Frankenstein and the Importance of “Tintern Abbey”

Frankenstein and the Importance of “Tintern Abbey”

The sounding cataract

Haunted me like a passion: the tall rock,

The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood,

Their colours and their forms, were then to me

An appetite; a feeling and a love,

That had no need of a remoter charm,

By thought supplied, nor any interest

Unborrowed from the eye.

As history records, Mary Shelley’s writing was influenced by a wide range of great novelists, philosophers, and poets. Her father’s circle of friends included the famed poet: Samuel T. Coleridge, who collaborated alongside with Wordsworth during his lifetime. Therefore, it is only natural that Shelley’s most renowned novel, Frankenstein, embodies many characteristics used or works created by these people. Among many examples, the inclusion of the excerpt of Wordsworth’s famous poem: Tintern Abbey in Frankenstein not only is able to explicitly capture the significance of Victor and Henry’s roles as foils but also embody the supreme importance of nature.

               Henry and Victor are, in modern terms, best friends. They grow from being childhood playmates to companions as they age. However, even as children, their subjects of interests can be seen as complete opposites. Henry finds passion in, “the moral relations of things… the virtues of heroes, and the actions of men, were this theme…” (35). Whereas Victor says he is, “directed to the metaphysical, or, in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world” (34). These two paths guide their future pursuits, and in Shelley’s view, Clerval towards good and Victor towards evil. Clerval’s quest for knowledge did not and could not pave his way for destruction because his pursuit is, in a way, to become one with nature. Victor on the other hand does everything in his power to be polarized from nature and to conquer it. Victor realizes this difference and quotes a section of “Tintern Abbey”, changing the pronoun ‘I’ to ‘him’ to idolize Henry in order to subconsciously recognize and admit to all of his own flaws and mistakes. Therefore, the contrast of Henry and Victor creates a strong emphasis on the negative consequences that befall on humans who parallel their lives with the course of nature. 

             I believe that Shelley respected Wordsworth and his philosophies to a point where she wanted to reiterate his message to the world through her novel. Frankenstein, the product of that desire, therefore, shares many similarities with “Tintern Abbey” in order to best illustrate Wordsworth’s message. Just as Wordsworth narrates the poem to Dorothy, Walton also has Margaret be the ultimate listener. Although the characters themselves do not correlate in a literal sense, the effect Shelley creates is essential to the novel. Margaret is who the story dedicates itself to and the most crucial figure because she has the final say in the outcome or opinion on Walton’s tale. Shelley, to even further point out “Tintern Abbey”, directly has Victor quote the poem. As I mentioned earlier, the poem serves to highlight and bring out Henry’s role as a foil to Victor. However, the quoted section of the poem also is one of Wordsworth’s most intimate confessions about his connection with nature. So I am convinced that Wordsworth plays the all the characters of Walton, Henry, and Nature at different points of the book. Similar to “Tintern Abbey”, these characters demonstrates how Wordsworth goes through the phase of appreciating external beauty, internal beauty, and aligning himself to become one with nature. Therefore, Walton relays the beginning of the phase, then Henry as the character to embody the internal realization, then Nature to communicate the alignment phase. 

             I may be making conclusions that are too far-fetched, but it is definitely interesting to think about and ponder why Shelley would connect the novel to the elements regarding “Tintern Abbey”.