Frankenstein and Blade Runner Essay

An author’s contextual ideas and values may, to a certain extent, be shaped in a text to convey a representation of how future events may evolve in relation to society’s current conventions. Through the changing contexts and values of the core texts, one may communicate the dangers associated with humankind obtaining and valuing an excessive acquisition of power and knowledge through science and technology which consequently result in a distorted view of humanity and a damaged natural environment. Similarly, the religious allusions and assumptions used in the texts can convey the potential misuse of science and knowledge and desire to create or usurp the role of god. Through a comparison of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein and the film Blade Runner: The Director’s Cut, directed by Ridley Scott, it is evident that the values and ideas of an author’s context can be mirrored in their texts to depict the evolution of society and to challenge social conservatism.

Through the changing contexts and values of a text, one may communicate the dangers associated with humankind obtaining excessive power and knowledge through science which consequently result in destructive effects on humanity and the environment. In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, her personal values and the context of society are communicated through the interpretation of characters, themes and use of language.   Shelley lived in the early 1800’s where Romanticism arose as a reaction to the Enlightenment Era together with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Romantics, such as William Wordsworth, went beyond the rationality of the Enlightenment and regarded humans as unique individuals. They associated science based knowledge as a way of enhancing one’s powers of imagination and connection to nature. Shelley’s Romantic ideals are represented through Victor Frankenstein’s character as a Romantic protagonist. Frankenstein is a scientist preoccupied with obtaining a metaphysical ambition and was...