Ecocriticism In 'Frankenstein And Mary Shelley's Wet...

In Frankenstein and Mary Shelley's "Wet Ungenial Summer" Bill Phillips offers a bold thesis that rejects the conventional thoughts regarding Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Instead of utilizing the predominantly adopted lenses, such as feminist or psychoanalytic, Phillips employs an Ecocriticism, which concentrates on nature and its effects on a novel. Phillips asserts that “Ecocriticism reminds us of the importance of nature in our understanding of literary and cultural texts, and this is never more appropriate than in an analysis of Frankenstein” (59). While this argument displays an element of truth, Phillips continues to claim that the monster in this novel displays only the power of nature, instead of the way in which society and overly ambitious scientific advancements corrupt humanity. This declaration is misinformed whereas it contributes Shelley’s obvious attempt to criticize the modern day intellectual movement to less critical aspects of her life. While most scholars would agree that the particularly inclement weather surrounding lake Geneva in 1816 certainly contributed to the creation of Frankenstein, few would argue that it is an overarching theme in the novel. On the contrary, Phillips declares that the infamous creation of Victor is a symbol for the abilities of nature: The aim of this paper is to show that the bad weather which kept Lord Byron, Mary Godwin, Percy Shelley and John Polidori indoors at the Villa Diodati in June 1816 .. has greater significance than is generally believed. Rather than representing the horrors of the Industrial Revolution, Victor Frankenstein’s monster

symbolizes the capacity of nature to instigate environmental crises of biblical proportions. (59) Such a brazen argument takes away from the message so noticeably conveyed by Shelley. Phillips relates the storm to us which, while Victor travels home from Inglostadt to Geneva, reveals the hideous monster lurking in the distance. “It is as if the storm were responsible for the creature’s existence” (Phillips 63). Although the storm does in fact reveal the monster, that scene is merely a coincidence. When compared with that one instance, the numerous time in which the monster is found in an urban setting proves a real point. The Monster symbolizes the growing dependency on technological advances, which take place in the city. It is not a coincidence, then, that the monster is created in a city as well. Instead of a message regarding the effects of weather, Shelley’s novel focusses on how two separate aspects of life corrupt our society: technological/scientific advancements and human interactions. The reader can easily pick up on the former item by observing the events in the novel and where they take place. While living in Geneva, a rural and technologically inferior environment, Victor enjoys a simple and gratifying life with his family. After moving to

Inglostadt, an urban and industrial setting, Victor makes the existential choice that haunts him forever: he creates the

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