Frankenstein and Blade Runner †Texts in Time Analysis Essay

Many themes and views continue to reoccur among divergent textbooks in time. However studying two texts in conjunction allows one to observe how composers manipulate ideas in order to more accurately connect to their context, and ricochet the concerns and values of the time.Through the relative study of bloody shame Shelleys 1818 gothic novel Frankenstein or The impudently-fashioned Prometheus and Ridley Scotts 1981 neo-noir cyberpunk involve Blade setoff (Directors Cut), one kindle observe how in these two didactic and prescient tales, ideas of the dangers of unrestrained scientific come alongion and the Promethean vaulting of man atomic number 18 explored, with differences in values presented reflecting the different contexts between the texts. Mary Shelleys Frankenstein was created in an era of rapid technological change.By 1818, the Industrial Revolution had deeply influenced the funda noetic temper of society, while discretion inspired ideals of logic and autonom y of reason were prominent in society. Her text w here(predicate)fore reflects this, as disclosen in the protagonist skipper Frankenstein I am imbued with a fervent longing to sink in the secrets of constitution. This metaphor alludes to his passionate and desperate urge to get out the secrets to the humans of life. Shelley but critiques his intrusive scientific pursual and horrid creation by juxtaposing it with the beauty of nature.This is seen in the bucolic descriptions of natures sublime flop alps, whose white and shining pyramids and domes towered above all. Nature calms and dehumanises Victor throughout the text, but Victor pursues science to the consequence that nature loses its consoling ability, and thereafter the Arctic becomes a pathetic fallacy to mock Victors psychological and mental isolation. This criticism is further forceful through the epistolary narrative framework, which allows the text to depart in medias res.The first introduction to Victor is hi m in a state of complete ruin, and so the text is a fore take to tasking of the ramifications of amoral scientific advancement. In a similar manner, Ridley Scotts Blade Runner was created in a time of rapid technological progress through the 1970s and 80s. The emergence of the computer and talk age meant that the world became more centralised, with a increment concern that technology was destroying the environment.Set in Los Angeles in 2019, the opening establishing shot of the expansive city forthwith demonstrates the negative consequences of untamed scientific advancement. The fire belch into the sky, the artificial city lights sparkling under a looming red-grey sky and the haunting synthetic pulses from the Vangelis soundtrack allude to Hades, reservation the city a vision of hell. The camera so zooms into the reflection of an eye, which depicts the artificiality of the world and introduces dystopian themes of paranoia and surveillance. therefore we pile see that Blade Runn er is representative of a grim in store(predicate) that Shelleys scientific hubris warned us of nearly two centuries ago. However there argon alterations in the ideas shown to befit the differing contexts of the texts. Mary Shelley argues that an excessive prosecution of science can lead to the ruin of an various(prenominal) man, seen in Victor Frankenstein. She also argues that nature is larger than man, evident in her highly Romantic descriptions of natures sublime.Ridley Scott however argues that man is overpowering nature, owe to the global concerns of pollution and deforestation in the 1980s. Hence Scott implies amoral scientific advancement will lead to the outrage of society as a whole, and not retributory at an individual level. Unequivocally, both(prenominal)(prenominal) texts explore the idea of the promethean overreaching of man and his tendency to usurp the division of idol, through the characters of Victor Frankenstein and Tyrell.The subtitle of Mary Shelleys novel, The Modern Prometheus, refers to Victor Frankenstein, and his creation of the fanatic. A new species would bless me as its creator and source His creation however leads him to transcend the boundaries of man and elevate him into a graven image-like status, and this leads to Victors complete societal and mental isolation, where he loses sight of his responsibilities and the consequences of his actions. Victor compares himself to God, while the monster says to Victor I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, referring to himself as Lucifer.This means the text is given added complexity in that there is a duality between both characters, where neither Victor or the monster are innately good or bad, rather they containing talent for both, as they become two sides of a private entity, forming a doppelganger relationship. Finally, the literary allusion by Victor how could I enter into a festival with this deadly angle hanging round my neck? is a part to the al batross in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and shows the consummate(a) punishment and guilt Victor faces from outstretching the boundaries of man and playacting the use of God.Therefore it is apparent that in her text, Shelley attempts to warn of the dire consequences of mans promethean overreaching of the situation of God. Correspondingly, the idea of man overstepping of the natural order is severely explored in Blade Runner. The film is the epitome of a dystopian world dominated by commerce. The initial low angle shot of the Tyrell partnerships grand ziggurat-like monolith reflects the rampant commercialisation and commodification of the world, while the dismal light shining into the sky pertains to the usurpation of Gods role, and the diminishment of nature in modern society.The Tyrell Corporations dominance criticises the covetousness is good pose of the 1980s, typified through the antagonist Eldon Tyrell Commerce is our goal here at Tyrell, More Human than Human is ou r motto. His loggerheaded glasses symbolise his failure to see the future consequences of his actions, much like Victor, and this adds to the eye motif of the film, where eyeball are windows to the soul and measures of humanity something which Tyrell clearly lacks.Roy Batty, the films role-reversed protagonist, is portrayed initially as a Satanic render Ive done questionable things, akin to the monster being labelled fanatic and devil in Frankenstein. However Scott makes a scriptural allusion when Batty crucifies his own hand, and this relates him to Christ. Thus one can see how in both texts the composers warn of the dangers of usurping the role of god, showing the complexity and duality of man on Earth.Mary Shelleys romantic values however mean that through the character of Victor, she aims to criticise the overreaching aspect of Enlightenment, warning that those who do will be eternally punished. Ridley Scott however aims to condemn the overcommercialisation and increasing greed in society, using Tyrell as a figure to represent mans obsession for power, and in such he criticises the society that we live in. In these ways it can be seen how the overreaching of god in both texts is used differently to strike with different contextual values.Therefore, through a comparative study of both Frankenstein and Blade Runner, we can see how the common issues of rampant scientific and technological progress and the usurpation of the natural order is explored in both texts, however these ideas are varied slightly in order to suit the differing contexts. Frankenstein aims at questioning Enlightenment values, while Blade Runner condemns materialism, unhinged transmittable engineering and corporal greed, essentially critiquing society and presenting a dystopian vision of the future.