Frankenstein and Bladerunner Context Essay
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- Category: English: Authors
- Date Submitted: 06/26/2013 04:22 AM
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Analyse how Frankenstein and Blade Runner imaginatively portray individuals who challenge the established values of their times.
Subjected by different contexts, authors use popular mediums to reflect their discontent with those who challenge society and the world around them. The epistolary novella, Frankenstein (F, 1818) by Mary Shelley deals with the fear of natural philosophy in the 19th century and its effect on traditions/society. Similarly, Blade Runner, The Director’s Cut (BR, 1992) directed by Ridley Scott is about a dystopic world that reflects the globalization and consumerism of the 1980s. The issues of irresponsible use of technology and the abuse of humanity are the concerns contended by authors to their contemporary audience.
Shelley’s Prometheus Victor Frankenstein represents the hubris of science and playing with powers beyond human understanding; mirroring the paranoia of the Gothic Romantics and their fear of scientific discovery. Shelley’s belief of the corruption inherent in science is demonstrated through the allegory of Victor’s fall from grace, which the reader first experiences through her use of in medias res. She utilizes a juxtaposition of two Victors to convey her cautionary message. Shelley portrays Victor exclaiming metaphorically charged hypotactic overstatements, “darkness had no effect upon [his] fancy,” to show a child like innocent fascination with the natural world. This is reinforced by his awe struck description of the lightning “sudden[ly] I beheld a stream of fire… as soon as the dazzling light vanished, the oak had disappeared… I had never beheld anything so utterly destroyed,” where hyperbole and imagery again displayed this wholesome awe and appreciation of nature relevant to the Gothic Romantic movement. Ironically, what follows is Victor’s foreshadowing epiphany, “the beauty of [his] dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust fill[ing] [his] heart through”, through bathos prosing of “[a] demonical corpse...
Subjected by different contexts, authors use popular mediums to reflect their discontent with those who challenge society and the world around them. The epistolary novella, Frankenstein (F, 1818) by Mary Shelley deals with the fear of natural philosophy in the 19th century and its effect on traditions/society. Similarly, Blade Runner, The Director’s Cut (BR, 1992) directed by Ridley Scott is about a dystopic world that reflects the globalization and consumerism of the 1980s. The issues of irresponsible use of technology and the abuse of humanity are the concerns contended by authors to their contemporary audience.
Shelley’s Prometheus Victor Frankenstein represents the hubris of science and playing with powers beyond human understanding; mirroring the paranoia of the Gothic Romantics and their fear of scientific discovery. Shelley’s belief of the corruption inherent in science is demonstrated through the allegory of Victor’s fall from grace, which the reader first experiences through her use of in medias res. She utilizes a juxtaposition of two Victors to convey her cautionary message. Shelley portrays Victor exclaiming metaphorically charged hypotactic overstatements, “darkness had no effect upon [his] fancy,” to show a child like innocent fascination with the natural world. This is reinforced by his awe struck description of the lightning “sudden[ly] I beheld a stream of fire… as soon as the dazzling light vanished, the oak had disappeared… I had never beheld anything so utterly destroyed,” where hyperbole and imagery again displayed this wholesome awe and appreciation of nature relevant to the Gothic Romantic movement. Ironically, what follows is Victor’s foreshadowing epiphany, “the beauty of [his] dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust fill[ing] [his] heart through”, through bathos prosing of “[a] demonical corpse...