Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Contributions to Romantic Movement
Introduction
Before highlighting and discussing Mary’s contribution to the Romantic Movement, it is important first to highlights the ideas that the writers of the romantic period were concerned with. The romanticism was regarded as the period of literary movement. During this period writers work is marked with ideas and literary techniques that entailed both science and nature. Therefore, the romantic writers’ ideas were about human experiences and feelings, nature, compassion to humankind, heroism, social equality and freedom of the individual in the society (Gill, 2016). The writers dissented about social injustices and inhuman character. Thus, in her novel Mary Shelley, Frankenstein she used Romantic Movement concepts. The main intention of this paper is to show how as women used concepts of romanticism literary movement in her work to represent the ideas of nature, humankind, compassion, heroism and human feeling and experiences (Shelley, 2018).
Mary Shelley Contributions to Romantic Movement
In her novel, Frankenstein, the monster character is a Romantic. The monster is the hero because of the society rejections he faced whenever he wanted to integrate with people. The monster was chased wherever he went because of his physical appearance. Due to his hideous and huge figure, the monster was rejected by the society. Shelley is the using the rejections act in her work to demonstrate how society and people reject an individual due to his physical appearance or person with a different perspective who stay on the borders of our homesteads and society. She makes that monster is not to blame for what happens to him, thus; eliciting reader sympathetic feelings of someone who so deeply misjudge and misunderstood by the people in the society (Shelley, 2018). The monster tries to fit in society but because of his appearance, he never got a chance to be a member of the community in the society. Since the monster was never accepted in the society, he shunned any human contact except when it’s exceptional. Therefore, Shelley used romanticism in her work that promoting and contributing to Romantic Movement (Gill, 2016).
Also, Shelley was not only a writer but also knew other greater writers of her time. Thus, she knew the work of the other authors such as Wordsworth and her husband, Percy Shelley. For instance, she used the novel, The Rime of Ancient Mariner by Coleridge in her own novel to relate the monster with the Ancient Mariner. Relating her novel to Coleridge works, she ties her work with one of the best Romantic works. This shows her authenticity as Romantic Movement writer. Moreover, due it’s rich in literature some people that his husband wrote the novel or Mary wrote the novel under the guidance of her husband. Nevertheless, Shelley literary work is amazing since it’s a product of a fertile mind (Shelley, 2018). Thus, understanding this novel one realizes that it is a pinnacle of literary work surrounded by the Romantic thoughts. Therefore, Shelley contributed to the Romantic Movement through different themes in her novel Frankenstein.
Consequently, the romantic writers were always trying way to represent a picture of unforgettable moment and experience. For instance, the narrators or the characters in the romantic works were indistinguishable from the poets themselves. In her novel, Shelley tries to portray romantic ideal throughout the novel. In describing Frankenstein moments no personal experiences portrayed in the novel but yet she is still depicting quest to achieve a moment. Thus, the quest of Frankenstein’s to create a person in his laboratory. Thus, Shelley uses romantic texts in her work. Also, the Victor Frankenstein’s character is represented in romantic ways, thus; putting emphasis on the readers to see a thing in a different way (Shelley, 2018). Her work is full of romantic believes, for instance, Victor imagines of the world where it can be understood differently leading to a perfect version of human being. Therefore, Shelley contributed greatly to the Romantic Movement.
Why Mary Shelley is not included in Most Literary Canon
Mary work was highly influenced by her husband. Thus, the notion is sometimes subjected to the debate among literary scholars. The question which arises that how did Mary’s husband contribute to her work? Some assert her husband wrote the book under his wife name while others argue that her husband had major and direct influence in the writing of the book. The notions and debates like this have led Shelley not to be included in the literary canon more often. Also, the fact that she was female in male-dominated society her during her time was not recognized. Furthermore, she was discredited by her work due her time due to her radical views today the social injustices (Gill, 2016). Although her work is a masterpiece, she not included in the most literary canon. Nevertheless, she holds an important place when it comes to studies of feminist literary work.
Conclusion
The Romantic Movement writers’ ideas were about human experiences and feelings, nature, compassion to humankind, heroism, social equity and freedom of the individual in the society. The writers dissented about social injustices and inhuman character. Shelley ideas, thoughts and the work focused on showing human kindness and compassion, social equity and person freedom. Thus, she contributed to the Romantic Movement. Thus, understanding this novel one realizes that it is a pinnacle of literary work surrounded by the Romantic thoughts. Although her work is a masterpiece, she not included in most literary canon due to her gender. Nevertheless, she holds an important place when it comes to studies of feminist literary work.
Works Cited
Gill, Frederick C. The Romantic movement and Methodism: a study of English romanticism and the evangelical revival. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2016.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein: Orthe Modern Prometheus’: the 1818 Text. Oxford University Press, 2018.
