The Representation Of Romanticism In The Casebook Of Victor Frankenstein

Peter Ackroyd(1949-),one of the most creative writers in contemporary Britain,presents in his works the imagination and reflection of English history.The thesis takes his The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein as the object of research.Based on Mary Shelley's original Frankenstein,Ackroyd places the story in a particular historical period--the early 19th century England,a time when Romanticism was in its heyday.Ackroyd's Frankenstein lives in the same circle of giant Romantic figures like Byron,Shelley and Coleridge whose ideas and thoughts have a profound influence on the fate of the protagonist,thus making the novel deeply rooted in Romanticism.The thesis mainly adopts Isaiah Berlin's concept of Romanticism.According to Berlin,creation out of imagination is the core of Romanticism.Through analyzing Frankenstein's creation of the creature,the unpredictability of creation,the pursuits of the unbridled Romantic heroes and the struggles of the confined Romantic heroines,this thesis argues that The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein represents the core Romantic thought as well as the social features of the English Romantic period.The main body of the thesis consists of three chapters.Chapter One focuses on Frankenstein's creation,maintaining that this event embodies the central idea of Romanticism.Inspired by the Romantic spirit to accomplish the impossible,Frankenstein suddenly thinks of an idea to restore life to the dead.Through long and difficult experiment,Frankenstein eventually brings life to a dead body,but never expects the impact his creation brings to the world as well as to himself.Chapter Two examines the free and ambitious pursuits of the Romantic heroes:Shelley's social protest,Byron's adventurous exploration and Frankenstein's scientific creation.Although these characters occupy themselves in different fields of pursuit,they all struggle with unbridled will to break up the old order of the world and try to create a new and ideal life.Chapter Three analyzes the struggles of three Romantic heroines.Harriet is a Cinderella-like character,but unlike the passive fairy-tale heroine,Harriet is more active in constructing her own life.Elizabeth resembles the image of Shakespeare's sister,a character imagined by Virginia Woolf,who is as intelligent and ambitious as her brother,but is confined at home and remains unknown to anybody.Mary is characterized as a bold and self-assured New Woman,yet is still bound by the fetters of the male-dominated society.