies the gothic impact and strengths it. In conclusion, Romanticism can either undermine or highlight the gothic impact; it depends on which fields of romanticism a writer chooses to venture into and utilize, and which human qualities and emotions are chosen to be shown or