Nature in Frankenstein: Romantic Echoes in Poetry and Paint

Coleridge’s Maritime Tale: Nature’s Retribution and the Emotion of Regret

The Romantic period was full of artists who celebrated nature, explored change both in the inner and outer worlds, examined life and emotion, and expressed a desire for the unattainable. Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein depicts all of these Romantic traits in order to make the reader question the concept of mankind in relation to the natural world. Shelley quotes three works from Romantic poets in her novel. In order, the works quoted are Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” P.

Shelley’s “Mutability,” and Wordsworth’s “Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey.” These poems deal with themes of fear, unpredictable change in life, and an invisible presence within nature. Shelley uses these poems to help emphasize the notion that the characters she has created are powerless. Many of the Romantic traits found in these poems can also be found in paintings from this era. Although to compare Romantic paintings to the poems quoted in Shelley’s Frankenstein, we must first understand the meaning behind these works and why Shelley chose to use them.

Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is the first poem quoted in Shelley’s novel. The poem is from the perspective of a sailor as he recounts his long previous voyage on the sea to a nearby wedding guest on his way to the ceremony. Much like the reactions of the listener, the poem is full of many twists and turns. As the sailor tells his story, we learn how the “accidental killing of a bird” leads to “consequences involving hellish nightmare and the salvation of 200 souls” (Mays 25). As a punishment for killing this bird, the sailor has continued to roam the earth and share his story as a lesson for the people he comes across. Coleridge is telling the story of a man who is being punished for harming nature. The theme of creating distrust in the human world is one carried across many Romantic works. In fact, Coleridge also displayed his romantic values through the intense expression of emotions and feelings within the story being told. The sailor’s despair at the chronology of events and the change seen in the listener evoke mainly dark and wild emotions from the reader. The importance of the expression of emotions is one shared by many Romantics as well as Shelley herself.

Nature’s Overwhelming Shadow: Frankenstein’s Dread Mirrored in Art and Poetry

In the excerpt chosen by Shelley from Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” a scene is depicted of a lone man walking down a road. The feeling of fear is expressed from the perspective of the man because “he knows a frightful fiend Doth close behind him tread” (Shelley 45). In the context of the novel, Shelley uses this excerpt to express the emotions felt by Frankenstein. The scene takes place right after Frankenstein has created his monster and sees for the first time an error in his ways. Frankenstein compares his monster to something even Dante himself could not have designed. A feeling of dread and fear encompasses the protagonist of this story as he walks down the street. Shelley creates the suspense of having the monster return by using these specific lines from the poem. Frankenstein continues to “walk in fear and dread” as he expects the horrible creation to appear at any moment and destroy him. Like the mariner in the story, Shelley’s protagonist has gone against nature and must, therefore, be punished for his actions. The overwhelming emotions expressed in this passage through the use of Coleridge’s words can also be seen in the work of George Stubbs.

George Stubbs’ painting White Horse Frightened by a Lion expresses the same looming fear described in the excerpt of the poem (fig. 1). Stubbs completed a number of works where the lion and the horse were the themes of his paintings. Throughout his collection, the interaction between the animals is treated as a sort of chronological series of events. In this particular painting, the lion has approached the horse, and the horse is standing in an “attitude of terror” (Taylor 81). At this point in the chronology, the horse has already been alerted to the presence of the lion and looks as if he can sense the threat. The horse and lion are caught in action, and the “tense arching of the horse’s back echoes the rough contours of the surrounding rocks” (Vaughan 51). Even the tensed muscles of the horse have been finely detailed by Stubbs. The fear and the suspense felt by the horse is the same fear felt by Frankenstein as he feels the presence of his monster. This is the same fear that is further expanded upon by the use of the excerpt from Coleridge. The overflowing power of the feeling of fear and suspense being expressed in all three of these works is a strong example of the values of the Romantic era.

The Inescapable Dance of Change: P. Shelley’s ‘Mutability’ and the Romantic Embrace of Nature’s Flux

Another example of a Romantic work within the novel is P. Shelley’s “Mutability.” P. Shelley’s poem is an “imaginative use of natural imagery” that shows “how change reveals itself in the natural world” (Harding 1). P. Shelley begins the poem by describing the restlessness of mankind. Throughout the poem, P. Shelley continues to refer to the reader as “We.” He compares the reader and himself to the changing natural world around him. Like the natural world, the lives of humankind are unpredictable and ever-changing. While one moment can be bright and happy for man, the next moment could be poisoned and polluted by the smallest aspects of life. The main theme found in the poem was also one of the main themes of many other Romantics at that time. In the words of the Romantic English landscape painter John Constable, “No two days are alike, nor even two hours; neither were there ever two leaves of a tree alike since the creation of the world” (Yorke 93). Much like P. Shelley, Constable and many other Romantic artists of the time felt the powerful pull of the constant changes in life. The concept of restlessness and changing inner states is an aspect of the Romantic movement that P. Shelley has fully embodied in his work. Not only does P. Shelley describes the inner changes in life, but he also compares them to the outer changes found in the natural world around him. We are left with the sense that mankind is one with the natural world and changes in one do not exist without changes in another. This unpredictable aspect and theme is shared within P. Shelley’s poem can also be found in the scenes depicted in Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Yearning for the Past: Frankenstein’s Struggle with Powerlessness and the Romantic Longing for the Unattainable

Shelley’s use of the excerpt from “Mutability” deals with the twists and turns that mankind comes across in their lifetime. In the passage leading up to the use of P. Shelley’s poem, Frankenstein laments that his desires to be free are unfounded. Man is described as being “moved by every wind that blows” (Shelley 85). In this depiction from Shelley, we get the sense that man is powerless in the face of the natural world around him. As Frankenstein believes that he has lost control of his life, we get the sense that so has much of mankind in the eyes of Shelley. In the specific excerpt used from the poem, a line is quoted that states, “Man’s yesterday may ne’er be like his morrow” (Shelley 85). While the theme of change in P. Shelley’s interpretation of the poem is seen in a state of acceptance, Frankenstein seems to long for freedom from the ever-changing and unpredictable world around him. Shelley has created a character who yearns for the unattainable. As Frankenstein comes to meet the monster who has led to his struggles, he desires to return to the life he once knew. The life he had before creating his monster.

The desire for something else that is depicted in Shelley’s novel is another aspect of Romanticism that can be found in Frankenstein. A main value of the Romantic movement was the expression of desires and goals that were unattainable to the artist. The Romantics often expressed a longing for these goals in their works. Shelley has taken the powerless themes of “Mutability” and applied them to the restless thoughts and dreams of her character Frankenstein. A character who has just begun his journey of suffering at this point in the story, Frankenstein expresses his feelings of feeling like he is not in control of his life. He longs for things to return to how they had been before the monster had entered into his life. As we learn in this scene, Frankenstein is about to confront his monster. A monster that he soon learns he has no power over. His thoughts of the uncontrollable changing state and his longing for something he will never get back is a sentiment that was also shared with many painters from this era.

Nature’s Dual Influence: Longing and Transformation in the Works of Romantics and Shelley

The feelings of longing and being powerless can be seen in Theodore Gericault’s The Raft of the Medusa (fig. 2). Gericault’s painting come from the story of the wreck of the ship Medusa. As there weren’t enough lifeboats for everyone aboard the ship, “149 men and one woman were forced to board a makeshift raft” (Vaughan 239). The artist’s depiction of them is at the moment in which they see another ship in the distance and are trying to get its attention. Similar to Frankenstein, the survivors in the painting know the dangers that lay in front of them and the unpredictable changes in the natural world around them. In this particular instance, Gericault catches the survivors in “a gradual crescendo from despair to false hope” (Vaughan 240). There is a feeling of longing coming from the image of the stranded survivors. A powerful longing to return to the safe world that they knew before. Some of the men in the painting are waving their shirts in the air to no avail. These men are feeling the same theme of longing that Frankenstein struggles with as he comes to face the monster of all of his suffering. The same theme of longing that many other Romantics also included in their works during this period.

Although many of the themes of the novel center around primarily dark and supernatural themes, not all of the themes in Shelley’s work come from such a low place. A passionate love for nature is expressed in the excerpt from Wordsworth’s “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey.” In the full version of the poem, Wordsworth recounts a visit he took to Tintern Abbey with his sister. Although the building itself is never mentioned, the poem discusses the internalization of the nature surrounding it and the effects that the landscape has had on its viewer after many years. While scenery is the primary focus of the poem, Wordsworth leaves the reader with the thought that nature can create change within. Lyle H. Smith, while discussing the themes in “Tintern Abbey,” states that “Humanity is amphibious, consciously inhabiting realities both visible and invisible” (Smith 303). The invisible reality is an unseen force that works to change the poet’s perception of the natural world around him. Wordsworth’s words describe this presence as something within nature itself, something that will continue to change him over the years, even without being in its immediate proximity.

Nature’s Inner Reflection: The Intertwining of External Landscapes and Internal Emotions in Romanticism

In the excerpt chosen by Shelley, Wordsworth recounts his experience near a waterfall and how it “Haunted him like a passion” (Shelley 145). In the context of the novel, Shelley is using this excerpt to illustrate the emotions of the character Clerval in relation to his experiences with the natural world. Clerval is a character who finds inspiration in nature. He is much brighter and more enthusiastic than the main character, Frankenstein himself. Like many of the romantics at that time, Clerval basks in the wonders of nature and can not help but express his passion for it. Shelley’s use of this excerpt emphasizes the character’s wild nature, helping to paint the image of a man “…formed in the ‘very poetry of nature’” (Shelley 145). With the use of Wordsworth’s words, Clerval can be seen as a man who is profoundly affected by nature. Compared to some of the earlier themes used by Shelley, the celebration of nature runs along some of the more passionate artists from this time. The powerful emotional effects of nature are a common characteristic within the Romantic era and can be found in many of the paintings from that period.

Many of the first Romantic paintings were of landscapes. One such painting is Caspar David Friedrich’s The Large Enclosure (fig. 3). In the painting, Friedrich depicts a marshy expanse and a small sailboat off in the distance. The evening light of the sky is reflected off of the pools of water in the marsh. There is something romantic in the way that Friedrich “plays on the poignancy of evening light” (Vaughan 150). A sort of awareness begins with the feelings that this painting awakens within the viewer. As Friedrich once said, “The painter should paint not only what he has in front of him, but also what he sees inside himself” (Barry 84). By painting what is inside oneself, Friedrich exemplifies the internal reality expressed in Wordsworth’s poem. Much like Shelley’s character Clerval, Friedrich has been profoundly affected by nature. He uses his play on lighting to express the passion felt by viewing the watery marsh. For Friedrich, this natural setting is important to convey his internal feelings in an external and visible manner. Like Friedrich with his painting, Wordsworth uses the description of the landscape of Tintern Abbey to show his internal struggle and emotions. This focus on the natural world as a way to demonstrate internal change and express feelings is one of the main values shared by the Romantics of this period.

Romantic Reverberations: Tracing Shelley’s Themes Across Art, Literature, and the Broader Cultural Landscape

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a work that embodies the romantic feeling of the era. The Romantic values of celebrating nature, emphasizing change and longing, and exploring human life and emotions can be found in this work. These same values expressed within the novel can also be found in the paintings of Stubbs, Gericault, and Friedrich. While the movement of Romanticism had a strong effect on the visual arts, both music and literature were also affected. As shown in this essay, the characteristics that are commonly found in the paintings of this era can also be found in the literature. Although music was not discussed as a topic of analysis, it can be implied that it was greatly changed by the movement of this period. Romanticism was a widespread movement that influenced not only the arts but also the social and political climate of that time. Many artists used their work as a platform for their opinions and ideas on the changing social and political climate. Artists began to express intense emotions as well as their distrust for the human world. Following the influence of her companions, Shelley used her platform to explore the dark emotions of man and the supernatural, as well as the ever-changing and unpredictable aspects of life. By comparing the acts of mankind in her novel to the beautiful and vast scenes of nature, Shelley makes her characters seem almost minor in comparison. The reader is then left to ponder the vulnerability and powerlessness of mankind.

References

1. Shelley, Mary. “Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus.”
2. Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”
3. Shelley, Percy Bysshe. “Mutability.”
4. Wordsworth, William. “Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey.”
5. Abrams, M. H. “Natural Supernaturalism: Tradition and Revolution in Romantic Literature.”
6. Holmes, Richard. “The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science.”
7. Mellor, Anne K. “Mary Shelley: Her Life, Her Fiction, Her Monsters.”
8. Baldick, Chris. “In Frankenstein’s Shadow: Myth, Monstrosity, and Nineteenth-century Writing.”

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