Frankenstein and Bladerunner Summary

Frankenstein and Bladerunner summary

First sentence – answer the question, then

by comparing Mary Shelley's Gothic inspired novel Frankenstein (1818) and Ridley Scott's tech noir Bladerunner (1992), both timeless classics that despite their differing time frames explore humanity by contrasting creation and creator and who is the real monster in these confronting scenarios. Shelley draws upon the impact of the technological changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution and in doing so criticizes the ideals of the Enlightenment which maintained that all progress benefitted mankind. Contrastingly, Scott references the heightened environmental concerns of the 1980's and the polarising social effects of the economic rationalism of Reganomics.

Frankenstein is a novel set in the late 19th century at a time when the Romantic poets such as Shelley embraced the importance of nature and our connection with the sublime. The creator, Frankenstein driven by hubris ironically claims "how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge" this embodies the Romantics fears of unrestrained scientific progress which ignores the potential consequences. This warning is echoed in Bladerunner, filmed 100 years after Frankenstein Its 2019 dark and dank noir setting reflects the growing fears of society about the destruction of the environment in which humanity has embraced the rampant capitalist values of the 1980's. The Wall Street mantra "greed is good" is eerily echoed in Tyrell's comment "commerce is our goal here at Tyrell" who is not only fuelled by pride but also by greed.

P1

Reflects romantics fear by showing creator as inhuman

"Penetrate the secrets of nature"

Sexual imagery shows lust for science

motif decay and corruption

"how the worm inherited the wonders of the eye and brain"

Visual imagery disgusts reader

Parallel in Bladerunner, Tyrell's "retirement" of replicants

"She's an experiment, nothing more"

Godlike status shown in biblical allusions

"it's not an easy thing to meet your