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The Influence Of Nature In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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Numerous research has concluded that several emotional bonds exist between humanity and nature that can impact everything from attitude to anxiety. Novels of the romanticism period, a significant literary era that encompassed most European works written in the early 1800’s, are most known for describing the impacts that nature has on people and implying that unexpected consequences can arise out of this relationship; Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example of such a novel. The prime conflict of this 1818 science-fiction story occurs between the titular character, Victor Frankenstein, and a monster he creates through his own scientific innovations. Because of Victor’s abandonment of the monster, it becomes intent on destroying the scientist’s …show more content…

The scientist struggles constantly with sickness throughout the narrative and, while not specifically emphasized, he retreats into nature frequently after regaining consciousness to increase his mental and physical recovery. Textual evidence of nature’s effect on Victor includes when he states, “I remember...it was a divine spring, and the season contributed greatly to my convalescence. I also felt sentiments of joy and affection revive in my bosom; my gloom disappeared, and in a short time I became as cheerful as before I was attacked by the fatal passion” (Shelley 51). Victor acknowledges how the spring season, which includes the regrowth and renewal of the natural world, greatly increases his overall health to where he feels comparable to his self before he created the monster. Some may argue that the inclusion of the seasons into Frankenstein only serves to contrast with the unnatural acts that Victor commits and has no relation to his psychological state as the thesis indicates. However, the novel specifically addresses that the protagonist interprets nature as a sentient, maternal-like entity when he comments that “I pursued nature to her hiding places” as he works to create the monster and, in doing so, acknowledges the relationship he has with the natural world (Shelley 38). Thus, the rebirth of nature in the spring season allows Victor to better recover from his mental and physical

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