Symbols And Signs In Frankenstein

Henry Armstrong

5-26-23

English 2

Throughout this semester, a common theme shared throughout Macbeth, Frankenstein, “Symbols and Signs”, and Lightning Falls in Love is the idea of nature's role as a destructive force, yet a renewal for a new beginning.

In “Symbols and Signs” by Vladimir Nobokov, we see the more desolate portrayal of nature in effect. Symbols and Signs details a story of a young man who is diagnosed with “referential mania”, a disease in which “Phenomenal nature shadows him wherever he goes. Clouds in the staring sky transmit to each other, by means of slow signs, incredibly detailed information regarding him” (Nobokov 2-3). This information leads to a quite dark reality in which the boy lives a life in a mental institution

In Frankenstein, we see the unnatural as a force of destruction whereas nature is seen to be a powerful source of beauty. With the creature ensuring a path of destruction after his unnatural creation, Viktor Frankenstein’s source of well-being is found when he encounters wonders in nature. Robert Walton says, “Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions seem still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth” (Shelley 19). We see Frankenstein’s constant state of despair which is brought by his unnatural creation, Walton describes that his spirit is broken and is fighting to go on. Despite this, Frankenstein is able to embrace the beauty brought to him by the natural world in order to lift his spirits above the anguish and despair which had been brought by his creation. He is able to find well-being in nature and escape the woes created by the unnatural world. Shelley did not just see nature as a source of beauty, however, she also emphasizes its power. When Viktor is a child, he details his amazement with nature saying, “As I stood at the door, on a sudden I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak which stood about twenty

In the midst of Macbeth's tyrannical rule, he states his confidence in the security in his role as king declaring, “I will not be afraid of death and bane,/ Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane” (Act 5, Scene 5 Macbeth). Later on in the novel, this prophecy comes to fruition when Malcom’s army uses Birnman Wood to disguise themselves, creating the illusion that Birnman Wood had come to Dunsinane, leading to Macbeth’s beheading. Even though this is not a direct action of nature, Shakespeare metaphorically uses nature as a source of power to fight back against a ruler who did not naturally arrive at the throne. Nature “used” its power in order to renew the unnatural state of the world back into a state of