In What Ways Does Frankenstein Complicate the Romanticist Essay Example

In What Ways Does Frankenstein Complicate the Romanticist Paper Romanticist Conceptions of Creativity and Individualism? Make Reference to Frankincense and at Least One Other Romanticist Text. By caliph In what ways does Frankincense complicate the Romanticist conceptions of creativity and Individualism? Make reference to Frankincense and at least one other Romanticist text. Mary Shelley novel, Frankincense, complies with all the fundamental principles associated with Romanticism; use of the supernatural and sublime, especially with regards for nature, thus leading to pantheism, compassion and a sense of morality awards humankind, Individual freedom and rebellion against contextual societal constraints. Shelley, however, defies the Romantic principle of Individual creativity, evident from the constant references to authentic Romantic works such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (which will be referred to as The Rime throughout this essay) and the works of William Wordsmith. At the start of his Preface to Lyrical Ballads, Wordsmith asserts, Those thoughts and feelings which, by his own choice, or from the structure of his own mind, arise In IM without Immediate external excitement. (Wordsmith, W. (1800). Preface to Lyrical Ballads (2nd deed. )) Wordsmith then, is implying that Romantic texts were the sole creation of their author; spawned from an emotive response to a memory or observation and nurtured to become a fully fledged, legitimate piece of authorship. We will write a custom essay sample on In What Ways Does Frankenstein Complicate the Romanticist specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on In What Ways Does Frankenstein Complicate the Romanticist specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on In What Ways Does Frankenstein Complicate the Romanticist specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Shelley however, defies Wordsmiths theories on creativity, by building her story around existing texts. It Is of importance to note that Frankincense follows a very similar story to The Rime, In that It tells the tale of an essentially virtuous person who omits what Is seen by society as a sin, and Is therefore forced to endure a period of suffering and torment until they can repent for their sins. In effect, both texts depict a moral journey involving duality of the human psyche, with the sinners having to weigh up both halves of their conscience. As such, it is suspicious to say the least, that Shelley references The Rime several times throughout the novel, I am going to unexplored regions, to the land of mist and snow; but I shall kill no albatross. (Shelley, M. (1818). Frankincense. United States of America: Norton). Shelley obviously was familiar with the work of Coleridge and therefore It would seem logical to conclude that she borrowed the idea for the basic story from The Rime, thereby making it obvious that she did not remain aligned to the fundamental principle of individual creativity. Furthermore, the character of Dry. Frankincense can be compared to Shelley herself when studying the creative aspects of Frankincense. It can be said that the two In fact Inlet can toners role In society contextual to ten early Tint century, As Violator moves into the female space of the womb, an act of creation aped by the Gods in hydrology and religion, Mary Shelley as author moves into the male domain of art, aping the creative power of the Gods. (Bush, R. (1996 2003). The deification of creativity in relation to Frankincense. Retrieved December 2007, from http:// www. Middlebrow. Com/marshes/bush. SHTML). This reversal of roles is, from one respect, remaining in accord with Romantic ideologies in that one fundamental principle of Romanticism is a struggle for freedom and a rebellion against societal constraints. Mary Shelley stays true to that aim by usurping stereotypical gender oleos. However, Shelley reversal of roles is a contradiction with Hardworking Romanticism because, according to Wordsmith, authorship is a field which should be left entirely to men, To whom does he address himself? And what language is to be expected from him? (Wordsmith, W. (1800). Preface to Lyrical Ballads (2nd deed. )). Here Wordsmith is referring to the collective poet, and it is clear from his use of the male personal pronoun that he believed authorship is a masculine occupation. Further in keeping with Romantic dogma, Shelley uses the art of creativity imbibed with the archetypal Hardworking idea of using memories and the imagination, in order to conform with Romanticism by creating supernatural and sublime landscapes, We perceived that the valley through which we wound Loses in upon us by degrees; and when the sun had set, we beheld immense mountains and precipices overhanging us on every side, and heard the sound of the river raging among the rocks, and the dashing of waterfalls around. (Shelley, M. (1818). Frankincense. United States of America: Norton). This passage depicts the sublime landscapes surrounding the valley of Champions. Shelley had been there previously and as such, was able to call upon memories for creative inspiration. This type of creativity is also upheld by Wordsmith, For our continued influxes of feeling are modified and directed by our thoughts, which are indeed the representatives of all our past feelings. (Wordsmith, W. (1800). Preface to Lyrical Ballads (2nd deed. )). It would appear therefore, that Shelley is keeping Romantic conceptions of creativity quite uncomplicated by adopting a creative process with which people were familiar. However, the above quoted passage contains a lot of negative description with geared to the appearance of the valley. Words like closed in, raging and dashing give rise to an image unlike the usual perceptions when the word nature is considered. Interestingly, this idea is also adopted by Coleridge in The Rime, Mea, slimy things did crawl with legs/Upon the slimy sea. /About, about, in reel and rout/ The death-fires danced at night ;/The water, like a witchs oils,/Burnt green, and blue and white. (Coleridge, S. T. (1857). The Rime of the Ancient Mariner). This technique incorporates another Romantic principle, pantheism. Since the two characters who are narrating these passages (Dry. Frankincense in Frankincense and the Mariner in The Rime) have committed sins against humanity, they are punished by not being able to appreciate the beauty of nature and thereby becoming detached from God, hence the sublime becomes a useful alternative because, synonymous with Burkes theories, the sublime invokes negative emotions in those who behold it. The subtitle of Shelley novel, Or the Modern Prometheus, offers wide scope for speculation as to the nature of Shelley use of the Prometheus myth. On the one nana, It can De valley Tanat Snell NAS gall Drowned ten DSSSL story Trot another tutor and twisted it to make it her own, thus defying Romantic conceptions. However, it could be argued that Shelley is in fact demonstrating her creative individualism by re-examining and emphasizing an aspect of the Prometheus myth which was often neglected; the need of a child to be nurtured so that it might become virtuous, for without an affectionate upbringing in harmony with nature, humans can, as Rousseau theorists, become corrupted. Furthermore, Shelley use of the Prometheus myth contributes to her own complication of individual creativity. If she is taking Prometheus to be the archetypal orator, working autonomously to create a masterpiece, then she has offered a direct contradiction to her own efforts. Shelley can be seen to be promoting an attack on Promethean Romanticism, as Hardworking Romanticism would be, by her creation of a modern Prometheus, Dry. Frankincense. He in some respects represents Shelley in that he usurps societal constraints by creating a masculine womb, much like Shelley usurps Romantic conventions, firstly because she is a female author and secondly, because she defies simple principles of Romanticism by displaying intellectuality within the creation of her novel. With regards to individualism, perhaps it is the character of Dry. Frankincense who inhibits the most individualistic traits. In his exploits, moving away from his family and practically disassociating himself with society whilst in Inconstant, he demonstrates the disastrous consequences of what too much individualism can do. With absolutely no compassion for humanity, he creates and unleashes his monster, who is to perform the most atrocious acts of inhumanity. Frankincenses ultimate and most dangerous freedom lies in that he is free to consider only his own ambition, (Kale, R. Frankincense: A Warning Against Masculine Individualistic Freedom. Retrieved December 2007 from http://www. Alberta. Ca/?administrable/ Commentaries/Chalked. HTML) and it is this ambition which eventually causes his moral dilemma; whether he should recognize his duties towards society and nurture the Monster as a son or ignore his own progeny and essentially corrupt it. This extreme individualism contradicts the ideal individualism associated with Romanticism; perhaps spending too much time alone without human interaction, or interaction from other authors in the case of Shelley, will result in a disregard for what is morally erect. Shelley text seems to thrive off the influential texts attributed to its creation, and in fact Shelley expresses the possibility that authors can be used to educate and further somebody talent with the Monsters self education using a copy of Millions Paradise Lost, which he found in a bag, But Paradise Lost excited different and far deeper emotions T moved every feeling of wonder and awe. (Frankincense. Page 87). Here, Shelley is likening reading a fantastic work of literature to the Hardworking descriptions of dreams and memories. As such, it is fair to say that Shelley creates a lace in the creation of a novel for intellectuality, which appears as important as the authors own experiences and imagination. Individuality , it seems, is less important to Shelley than it is to traditional Romanticists and she therefore complicates the principles of Romanticism once more; taking attitudes towards one subject, dreams, and applying them to a different subject, literature. 0 conclude, senseless tattletales towards Romantic conceptions AT Multilingualism Ana creativity, whilst contradicting the fundamental principles of the two ideas, also helped to make Frankincense an everlasting Romantic masterpiece. Whilst defying one principle, she simultaneously complied with another, disregard for societal constraints and a struggle for freedom. Therefore she played off two major Romantic themes against one another. Through her novel, she was able to successfully demonstrate the importance of intellectuality alongside that of the authors own imagination, be it conscious or unconscious (dreaming). There mere fact that the basis for the Frankincense story came to her in a dream, during a period of bad weather, is evidence to support her belief that dreams and experiences are a key aspect to writing a praiseworthy work of literature, since she included these occurrences within the novel. It is fair to assert that Frankincense does not so much complicate Romanticist conventions of individualism and creativity as build upon the foundations set down by preceding literary texts. The constant references to other texts is emphatic of the observation that Shelley does not claim all the ideas in the novel to be her own, but draws upon their finer points and deeper philosophical meanings. This point is in fact laid out in writing within the novel, The opinions which naturally spring from the character and situation of the hero are by no means to be conceived as existing always in my own conviction; nor is any interference Justly to be drawn from the following pages as prejudicing any philosophical doctrine of whatever kind. (Frankincense. Page 6). This extract from the preface supports the claim that Shelley did not adopt other authors ideas as her own and she did not favor any particular ethics when it came to writing her novel. Shelley has, in the creation of this fantastic work of literature, created a different branch of Romanticism to that adhered to by Wordsmith.