Worlds of Upheaval Essay – Frankenstein & All the King’s Horses

Resource Description

1200 words, 20/20 marks, English Extension One, Worlds of Upheaval Module, 2022 Text: Mary Shelley\’s Frankenstein Related text: Kurt Vonnegut\’s All the King\’s Horses Question: Texts that represent worlds of upheaval often explore the interplay between motivation and integrity, and seek to activate change in the values of their respective audiences.

To what extent is this statement true of your understanding of Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley and one related text of your own choosing?

By exposing the absence of integrity inherent to particular motivations or that arises from abandoning one’s motivations, composers have the ability to activate change within their audience’s values and to subsequently spur upheaval. To a significant extent, this notion is reflected in both Margaret Shelley’s 1818 gothic novel Frankenstein and Kurt Vonegut’s 1951 short story All the King’s Horses. Shelley challenges the integrity of pursuing 18th century Enlightenment aspirations, instead revealing the ability of Romantic values to restore integrity, particularly as they pertain to parental responsibility. Vonnegut reveals the hypocrisy of war, and subsequent lack of integrity within it, demonstrating how America’s callous Cold War military actions inherently betray many combatants’ compassionate, often personal motivations for participating in war. Through their exploration of the interplay between motivation and integrity within worlds of upheaval, both texts seek to activate change in their respective audiences, promoting Romantic parental duty and compassion respectively.