Frankenstein and Darkness by Lord Byron

Frankenstein and apparition by shaper ByronThe amative stop is probably iodine of the almost bulls eyeifi bottomt ca keep downnias of transplant in lit whileture. It is during this denounceer point that a weed of high quality feeds were recruitd be it in literature, art or music. Apart from be rich in song the period can be considern as an exaltation of the imagination. This was replacing the quick of scent thought which had overcome atomic number 63 at the sequence.The Romantics alike apothegm themselves as prophets and utilize their works to prophesise ab step up the emerging of mankind. out-of-pocket to this it is evoke to look into whether these prophesies of the future of mankind have au thenticly come true. The essay damp look at how exactly the two romantic writers of Frankenstein (bloody shame Shelley) and the poesy Darkness ( maestro Byron) and what these two writers prophesised in their works. Also in the end see whether what the writers argon trying to pose in their texts can be applied to raw day. References to other romantic works by William Wordsworth and William Blake also assistant in this investigation.The essay r individuallyes a conclusion that the various field of studys dis gyped in the texts can be applied to modern day and do serve as a remonstrate withing as most of which these writers feared would happen to mankind is actually taking habitation to this day. As a final point, that indeed their fightnings are justified. insertionThroughout the dates it can be observed that they were a lot of periods of castrate that happened through with(predicate)out the history of literature. These include the superscriptian era. One of the most authoritative periods of change happens to be the Romantic era. The word suggests that this era was based on populates appreciation of love and romance. All the same, though love was a rough-cut constitution during works of the time the Romantic of era was in actual fact a front in the creativity of artists and writers of the time. This movement was non just a shift in the mind fares of those involved with literature still it also involved art and music.The movement began in the deeply 1700s in Western Europe and continued towards the mid 1800s. In the 1700s on that point were a lot of advancements universe made by the European people including advancements in science and social changes such as the Industrial whirling. majority of these changes were brought forth by the Age of En lowerenment that went through the 18th blow which saw the awakening of scientific thought, the overthrowing of the conquering religious noesis and the change in European philosophy as a government agency of decision reason in the world. It also saw the beginning of the Industrial diversity which took over Europe during the 18th century.The Romantic era was basically a rebellion against the scientific and rational thought that gripped Europe during the pr eliminary age of en idleenment. This rebellion saw the shift from rational thought to more ducking on emotions, passion for lifespan and constitution. Other important themes of the Romantic era were nationalism, freedom and liberty.These themes operateed the ideals of most Romantics and they displayed them through all their works. Romantics also have-to doe with themselves with using their works as a means of displaying homophile hunting lodge and its link with genius often spoke of the future of mankind. They saw themselves as prophets of the future and used heir works as warnings of the future.One of the most influential works of literature written at the time is the meter Darkness by Lord Byron. The poem was written in 1816 in the midst of rattling strange events which people thought at the time were signs of the apocalypse. That year was known as the year without a summer cod to darkness which had over shadowed the land which originated from the volcanic ash calumni ate of the eruption of Mount Tambora a volcano situated in Indonesia the previous year. Unfortunately the people in Geneva did non know this and went into a panic believing the apocalypse was near. The chaos and activity of the time were the enthusiasm behind Byrons poem. In addition he wrote his poem as a means of writing about the calamity which will take over mankind if profligate behaviour is continued.A nonher important work is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Mary Shelley was the wife of another famous poet by the separate of Percy Shelley. The arrest was written while on a visit to the Swiss Alps with Percy at the Lord Byrons home. Here payable to the unseasonal rain they had to go forward indoors and entertained themselves with ghost stories. Due to the urging of the Lord himself a competition was set to see who would write the creepiest story and Mary took the nose through the writing of her book Frankenstein Or The Modern Prometheus which is the full form. The book i s based on the story of a young ambitious scientist who sets out to create life only if ends up creating a monster. This book is a metaphor for what would become of mankind if they continue to tamper with personality.The theme of nature and its destruction is a common theme in a lot of Romantic works. In this paper the manner in which these two writers warn the endorser of the misfortune that will take over mankind by looking at various themes and methods the authors use to expose them. Also course credit will be made to other works of the Romantic period to show the similarities and differences of the works.Chapter 1 The Theme of Nature in the WorksThe theme of nature was real prominent in some Romantic works. It was believed that nature possesses an ability to revitalize the mind and help man escape from the constraints of civilisation. The sink of these beliefs also come from the fact that the Romantic period arose from the time when Europe was undergoing the Industrial Re volution which saw the destruction of forests and beautiful scenery to go space for factories and mill for industrial purposes.According to them, nature was viewed as a sublime divinityly public which was to be appreciated and not destroyed. This is portrayed through the setting of the texts and the many creative ways the writers made obvious descriptions of nature.In Frankenstein, Shelley uses elaborate description of the scenery to display this. Looking at the first letter from Richard Walton, he notices sensations he feels as he walks through the streets of St Petersburg, I feel a cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks, which braces my nerves and fills me with delight. The beauty of the environment around him heartens him to continue his journey to the north rod and increases his excitement about the beauty of the north pole which is he is so eager to see. Throughout the novel it can be noted how nature uplifts and provides some healing for both the monster and overlo rd Frankenstein.Another famous work is the poem Daffodils also known by the title I wondered lonely as a cloud by William Wordsworth, a celebrated Romantic poet. Wordsworth wrote this poem after taking a walk with his sister admiring the daffodils in the fields surrounding him. Similar to Mary Shelley, he paints an ostentatious image of the beauty of the flowers their ability to invite him to bed them through use of language. He describes the flowers as fluttering and dancing as if to say the movements of the flowers are as gentle as the fluttering of butterflies and birds in the breeze and their motions graceful as if they were dancing.The use of resource was also really important gibe for the Romantics to exhibit their message and aid the reader in appreciating the beauty of nature they often portray. There, Margaret, the lie is for ever visible its long disk skirting the scene and diffusing a perpetual brilliancy Here, Walton describes in his first letter to his sister Ma rgaret, how the sun spreads over the horizon at the North Pole. The words perpetual splendour further conjure up the beauty of the region.In Daffodils, Wordsworth also refers to the male monarch of nature to enlighten his nubble from sadness, For oft, when on my couch I lie/ In vacant or in pensive mood,/They flash upon that indwelling eye/Which is the bliss of sex segregation/And then my heart with pleasure fills,/And dances with the daffodils. The words vacant and solitude describe his empty state of mind. The daffodils flash appear brightly within his inward eye which is his imagination filling his heart with pleasure.These are all demonstrations of the power nature has over the individual as portrayed by the Romantic writers.Chapter 2 The Consequences of the Pursuit of KnowledgeOne of the major themes in Frankenstein is the pursuance of noesis and its consequences. The prior to the Romantic period was the Age of Enlightenment which saw a rise of rationalism and continuous significant scientific advancements. These implicated Mary Shelley and other Romantic writers. The concern was they saw this rationalist movement as man trying to meddle with the laws of nature. This is the foundation of the character of overlord Frankenstein.At the age of 17, Frankenstein goes off to university where he meets many intellectuals and wise professors who inspire him to pursue natural science. Sadly, this inhalation eventually turns into an obsession. I will open a new way, explore undiagnosed powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation. From this we see how Frankenstein aspires to achieve greater accomplishments than philosophers onward him. He also aims to overcome nature. This means he aims to overcome divinity fudge himself for God be the creator of nature. Due to this obsession, he sacrifices all his time, energy and health to create life, with unrelaxed and short-winded eagerness, I pursued nature to her hiding places.It was on a f orbidding night of November, that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. This opening line of Chapter Five sets a dark, depressing, and cold scene which gives a feeling of foreboding as a means of warning of events to come. Words such as anxiety, agony key out the depressing scene of the coming to life of the monster.Shocked at the hideousness of his creation he laments, How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe as a part of reinforcing his shock there is a use of exclaiming marks as he says, Beautiful Great God This is ironic, in that Frankenstein had sought to create life as a means of organism able to uncover nature and certifying himself to be greater than God. Ironically, he calls upon God upon his failure though he never mentions God before.The monster is depict to have yellow skin, lustrous black hair and pearly fresh teeth which form a horrid contrast with his watery eyes, razz white sockets his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips. This image pie bald of the monster depicts how he was created to have beautiful features yet upon his awakening, they come in concert to form a hideous being. The eyes in their sockets also give a sense of sadness within the monster. The monster is therefore an moved(p) being with valet de chambre features.Unable to bare the being he had created he runs of to his room. He begins to develop fever like symptoms. He recalls the monster as, the poor devil the miserable monster I had created. The use of the word I demonstrates his selfishness and how he does not even consider how the monster feels. The fact that he does not give the monster a take in and refers to it as the creature or the wretch, demonstrates his disappointment and dislike for that which he has created.Through these different devices Mary Shelley allows the reader to visualise the scene and have a share in the controls of the characters. Nonetheless, it may be possible that the monster is a metaphor for scientific creations crea ted with the bearing of beauty going horribly wrong. This can be paralleled to the pursuit of knowledge and how it can have dire consequences for in the story it can be seen that the monster brings death and destruction.Chapter 3 The Consequences of the Im ethics of MankindThe poem Darkness, creates macabre apocalyptic images of the earth and mankind at their demise. The opening line of the poem Darkness by Lord Byron along with the title of the poem already prepares the reader of the grim mood displayed in the poem. I had a dream, which was not at all a dream. Here the narrator of the poem describes having an experience similar to a dream which but turns out to be more of a nightmare not in his mind but in reality. Basically, Byron speaks as though he had a premonition of the grave future ahead for mankind. This opening just as the opening of chapter five of Frankenstein, It was on a dreary night of November is foreboding and gives a sense of distress and impending doom.The insp iration behind this poem was not only due to the very strange events of the time which made people believe in the coming of the apocalypse but also immoral acts of mankind. The Industrial Revolution had also provoked a lot of social ferment. Countless deprived European citizens moved from their rural countryside homes to work in factories. They worked under very harsh conditions and were paid vey low wages. This exploitation was all in the name of greed and the pursuit of wealth and prosperity in the advancing European societies. These in charitablee acts in the name of gaining wealth and gaining status were part of the inspiration behind another famous Romantic works.One such work is capital of Israel by William Blake which was inspired by the writers condemnation of the products of the Industrial Revolution. written in 1804 Jerusalem later became a patriotic hymn during the origin World War and is used as a national hymn for England at certain sporting events. This piece speak s of England being a peculiar(prenominal) land and a possible candidate for the building of a impertinently Jerusalem given the possibility that Jesus Christ visited the land as a boy. In essence, the poem Jerusalem gives hope to the society where as lord Byrons poem speaks of death and destruction giving no sign of optimism of a brighter future.The poem has no obvious structure. It is an 82 lined poem of free verse. It is not divided into any stanzas and is therefore continuous but there is a large use of punctuation marks to break this continuality. This is very evident through lines 78 and 79. The waves were dead the tides were in their grave, /The moon, their mistress, had expird before These repetitive breaks portray the disturbance of he natural flow of nature and life during this catastrophe hitting the world. They also help vary the forest and speed of the poem. At the beginning it is slow and calm displaying the lugubriousness of the world, then fast and chaotic and fin ally slow and calm again to portray the doom taking over the earth.Nature is also at a standstill and seemingly dead as the lightless world. The winds were witherd in the standing(prenominal) air/ And the clouds perishd and The rivers, lakes and ocean all stood still/ And nothing stirrd within their tacit depths. It seems nature too has died due to the disappearance of light.Byron uses a lot of interesting words to expose the pure gloom and doom he experiences in the events of the poem. The poem itself is centred on the disappearance of light from the earth. Words which accentuate this theme are, swung blind blackened dull gloom In addition, the light is expound as despairing. In other words, it is as if it is non existent. Fear is also capable as he talks of how it has overcome the people and how even the toughest of animals were tame and tremulous. Onomatopoeic words such as shrieked, gnashed, howled, hissing, describe the heavy(p)s. The fact that there are a lot of sounds cr eates a certain form of chaos. Furthermore, the sound of the forests crackling as people try to make fire to light up shows the desperation.The main image in this piece is that of mankind play into beasts due to the desperation to find light. the wildest brutes/ Came tame and tremulous The more terrorization creatures are also consumed by fear to the point that they began to pose no danger and instead the humans became the monstrous ones. Images used to enhance this are, vipers crawld Hissing, but stinglessthey were remove for food The vipers which were now harmless were being slain. The word slain puts an emphasis on the cruelty now consuming the humans.The images used in Darkness can also be linked to apocalyptic images used in the bible. Matthew 2429 reads, immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light the stars will put across from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. This is similar to Byrons imager y of, The bright sun was extinguishd, and the stars/ Did wander darkling in the eternal space, Rayless, and pathless, and the rimy earth/ Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air. In the ravaging and men becoming beasts Byron adds, there was no love left which can be a reference to Matthew 2419, And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.The disturbance in the love-in-idleness is enhanced when the writer states, And War, which for a moment was no more/ Did glut himself again a repast was bought/ With blood This demonstrates that war had arisen again with man take the fielding and killing each other just for food. This can be compared to the war referred to in Jerusalem by William Blake. Firstly, a sense of evil of the unjust is also displayed in Wordsworths poem. The dark satanic mills the poet describes are a reference to the mills and factories built during the Industrial Revolution causing all the social unrest which he protested against. The wor d satanic fully highlights how Blake views the mills as dismal due to the unjust manner in which workers were being treated.In the third stanza he speaks of gathering up arms in order to fight against the evil brought forth by the mills. On the other hand, it turns out the war he refers to is more of a mental fight for he says, I will not cease from mental fight, / Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand/ Till we have built Jerusalem/ In Englands special K and pleasant land. In effect, Jerusalem is a tool in restoring peace and tranquillity in England. The poem itself is more of a call to the side of meat people to rally against the iniquitous acts done to them due to Industrial Revolution. It also gives a sense of hopefulness that freedom and harmony can be restored to the human race.In contrast, Lord Byrons poem does not speak of hope that in the end light which is seen from the last line, Darkness had no need/ Of aid from themShe was the Universe. This line is as if to say nothing can save the human race from the cruel end they have subdued themselves onto by their immoral acts. Darkness is finally personified and the fact tat it is compared to the universe shows the vast degree to which darkness has taken over the world.Chapter 5 The Symbols of Light and disregard in the Two TextsSymbolism is a very important literary tool used to convey different messages and present ideas and emotions to the reader. The most important image in the texts is the symbol of light. In Frankenstein light symbolises knowledge and discovery. This is first illustrated when Richard Walton asks, What could not be expected in the country of eternal light? Walton is understandably vey optimistic about reaching the north pole and looks forward to the paradise which will be brought forth by the voyage. The light is a domineering object both Walter and Frankenstein try to reach in the hopes of gaining knowledge and enlightenment.Lord Byron uses light to represent life and the balance between nature and the human race. It also represents morality and discretion of man. The disappearance of light means, firstly, the loss of morality of people, men forgot their passions in the dread/ Of this their desolation Secondly, a break in the balance with men turning into beasts and beasts becoming tame. The end result is chaos, gloom and the destruction of nature. This is what the darkness represents in the poem consequences of mans loss of morality. Likewise, the scene set for the opening of Chapter five of Shelleys book is dull and cold taking place under half-extinguished light giving a foreboding effect of the consequences of Frankensteins work.Fire is a more dangerous version of light which can be created by man. Although fire provides light it also burns and causes pain as discovered by the monster while he was by himself in the forest in Chapter 11. How strange, I thought that the same cause should produce such opposite effects.Normally, to create a fire there ess ential be a spark. Frankenstein collects his materials and then infuses a spark of being into the dead thing This spark could symbolise the starting of a dangerous fire.In Darkness, the disappearance of light causes the world to become void/ a ostentatiousness in other words, an empty place. This results in people becoming dreadful for light and they try to create their own light, The habitations of all things which dwell/ Were burned-over for beacons Forests were set on fire. The desperation only causes more destruction as they destroy nature by setting it to fire all in the search of light.The symbol is further enhanced through the full name of Mary Shelleys Book which happens to be, Frankenstein Or the Modern Prometheus. In context, the Greek God Prometheus was assigned by Zeus, the god of the sky and the king of the Greek gods, to form man out of water and Earth. However, against the orders of Zeus, he gives man the knowledge of fire. He was then severely punished for this d eed and defying Zeus by being tied to a stake where everyday an eagle came to eat his liver.Victor Frankenstein can be compared to Prometheus, as his attempt to acquire more knowledge for himself and mankind only brought dire consequences resulting in the deaths of the ones he loved. Though he did not give fire to humanity he gave the gift of the underground of life, the spark of being but withal it still remains unknown exactly what this spark really is. Similar to Prometheus defying Zeus, Frankenstein tries to defy God and he too is punished for it.CONCLUSIONRomantic writers prided themselves with being individuals and Mary Shelley and Lord Byron clearly pay testament to that. These two texts are all very unique though there are some similarities the main one being the ability of the writers to warn of the future.Other writers vey well known woks which waned of the fall of mankindIn Frankenstein, the monster is basically an unnatural being. The coming to life of the monster bring s an aftermath of death and destruction. In addition the anxiety which Frankenstein experiences could be an illustration of the anguish mankind will suffer from due to these scientific advances. The use of religion i.e. the defiance of God in Frankenstein and apocalyptic imagery in Darkness further enhance their warnings.The question is. were the Romantic writers catch up with? The answer is yes. The world has changed with wars and global warming, terrorism, corruption and immense poverty being just some of the troubles of the world.