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Yr 12 Eng Adv

English Advanced: Module A (Texts Through Time) –

Practice Essay

Whilst texts may be fictitious constructs of composers’ imaginations,

they also explore and address the societal issues and paradigms of their eras.

This is clearly the case with Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein (1818), which

draws upon the rise of Galvanism and the Romantic Movement of the 1800’s,

as well as Ridley Scott’s film Blade Runner (1992), reflecting upon the

increasing computing industry and the predominance of capitalism within the

late 20th Century. Hence, an analysis of both in light of their differing contexts

reveal how Shelley and Scott ultimately warn us of the dire consequences of

our desire for omnipotence and unrestrained scientific progress, concepts

which link the two texts throughout time.

Composed in a time of major scientific developments, including Galvani’s

concept of electricity as a reanimating force, Shelley’s Frankenstein utilises

the creative arrogance of the Romantic imagination to fashion a Gothic world

in which the protagonist’s usurpation of the divine privilege of creation has

derailed the conventional lines of authority and responsibility. Her warning of

the dangers of such actions is encapsulated within Victor’s retrospective words

of “how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge”, whilst Shelley’s use of a

fragmented epistolatory narrative adds a disturbing sense of truth,

foreshadowing the dark consequences of Frankenstein’s actions. Moreover,


Yr 12 Eng Adv

her allusions to John Milton’s Paradise Lost evoke the poetic retelling of

Satan’s fall from grace, wherein the daemon’s association with “the fallen

angel” exacerbates the effects of Victor’s rejection, ultimately transforming its

“benevolent nature” into a thirst for retribution. Together with its questioning

of how Victor could “sport with life”, Shelley’s warning reverberates past the

page, directly questioning the scientists of her era, including evolutionary

theorist Erasmus Darwin, to reinforce the dangers of our humanity’s inherent

yearning to play the role of the Creator.

Such a warning also exists within Scott’s Blade Runner, hence linking the

two texts throughout time, where the director echoes the rise of capitalist

ideals and the Wall Street mantra, “greed is good”, through the symbolic

dominance of Tyrell’s towering ziggurat, a reflection of both his desire for

omnipotence and commercial power. Tyrell’s egocentric nature is epitomised

within the religious connotations of his abode, including his voluminous bed,

modeled after that of Pope John Paul II, as well as his reference to Batty as

“the prodigal son”. Such symbols are unnervingly subverted through both the

foreboding Chiarscuro of flickering candle-light with shadow and his violent

death at the hands of his own creation. Scott’s warning of the dangers of such

a desire is also evident within the expansive shots of 2019 LA, revealing a dark

and tenebrous world lit by the glow of corporate advertisements, a

representation of a bleak future dominated by commercial dominance. Hence,

by drawing upon elements of his context, including the growth of capitalism


Yr 12 Eng Adv

and the ‘trickle-down theory’ of Reagan’s era, Scott positions us to reassess

the consequences of overstepping our boundaries.

In addition, both texts’ warnings also encompass the dangers of

unrestrained scientific progress, where Frankenstein further demonstrates the

Romantic Movement’s influence on Shelley’s mindset, as her criticisms of the

Age of Reason and Industrial Revolution reflect their denigration of rationality.

The imagery of the “dead corpse” and repetitious use of “horror” upon the

creation of the “miserable monster” establish a strong aura of death and

despair around this scientific advancement, whilst Victor’s warning of Walton

to “avoid ambitions of science and discoveries” encapsulates Shelley’s

vilification of contributors to the Industrial Revolution, including renowned

inventor James Watt. Moreover, Shelley stresses her warning through the

protagonists’ connections with nature, where Victor’s “insensibility to its

charms”, arising from his immersion in science, results in his “deep, dark and

deathlike solitude”, with the heavy alliteration exemplifying his degraded

sense of humanity. Conversely, the monster possesses greater “benevolence”

and a more intimate connection with “the pleasant showers and genial

warmth of spring”, with such characterisation capturing Shelley’s reflection of

Romanticism’s idolisation of nature, cautioning us against the dehumanising

effect of unrestrained scientific advancement.

Blade Runner is no different, with Scott’s reflection of the explosion of

technological progress during the 1980’s, including the rise of computing


Yr 12 Eng Adv

giants IBM and Microsoft, highlighting the dangers of such unrestrained

progress. Most notable is the opening panoramic shot of blazing smokestacks

which, together with the haunting synthetic pulses of the Vangelis soundtrack,

establishes a festering miasma of technological overload, adding further

semiotic weight to the film’s nightmarish dystopian agenda. Indeed, this

portrayal of a decaying environment reflects the growing ecological awareness

of the 1980’s, which, whilst different to Shelley’s Romantic values, is similarly

employed to highlight the destruction of mankind due to technology.

Moreover, Scott illuminates us to the dehumanising effects of such progress,

foregrounded through Deckard’s “retiring” of the Replicant Zhora. Here, the

stylistic placement of the transparent poncho places further emphasises the

violence of her death, with slow-motion low angle shot conveying her

heightened sense of humanity within her last painful moments. In contrast,

Deckard’s emotionless features, together with the monotonous drone of the

droid, suggests that our artificial creations will ultimately lead to the

dehumanising of mankind, undermining our humanist framework and hence,

warns us of the dire consequences of unchecked scientific progress.

Thus, we can see how both Shelley and Scott reflect their zeitgeists in

their texts, Frankenstein and Blade Runner, as they draw upon the societal

concerns of their times in order to warn us of the consequences of

overstepping our boundaries and unbridled technological advancement.

Subsequently, it becomes evident that despite their temporal and contextual


Yr 12 Eng Adv

differences, both texts are in fact linked through their common concerns and

concepts.

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