State Ranker Frankenstein Notes: Worlds of Upheaval (English Extension 1)

Studying the Worlds of Upheaval elective allows you to explore different aspects of your novels in unique ways. For Frankenstein, by considering the diverse perspective of the socio-political upheaval of Shelley’s time, you will be able to gain an appreciation for ways of thinking during that epoch. Let’s take a look at a few parts of the Worlds of Upheaval rationale and its link to Frankenstein.

“Individuals and communities seeking unity, certainty, solace, justice or restoration during social and political upheaval”

This component of the rationale looks at both the personal and collective themes that may be prevalent within your main texts. The rivalry between nature and man’s force is something that Shelley does well at portraying throughout the novel. The use of pathetic fallacy in “…dark melancholy clouded every thought” highlights the consequence Victor faced as a result of creating the Creature. However, the “sublime ecstasy that gave wings to the soul” reflects the emotional response that contrasts Victor’s rational thinking; for a moment here, there is unity between man and the natural world.

“Predicaments, aspirations, motivations and ideas of individuals and groups in periods of upheaval”

The predicaments within Frankenstein provide a framework for the underlying social issues of Shelley’s time. Specifically, Walton’s ship sailing North as a predicament can symbolically be seen as a reflection of Victor’s displacement of passion. Victor is ill-equipped to handle the negative consequences of his self-created Creature. 

The idea of aspiration with Frankenstein majorly correlates to Shelley’s aim in portraying the differences between Scientific Rationalism and Romanticism. Victor aspires in his scientific experimentation while Walton’s passion lies with his arctic expedition. 

Examples of the contrasting aspirations are shown between Walton and Victor here:

·     Walton states that he preferred “glory to every enticement wealth placed in [his] path”

·     Victor admits that “wealth was an inferior object”, then states “…but what glory would attend the discovery if I could banish disease from the human frame”

“How texts represent shifting values, contexts and attitudes”

A text’s ability to reflect the differing values, contexts and attitudes of their time enables the responder to empathise and draw connections to their own lives, hence enhancing present-day decision-making and interpretation of older texts.

Shelley’s time included the transition between the Romantic era to the Enlightenment, with both coexisting. During this turbulent time, Romantic novels associated with the themes of love, terror and fear were abundant. These were parts of the human condition that the Enlightenment followers could not yet explain with ‘rational thought’.

Essentially, the Gothic novelists aimed to represent the unilluminated side that came with the Age of Reason. This unique genre portrays individuals as imperfect and inferior to greater forces like death and nature, as shown throughout Frankenstein.

Through the Monster, the Enlightenment is shown through:

• Emphasising reason, rational thinking and logic
• A strong understanding of the nature of humanity
• The extension of mathematics and science

Through Victor, the Romantic era is shown through:

• Feelings of optimism and strong belief in the importance of the individual
• A focus on nature and emotion, enhancing aesthetic sensibility
• Shelley shows the readers how people in a standard society reject less than average humans who live at the bottom of the social pyramid.

Now to flesh out what exactly you’ll be covering in your essay, the following are a few of the main ideas in the novel to help you. 

Romanticism

Romanticism explores the narrator’s emotions and inner world of beauty, rejection and/or nature. The employment of these characteristics was unordinary during it’s time as it ignored traditional rules. Many have agreed that Frankenstein is far more sophisticated than other novels regarding its genre as it “initiated a rethinking of romantic rhetoric” (Guyer 77). As a result, the multiple layers of the novel will allow you as a reader to form your own perspective and relate it to the module.

Examples of this include:

·     “a dark melancholy clouded every thought”

·     “forget the passing cares of life”

·     “fairer than a garden rose among dark-leaved brambles”

·     “the flowers of spring bloomed in the hedges”, “serene sky”, “delightful sensations”

Scientific Rationalism

Scientific Rationalism refers to the thinking which is based on logic or reason through creating generic value of modernity. Through industrialisation and technological advancement, as shown in Frankenstein through the use of galvanism, Shelley highlights how man’s deep desire for more knowledge can have stern consequences. Through recklessness and dangerous knowledge, the responder is able to understand the bitterness that Shelley is attempting to convey. 

Examples of this include Victor’s narrative in both Chapter 2 and Chapter 5:

Chapter 2:

“It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world.”

Chapter 5:

“From this day natural philosophy, and particularly chemistry, in the most comprehensive sense of the term, became nearly my sole occupation”

As shown above, as a direct juxtaposition to the aspirations of his friend, the reader can see that Victor’s portrayal of scientific rationalism is distinct. The ideological conflicts evident between both context and narrative enables the reader to gain a greater understanding of Shelley’s conflicting times.

Gothicism

Shelley’s use of gothic stylistic and linguistic features effectively sets the tone of the epistolary novel, hence illuminating the complexity of her ideas. Through using sinister settings, the use of Romantic features are juxtaposed, portraying the Creature as a morbid amalgam of body parts.

Such visual description is evident in the quotation: “the yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of lustrous black and flowing, his teeth of a pearly whiteness…watery eyes and straight back lips.”

By examining what it means to be a human, the theme of displacement is expostulated through the Creatures struggle in grappling the world of human and non-human, begging for any emotional connection with the reader.

Characteristics or elements of Gothic literature include

·     Victorian era

·     Wild and remote environments

·     Dark or gloomy settings

·     Family curses and secrets

·     Ruins, castles and nightmares

·     Scientific experiments

Bringing this all Together

When writing your 3U essay (to read further, click here), it is important that you diligently decide which parts of your analysis you think would be most effective in supporting your argument. Something important to note is that these ideas are quite interconnected, such as Romanticism and Gothicism in the quote “beautiful great God”. Here, Shelly fuses sublimity with terror. The alternate dynamics throughout the novel are opportunities for you to group them in key themes so that you have a solid bank of evidence come the exam. Lastly, providing your own opinion on the novel will provide some flair to your argument which will help set you apart from other students.

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