Shelleys Frankenstein and Austens Mansfield Park as Vehicles for Social Comment :: comparison compare contrast essays

Shelley's Frankenstein and Austen's Mansfield Park as Vehicles for Social Comment It has been often noted that the Romantic writers of English literature were rebelling against the established positions and views of society. Most of the Romantic artists were indigenes of the well-established middle class and they were swiftly tiring of the self-serving political depredation perpetrated by the hands of the upper class. The Romantics were flouting convention, thumbing their noses and calling for radical and widespread reform not only in governmental politics, but within the politics of their own trade--creativity and art. Their myriad of works are clear evidence of this. Contumely against established society was found mostly in the poetical works of the day. However, much social commentary found its way into seemingly unlikely novels. Two such novels are Mary Shelly's Frankenstein and Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. Both of these novels are clever repositories for social commentary and judgment. The overwhelming social judgment by Austen and Shelly was an intolerance for class distinction. Though they were hardly deluded enough to posses Utopian ideals, they nevertheless felt that a society with very little class distinction and especially without class-specific opportunity and quality of life was indeed attainable. Given that Karl Marx formulated many of his socialist ideals as a result of his exposure to the conditions of working class Englishmen, one might venture to say that the Romantic artists were forerunners of the socialist ideal, though perhaps this is a stretch. However, neither Austen nor Shelly saw socialism as an antidote to class distinction, or if they did, it did not find its way into their novels. They were quick to show, though, that a class blending could occur that was acceptable to all. In fact, such a theme is clearly prevalent in many sections of both Mansfield Park and Frankenstein. For example, in Frankenstein, Shelly describes the acceptance of a lower class individual into an upper class family. Justine is a lower class servant who is taken into the Frankenstein family to alleviate the dire straits into which she has fallen. However, the Frankenstein's do not view her as a servant in the typical, expected sense. Rather, in a letter to the maniacal, creature-creating