The Love of Nature in Shelley's Frankenstein

The Love of Nature in Shelley’s Frankenstein

            Mary Shelley’s 1818 edition of Frankenstein is a remarkable work of art and juxtaposes Victor Frankenstein and his Creature as one who tries to manipulate nature and one who tries to live in harmony with it, respectively. The Creature loves nature and the beauty of the natural world. William Wordsworth’s poem “Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey” is greatly about the love of nature (Wu 407-411). One famous line from the poem: “Nature never did betray the heart that loved her” speaks about a lover of nature being safe is his surroundings, however, the Creature, even being a lover of nature, is never safe in the world.

            While reading Mary Shelley’s 1818 edition of Frankenstein, several things stood out. One interesting thing to note is that Frankenstein’s monster (as he was referred to by Victor Frankenstein) was vegetarian. When the Creature firsts gets outside and feels hunger, he eats berries instead of trying to kill anything for meat (V2 Ch.3 P1). It is also apparent that he loves nature in the way he describes birds and their songs (V2 Ch.3 P4). If we took Wordsworth’s line as definite truth, the Creature should be safe and sound in the forest and countryside living out his days in peace. This is not how the Creature survives, however. According to Laura Quinney in her article titled “ ‘Tintern Abbey,’ Sensibility, and the Self-Disenchanted Self” Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey” is largely concerned with disappointment (131). Disappointment is all that the Creature will know. The world will not accept him, and he cannot live in harmony with a nature that rejects him.

Works Cited

Quinney, Laura. ""Tintern Abbey," Sensibility, and the Self-Disenchanted Self." ELH 64.1 (1997): pp. 131-156. Web.

Shelley, Mary. "Frankenstein: 1818 Edition."Romantic Circles Electronic Editions n. pag. Web. 1 May 2011. <http://www.rc.umd.edu/editions/frankenstein/>.

Wu, Duncan. Romanticism: An Anthology. Third. Malden, USA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. 407-411. Print.