Orientalism in Frankenstien: Chapter 13-14

Orientalism is a major theme in chapters 13-14 of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The entrance of Safie as a Christian Turk from the Middle East, embodies this theme. Shelley suggests Safie's exotic nature upon her arrival, describing how the character came "on horseback... dressed in a dark suit and covered with a thick black veil"(Shelley 101). The monster, who narrated this part of the story, described her looks as "angelic" in beauty, her hair was "shining raven black and curiously braided"(Shelley 101). Many parts of Safie's description would render her exotic and mysterious to Western readers, enthralled with the way she was wearing a suit instead of a common Western dress, with a thick black veil over her head. Before Orientalism struck England, the dominant form of beauty in the Western world was a fair girl, with curly blond locks, blue eyes, and white skin with no blemishes or freckles. It is interesting that, in the book, even though Agatha is described as being fair and pretty, her prettiness does not surpass the exotic beauty of the 'Arabian', Safie. This point suggests the effect that Orientalism had on the Western world at this time. the Western world became deeply attracted with Orientalism around the time that the Industrial Revolution struck Europe. Romanticism also captivated Europe at this time, because the coldness of the machines bred through the Industrial Revolution, and the science that was introduced into the world at this time, gave the idea that nature was like a machine, that could be controlled, fixed, and calculated by man. The love for nature emphasized in Romantic literature was a product of a people trying to break away from the new societal values offered up by the Industrial Revolution. Orientalism became increasingly appealing through its subjects perceived closeness to nature. The 'orientals' were deemed as natural, hedonistic, romantic, and mystical beings, which appealed to the Romantics. Safie's musical skills demonstrated the closeness to nature and mysteriousness evident in Orientalism, when she played old De Lacey's guitar. Her playing style was described by the monster, the narrator in chapters 13 and 14, as so hauntingly beautiful that they resemble the song of a Nightingale.
Europe, of course, did not fully embrace Orientalism. It's hedonistic and strange depiction of what life was like in the Middle East shocked many Western viewers. Orientalism insighted an outward portrayal of scandal for it's onlookers, even though on the inside, they might have secretly revelled in the strange exoticness of what they were looking at. In Frankenstein, it appears that Mary Shelley was careful in not going too far with the Orientalism in regards to Safie's character and physical description, probably because she wanted the reader to embrace Safie rather than revile her for being 'too oriental'. Readers needed to relate to Safie on a certain level; they needed to know that even though Safie had the exoticness and mysterious beauty of the oriental, that she still had a distinctly Western character and relatability. For example, even though Safie had raven black hair and wore a veil, her complexion was still 'wondrously fair', and her cheeks were still "tinged with a lovely pink". Her eyes, even though dark, "were gentle". This point may suggest that dark eyes, at least by European standards, represented an intensity not desirable in women. But, Shelley described Safie's eyes as being different, having a gentle quality that suited Western ideals of beauty. The suggestion of her skin being wondrously fair for her background emphasizes Shelley's plight to make Safie oriental, yet Western. Even though Safie is from the Middle East, her character is still distinctly Western, because according to Shelley's story, Safie was raised by her Western Christian mother, who taught her the 'superior' ideals of a Christian character. So, while Safie is entrancingly oriental, again, she is incredibly Western.

Journal 3: Prometheus, Frankenstein, and Hubris

     In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the protagonist, Frankenstein, displays the fatal form of ambition rife within tragic literature; hubris. An example of this hubris is also displayed in the tale of Prometheus, a god who upon giving fire to the human race, was tied to a cliff, and forced to go through having his liver eaten out of him alive by big, taloned birds daily. Both protagonists displayed intense hubris, both were heavily punished for this hubris, but both figures were saved in the end, almost as if by miracle.
     Prometheus and Frankenstein both displayed hubris in their actions. In Frankenstein it was alluded that the scientist felt that he had the right to play god. Taking responsibility of life is not a small task, often times the creation of human beings is believed to be a joyous, wondrous and mysterious stage in the life cycle. But, in Frankenstein, this integral purpose and stage of the human race and existence is skewed in a disturbing way, through Frankenstein's ambitious choice to take control of this piece of the cycle himself, and create his own human from scratch. In his mad ambition, he throws aside his morality, grave digging body parts from other human beings, and painstakingly sewing them together to make the 'perfect being'. Mary Shelley reveals that Frankenstein's purpose for this creation is not entirely valiant. Rather than trying to create a human being from scratch for the advancement of the human race, Victor Frankenstein simply wants to complete this lofty ambition for his own personal gain, to be revered among the scientific world, to be admired. Prometheus is credited with the creation of man from clay in Greek mythology, so the theme of creation by one man is displayed in both tales. But, Prometheus' hubris does not lie in his creation. In his case, his hubris leads to tragedy when he steals fire from Zeus in order to enable mankind to civilize.   Prometheus, credited with being a trickster figure in Greek mythology, had already made a fool of Zeus on a few occasions, and his hubris lay in the fact that he believed he had the right to choose the path of mankind, even though Zeus was the ruling god.
    While Prometheus' punishment for his hubris was very literal, Frankenstein's punishment was much more emotionally corrosive. Prometheus was chained to a rock, destined to have his liver eaten out every day for eternity. Frankenstein, on the other hand, bounded by mortality, only had one life to experience the pain caused by his creation. When Frankenstein created the monster, his hubris led him to immediately expect it to turn out just like any other human being, even though it was the product of lightning, and as stated before, other sewn together dead body parts he found in graveyards. Even though he meticulously collected and constructed the pieces for the monster, it was still in the end a reanimated dead body. It is highlighted that this fatal mistake, laying within Frankenstein's hubris and ambition, led to the cruel creation of a monster with the mind of a highly intelligent and empathetic individual, but the appearance of a gruesome, ugly creation, which fit perfectly, unfortunately for it, with the way it was created. Frankenstein's first punishment was deep dissatisfaction, which led to an ensuing emotional breakdown reflected in all Romantic literature. But, then, the real punishment ensued. Further consequences of Frankenstein's hubris were displayed after he spurned his creature, even though it was in some ways more intelligent than he was himself. His fatal pride led him to belittle his creature and abandon it, making the creature develop a hunger for revenge against the master who created him with no care as to what might happen to the creature if things did not go according to plan. In both Prometheus' and Frankenstein's cases, they made enemies of people who they thought they had power over. But, unfortunately, both literary works evoked the fact that really, neither Frankenstein, nor ,most literally, Prometheus had ultimate power over those who they chose to go up against. In Shelley's novel, Frankenstein's monster wreaked havoc on Frankenstein's family, killing all of his loved ones, and in Greek mythology Zeus exacted revenge on Prometheus by sending the first woman, Pandora, down to man to enter pain and suffering into their world. So, both protagonists' selfish actions were highlighted to have led to the demise of those who they held dear, Frankenstein's family, and Prometheus' creation, man. But, both works enforced further intense personal punishment on both Frankenstein and Prometheus through their superiors. Frankenstein was driven mad, forced to continually pursue his creature until the day of his death, and Prometheus, to be literally pecked to death day by day.
     Both stories are not entirely tragic, due to the fact that saviors come out of the blue to both protagonists, and this reflects the end of the cycle of hubris in both works. In Prometheus' case, the hero Hercules releases him from his torture, coming out of the blue, slaying the eagle like bird plaguing the fallen god, and thus saving Prometheus from his torture. Likewise, in Frankenstein, Robert Walton's ship comes out of the blue, in the middle of the ice of the North Pole, and saves Frankenstein, featuring scenes of Walton nursing him back to health. While it was probably easy for Hercules to see the effects of Prometheus' hubris directly, Frankenstein's punishment could not be seen directly by Walton. Frankenstein sees in Walton a prelude to the hubris the scientist found in himself. Because of Frankenstein's journey through his hubris, he is able to warn young Walton by means of telling the man what happened to him.
     The cycle of hubris in both Prometheus and Frankenstein is very alike, but in some cases also different. Prometheus' tale of hubris is altogether more literal, and Frankenstein's journey, being Romantic rather then mythological, placed much more emphasis on an emotional and psychological journey. It is interesting to see the many correlations between the two, and offers a greater understanding of Frankenstein as a literary work, as a whole.

Journal 5: Frankenstein and the Ancient Mariner

     When Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, she was heavily influenced by a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Besides obvious similarities rife in the novel in question, Shelley even goes on to insert an excerpt from the poem into her work. In this way, Frankenstein and the Ancient Mariner share many similarities through use of imagery, character correlations, and theme.

     Some of the similarities in question are expressed through near identical imagery comparisons. The similarity of the works is clearly emphasized in one particular scene, in which the mariner's ship becomes trapped in a sea of ice. This correlates very clearly with the travels of Walton to the North Pole, and the way that his own ship became trapped in ice also. Both cases exude an air of deep despair and hopelessness; in both cases, the journey men, in this case the mariners and Walton, started off enthusiastic, but soon, this enthusiasm transformed to despair with the introduction of the image of stark lands of ice, trapping each ship and keeping them from going anywhere. Another facet of the image of the lands of ice the respective ships encounter in each literary work, is the auditory imagery of the cracking and grinding of the ice beneath the ships. In this case, if Victor Frankenstein himself is compared to the ancient mariner, another comparison is suggested. Victor Frankenstein, in his pursuit of his creation, becomes trapped in the very ice Walton's ship cracks. His sled dogs are dead, and he has no one to help him, until, a mysterious beacon of hope- Walton's ship- comes out from the mist to save him from failing in the completion of his quest. Walton's boat cracks the ice around Frankenstein's sled, and he is saved. This visual image in Frankenstein is highly reminiscent- at least symbolically- of when the albatross comes through the mist to save the ancient mariner's ship from sinking into despair. Walton is able to nurse Frankenstein back to health, and the albatross in a way nurses the ship crew back to 'health', providing them with luck and a purpose when stuck in the ice. 

     This leads into the next set of similarities noted throughout Frankenstein and the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, indicated through character correlations. In the Rime of the Ancient Mariner- set up in the frame story format, just like that of Frankenstein- the wedding guest is the recipient of the ancient mariner's lengthy tale, and in Frankenstein, the young Walton is the recipient of the scientist's own lengthy tale. The naïveté of both Walton and the Wedding guest are alluded to in the way that they both listen to, and respond to the tale they hear. The Wedding guest is at many points indicated to be quite fearsome of the Ancient Mariner, even thinking him to be a ghost at one moment. The wedding guest starts off slightly dismissive of the mariner's tale (as all self possessed young people tend to be when listening to an older person's stories) but as the poem progresses, it is indicated that he is increasing in respect and fear for the mariner, to the point, again, where he believes the story teller to be a ghost. By the end of the story, the wedding guest leaves a 'sadder and wiser man' then what he was before, as Walton does after listening to Victor Frankenstein's tale. It can definitely be pondered that the Ancient Mariner sees in the wedding guest a certain hubris that he himself possessed upon his ship. And it is stated clearly in Frankenstein, that the point of his harrowing tale is to stop Walton from going down the same dark ambitious path that the scientist went down himself. Another set of characters who evoke comparisons, happen to be Frankenstein's monster, and the albatross. These two integral characters are the real card holders in the game. They offer a choice between salvation and demise to their two respective recipients. The albatross offers the choice to the ancient mariner, and Frankenstein's monster offers Victor the choice. Victor and the ancient mariner both respond to these choices with cruelty, bitterness, and impulsiveness, sealing both their own and their friends' tragic fates. The ancient mariner shoots the albatross because it irks him, and Victor spurns the beast he himself created, because of its ugliness, even though it proves to be extremely empathetic and intelligent. Because of Frankenstein's, and the ancient mariner's cruel hubris, the albatross, and the beast, exact revenge on their oppressors. 

    This, in turn, leads into another set of similarities of Frankenstein and the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, in the form of theme. Both literary works express a theme that is near the same; that of, who is the monster and who is the man? Or, specifically, in this case, who is the real beast? Frankenstein's monster, and the albatross, are both beasts in the physical sense, but they still both possess spiritual and intellectual existences that their oppressors cannot understand, and refuse to understand, until it is too late. Frankenstein's monster is not only extremely empathetic, but he is also intensely intelligent, showing cunning of a level that would require extreme intelligence and stealth, through the fact that he is able to trail Frankenstein, elude him, and ruin him, all coupled with his extreme ugliness and size. The albatross is indicated to possess a highly spiritual quality, reminiscent of in the idea in other cultures of spirits being presented in the form of animals. The albatross comes to the ancient mariner's ship in strange conditions, across seas of ice and storms. It is indicated in the poem that there was no land around for miles, so it is strange in the first place that the albatross would be flying around in the middle of nowhere, with no land and therefore no place to nest nearby. This mysteriousness surrounding the albatross lends to the evocation of its spiritual transcendence- beyond being just an 'albatross'. With this background, the fact that such a beautiful and grand creature, if not in its physical appearance, in its inner, spiritual nature, is killed because of the fact that it was irritating him (perhaps the albatross' mysterious air was what drove the mariner to slay it) is stark and disturbing. It also alludes to the fact, again, that the albatross was more than just an albatross, as Frankenstein's monster was so much more than just a 'beast'. Both the albatross and Frankenstein's monster were in ways, more intelligent and important than their oppressors, Victor and the Mariner. Understanding the beasts' importance gives reason to the extent of the way in which their revenge ruins their oppressors. Both Victor's and the Mariner's friends and family (the mariner's being his sea family) are killed because of their actions. In this way, the horror of the mariner's action- killing such a magnificent creature that had done nothing wrong, just for the sake of killing, and Frankenstein's ugliness towards his own creation just because it didn't look the way he wanted it to, leads one to ask the question, 'which was the real animal?' For all of Victor's intelligence, he was too stupid to realize that his creation had the power to ruin him, he thought that he was automatically better than his creature, and underestimated it. The Mariner cold bloodily killed a creature just because it irritated him, and paid the price. 

     The comparisons of Frankenstein and the Rime of the Ancient Mariner weave together to create two works of literary art that can be set beside each other, and looked at even as complements. It is easy to see Mary Shelley's inspiration, besides her own imagination, through the comparisons between her novel and Coleridge's poem, and it is an interesting bit of research to look into in the study of the creation of Frankenstein. Both tales evoke stark comparisons in terms of imagery, characters, and theme. In this way, they complement each other greatly.