Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein showcases many of Shelley’s notions about what was happening in 19th century Gothic England, and these ideals were demonstrated in the first parts of the novel. 

One particular core ideal that stood out to me was the dichotomy between a romantic’s and empiricist’s outlook on life: during the time that Shelley was writing this novel, the later stages of the industrial revolution in England was in full swing, and there were two main sides toward the rapid innovations that were occurring at the time. One of these sides was Romanticism, which took on the perspective of maximizing human potential and creativity: Romanticists usually argued that the sciences and geography should be pushed to its limit. Shelley spends the first few chapters of the novel introducing certain characters that represent the romanticist: Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein. Both of these characters, while neither artists but an explorer and scientist respectively, are already shown to harbor intentions of breaking the limits of geography and science. Walton’s statements of enjoying the “cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks, which braces my nerves, and fills me with delight”(1) and wants to “accomplish some great purpose.. I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my path”(3). Shelley’s portrayal of Walton is one that imitates the thought process and actions of a textbook Romanticist: instead of worrying about what could go wrong on his journey to the arctic circle, Walton focuses on excitement that the cold air provides him and what could happen to him if he discovered something great, like the source of magnetism or any previously unknown plot of land. Shelley perhaps paints Walton as a more positive symbol of Romanticism; Walton does showcase the Romanticist’s ideals of pushing the limits of creativity and exploration, yet doesn’t actually cross any sort of moral or ethical boundaries when doing so. Furthermore, Walton actually has justification for his journey, in that he would be aiding the scientific world’s understanding of magnetism and the arctic circle, yet still encompasses the key ideals of Romanticism.