Did you not call this a glorious expedition? and wherefore was it glorious? Not because the way was smooth and placid as the southern sea but because it was full of dangers and terror; because, at every new incident, your fortitude was to be called forth and your courage exhibited; because danger and death surrounded, and these dangers you were to brave and overcome. For this was it glorious, for this was it an honourable undertaking. You were hereafter to be hailed as the benefactors of your species; your name adored, as belonging to brave men who encountered death for honour and the benefit of mankind. (Shelley 154-155)
Although in these lines Frankenstein is addressing sailors in a discussion of setting sail on a new expedition, they reflect the mindset that Frankenstein had while creating the monster; one in which he was willing to risk danger and death in order to create something greater than mankind - which would only potentially benefit mankind. Along the lines of Mellor’s Essay, this piece of art reflects how Frankenstein may be read as a cautionary tale of what happens when nature and the sublime are transcended by man. In my art, I was most interested in how women bear the brunt of this transcendence, despite being innocent in the tampering with nature.
Drawing on prominent notions of Romanticism and the sublime in Frankenstein, I chose to create a landscape from scraps and cutouts of Romantic era art. In my work, I represented Victor with a figure who looks much like the man in Wander Above the Sea of Fog. Like the man in this famous Romantic painting, Victor stands on a rock overlooking a vast, ethereal landscape. It is in this way that I aimed to represent Victor’s attempt to rise above humanity in creating the monster, and simultaneously allude to Victor’s connection with nature and the sublime throughout Frankenstein. In the upper left hand corner is the monster from The Nightmare, which I included to conjure the ceaseless presence of the monster in the sublime landscapes that Victor often overlooks. Sprinkled throughout the rest of the landscape are figures - soldiers and dead bodies - from Liberty Leading the People, who are meant to resemble the death and danger that inevitably come with ambitious endeavors to rise above humanity. Most importantly, lying at the bottom of the rock at Victor’s feet, is a female figure from The Nightmare who is meant to resemble Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s position below Victor signifies his ignorance to his wife’s fate, up until the monster murders her when she is left alone. Also, though, Elizabeth and Victor’s relative positions depict Victor's inferior interest in Elizabeth, among other women, which is overtaken by his interest in the monster, and his interest in chasing the sublime through emotional highs and lows. While this theme applies directly to Elizabeth in Frankenstein, I included several other Romantic era female figures below Victor, to show how this theme may also be applied more generally. I also must note the lack of sublimity, represented by a lack of Romantic era art, on the level of the female figures. I made this artistic choice because in Frankenstein, the women are quite grounded by the reality for women in the 1800s; they are often pushed to the sidelines, and unlike Victor, do not experience sublimity. Moreover, Elizabeth in particular, is left in the dark about the existence of Victor’s creation because of Victor’s effort to control the female figures around him. I think the key difference between my artwork and Frankenstein, is that in my art, Victor remains invested in the sublime and his monster, even after Elizabeth’s death. The significance of this artistic choice may be better understood when one views death figuratively. Elizabeth’s death in this instance ought to be seen as the way in which she is trapped in the dark, mostly ignored, and in danger despite being innocent throughout the book - all because of Victor’s attempt to surpass nature. Thus, Elizabeth is really in such a position - below Victor and insignificant to him - throughout Frankenstein.