By echoing back to an earlier Enlightenment experiment, Shelley creates a tale of the destruction that is plausible, though horrific to envision, given GalvaniвЂ™s experiment of reanimation (Oakes 62). The method, which is never fully disclosed, is described by Victor as вЂњ a spark of being into the lifeless thing,вЂќ which can be read as the use of electric current, similar to GalvaniвЂ™s experiment (Shelley 45). The characteristics of this experiment parallel those of Victor FrankensteinвЂ™s. One experiment in particular is often discussed when analyzing ShelleyвЂ™s work: Luigi GalvaniвЂ™s experiment in which he вЂњclaimed he could reanimate dead frogs by injecting them with what he called вЂanimal electricity,вЂ™ which he managed to do when his dead specimens were affixed with metal pins connected to plates rubbed together to create an electrical chargeвЂќ (Oakes 62). The Enlightenment, a time of scientific discovery deeply rooted in reason and rationality, boasted many experiments and theories regarding life. Throughout the novel, Shelley employs the sublime, effectively addressing the anxieties and uncertainty surrounding scientific progress in nineteenth-century Europe. Mary Shelley wrote her famous novel, Frankenstein, which blends Enlightenment characteristics of scientific discovery with the Romantic aesthetic of the sublime. Romanticism served as a backlash to the extreme rationalization displayed in the Enlightenment, which focused on universal betterment, imagination, and the beauty found in the natural world. In the 1800s, the discipline of natural philosophy rapidly changed due to the Enlightenment, moving toward formal sciences. For many, it is hard to think of the world of science and the art of literature working in tandem.

The sublime