Frankenstein and Blade Runner

Understanding the quintessential message of the imperative for moderation in scientific pursuits is significant, as the pursuit of knowledge results to demise and destruction. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein personifies this understanding of the technological curious nature throughout the protagonist, Victor Frankenstein. As Victor's quest for knowledge can be seen as a metaphor for the universal ambition that leads to demise. As at the time there was an extent of only believing Romantic theories on the detrimental nature of intellect, rather than proving its validity. This can be reinforced by Shelley's recurring mythical allusions to Prometheus, "how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge" that portrays Victor as an Aristotelian Tragic Hero. One who foreshadows his self-dehumanization and corruption, a consequence of his hamartia of seeking "the secrets of heaven and earth" and usurping God.

Through Shelley's gothic imagery, "...a church yard was to me the receptacle of bodies deprived of life" and Victor's reckless belief in being Godlike, "bestowing animation upon lifeless matter". This demonstrates his obsession and lack of moderation in experiments that has lead to his deprivation of respect towards humans. Unlike Blade Runner's 20th century context of practical biological engineering, there was an extent in Shelley's time that enabled only the visualization of the idea. Thus, revealing Shelley's influences of texts such as Davy's Pamphlet, A discourse that also suggested the potentials of chemistry disclosing the secrets of life.

It was also during the 19th Century, where the growing concern of Galvanic Horror also escalated. This can be seen in Shelley's explicit imagery, "His yellow skin...horrid contrast with watery eyes" that enables the reader to empathize with the scientist's despair, as the monster is a representation of a gothic nightmare. By using such explicit imagery, Shelley conveys the horrors of not adhering to moderation. Here, the eye motif is established indicating the spark of an artificial soul.

The depiction of technology having negative connotation is similarly illuminated in Blade Runner through the scene of Tyrell's death that also employs imagery and the eye motif. Here, the utilization of grotesque imagery of Roy rupturing Tyrell's myopia eyes, metaphorical for blind ambition followed by the diagetic scream conveys man's desire to achieve omnipotence, consequently leading to the inevitability of destruction. Likewise in Shelley's critique of the obsession for scientific knowledge, Scott conveys the identical message as a reflection of the 20th century plagued by the paranoia of a Cold-War, driven by scientific nuclear advancements. As the extent of an outbreak of cold war for power seemed very possible, as a result of scientific nuclear advancements.

...