The Effect of Isolation on the Perception of Nature in Frankenstein

In early 2022, the World Health Organization reported that the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a 25% increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression worldwide. Despite being necessary for ensuring safety, mandatory quarantines enforced isolation of people from their friends, family, and community, causing a widespread drop in overall happiness and mental health through this significant lack of social interaction. One may draw parallels between their experiences in isolation with that of Mary Shelley’s story of Victor Frankenstein’s life. In Mary Shelley’s gothic fiction novel Frankenstein, Shelley provides a cautionary depiction of the potential impacts of isolation on mental health and mood. The novel follows the journey of a man whose scientific passion manifests into obsession, as he falls into depression by constantly isolating himself from the world and his loved ones. Victor Frankenstein’s perceptions of the beauty of nature reveal not only the harmful effects of isolation but also the benefits of being surrounded by loved ones.

Frankenstein’s acknowledgment of the beauty of nature around him reflects his inner well-being and helps emphasize his happiness and positive thoughts when he is with his friends and family. In the first volume, Victor’s creation kills his younger brother, and an innocent girl dies after being falsely accused of murder. At the beginning of the second volume, Victor expresses his immense guilt as he knows he was indeed responsible for the creature’s crime but instead lets an innocent girl die. He states how he “shunned the face of man; all sound of joy or complacency was torture to me; solitude was my only consolation - deep, dark, death-like solitude” (Shelley 65). Victor isolates himself and clouds himself with negative thoughts, claiming to only be consoled by his solitude. However, he contradicts himself later when he is with his family around nature. He describes that “[the] sublime and magnificent scenes afforded me the greatest consolation that I was capable of receiving” (Shelley 69). Frankenstein opposes his earlier claim as he finds better, more sincere consolation in nature’s beauty. This change in mood occurs when Frankenstein is with his family after his long period of isolation and sorrow, suggesting a correlation between him surrounding himself with his family and receiving comfort and feeling happy. Another instance of Victor’s mood being uplifted when noticing the beauty in nature is when Clerval accompanies Victor on his travels. He uses nature to note how beautiful the scenes around Europe are, and recounts how “the appearance of the city had yet in itself sufficient beauty … the streets are almost magnificent; and the lovely Isis, which flows beside it through meadows of exquisite verdure, is spread forth into a placid expanse of waters, which reflects its majestic assemblage of towers, and spires, and domes, embosomed among aged trees” (Shelley 120). After Victor’s mind turns rampant with detrimental ponderings from isolating himself again to make another creature, he reunites with his childhood best friend and travels through Europe together and feels happier and recognizes more beauty in the world. This helps prove how whenever Victor is with his friends and family, his mindset becomes healthier and more positive, and he sees the world through a better lens, recognizing the beauty in nature. Therefore, Victor’s recognition of the beauty in the nature surrounding him reveals the positive effects of amity in his mood and perspectives.

Similarly, Frankenstein’s ignorance of the beauty of nature conveys how he has been negatively affected by his isolation, as observed through his demeanor and happiness. During the two years when Frankenstein obsessively perfected his original creation, he had never taken a break to note the beauty in the nature around him. However, after Clerval nurses him back into good health after falling severely ill, Victor reflects upon his experiences in isolation, recalling that “the same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me also to forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and whom I had not seen for so long a time” (Shelley 36), and how his eyes “were insensible to the charms of nature” (Shelley 36). He vividly describes how his unhealthy obsession, work ethic, and laser-like focus, in complete isolation, led him to the point where he was so lost in his passion that he could no longer recognize the beauty of nature. However, when being nursed by his friend, he later notes how the “divine spring; and the season contributed greatly to my convalescence” (Shelley 42). His different views on nature illustrate his shifts in mental health because even though he has isolated himself working on his project for two years and has therefore experienced two springs, he only recognizes the beauty of spring when being treated by Clerval. The contrast between Victor not observing the charms of nature and later admiring its beauty parallel the disparity between Victor’s isolation and interactions with his friend, emphasizing his stark contrast in mood from feeling miserable to the point of not being able to observe any beauty in the world around him, to him feeling comforted with the presence of his friend and by nature around him. Hence, Frankenstein’s perceptions of nature serve as an essential metaphor for communicating Frankenstein’s struggles in solitude and his spirit uplifting when surrounded by loved ones.

Through Shelley’s descriptions of how Frankenstein perceives the nature around him, she indirectly portrays the contrasting effects of isolation and companionship on him with indicative features of mood and mental health. While Frankenstein’s tale of eventually succumbing to his obsession and spiraling down a path of vengeance and depression is unfortunate, readers can learn from Frankenstein’s mistakes. Themes of isolation, depression, and self-destruction in Frankenstein still prove relevant in society today, especially as the world recovers from the lasting effects of the global pandemic, along with the rise of the digital age. However, societies can learn how to better deal with these feelings and themes by recognizing the importance of caring for one’s mental health and mood and that all problems have solutions. As artist Henri Matisse once said, “there are always flowers to those who want to see them.”