Mary Shelley’s most famous novel, Frankenstein, was written when she was 18. Shelley was frequently compared to her famous mother, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, who died when Shelley was 10 days old. Her father remarried, and Shelley never attained a positive relationship with her stepmother. She had run off with an already married man, much to the disdain of her famous father, and was spending the summer at Lake Geneva. This particular summer was historically significant, as 1816 was called “The Year Without a Summer,” due to the catastrophic results of the eruption of Mount Tambora. During this gloomy season, Shelley and her friends decided to write horror tales. Shelley’s was terrifying, and her friends encouraged her to continue writing it. Shelley’s life was shrouded in tragedy. Along with her mother dying and her father remarrying, Shelley witnessed several of those close to her committing suicide. First, Shelley’s half-sister, Fanny, committed suicide. Then, her husband’s former wife also died by drowning herself. It was in this era of back-to-back tragedy that Shelley completed her novel. As a result, the novel is rich with the idea of grief and loss. The main character, Dr. Frankenstein, feels an enormous sense of guilt over the deaths of those around him. Additionally, the novel is quite dark, reflecting the state of mind that Shelley was in at the time.

This painting was created in 2018 by Spanish artist Maja Hydbom. The work depicts an androgynous person whose face is obscured by a bird singing into its ear. The bird’s tail is tucked under the person’s necklace, resulting in the appearance of the bird and the person being one entity. This relates to the essential question, as it deals with the issue of nature versus nurture. In this case, the artist depicts a person who has not been nurtured. The name of the painting, “Nature Without Nurture,” implies that if a person is not nurtured, their “nature” will take over. This painting is powerful, as it reminds us that our biological predispositions do count for something. Although how people are raised certainly impacts in how they turn out, people are not necessarily born with tabula rasa - the idea that we are born as a blank slate, and solely a product of our experiences. 

Pablo Neruda was a Nobel Prize-winning poet. His poem, “Keeping Quiet,” relates to the idea of how humanity has the ability to live in peace with one another. Neruda writes that “perhaps a huge silence / might interrupt this sadness / of never understanding ourselves / and of threatening ourselves with / death.” Neruda believes that humans are not necessarily born evil. Still, the community we are surrounded by is not facilitative to us understanding ourselves, so instead we start “threatening ourselves with death.” Neruda’s view is that the way we are treated and our experiences drive our lives, not our biological predispositions. He writes that humans are driven by duty - to themselves, to their countries - but if we took a break, we could all be brothers. This relates to the Creature’s view of what nurture should be in Shelley’s Frankenstein. The Creature holds the belief that “they would be disgusted, until, by my gentle demeanour and concilitating words, I should first win their favour, and afterwards their love” (Shelley 103). The Creature holds the same belief as Neruda, that the world can be more nourishing if we are able to look past our previous cold-blooded arguments and prejudices, if we were able to “stop for a second, / and not move our arms so much.”

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein occurs at an unspecified moment in the late 1700s. However, Shelley conceived the novel at the height of the Romantic period. During this time period, there were many political, economic, scientific, and social changes. Frankenstein is in conversation with many of these subjects. Mary Shelley showed interest in John Locke’s work, wherein he is shown to believe that character is acquired through experiences, not as a result of biological factors. This is reflected in Shelley’s writing since she writes Frankenstein’s Creation as changing continually through his experiences. She also employs Rousseau’s idea that “the child is the father of the man,” meaning that children are often considered superior in wisdom and spirit, due to their innocence of spirit. This is reflected in Shelley’s initial representation of the character of the Creature, who initially “was benevolent” (Shelley 89), but strayed toward evil as his kind actions were not reciprocated. Furthermore, there was a fascination with gothic, dark, and mysterious themes during the Romantic period. This gloomy outlook is undoubtedly reflected in Shelley’s work, as the novel contains very dark themes. Furthermore, Shelley wrote about scientific advancement in her book. In the novel, Frankenstein’s Creature comes to life through Dr. Frankenstein’s obsessive scientific labor. 

 This article reviews David J. Linden’s non-fiction work, Unique, which is in conversation with the idea of upbringing v. biology. The issue of nature vs. nurture has been a fascinating ongoing debate for hundreds of years. David J. Linden, a researcher who has spent years polling about and researching this issue, believes that the answer lies somewhere in between. Linden’s book, Unique, explores the idea that “while there might be a genetic tendency to develop in a particular way, there’s a wide range of influences, beginning in fetal life, that help determine how and whether our genes are expressed.” Furthermore, the article mentions that Linden makes it clear that “there is no evidence for significant average differences in intelligence-related genes between ‘races’ . . . Not only that, there is no evidence for racial group differences in genes that have been linked to any behavioral or cognitive trait.” This is significant, as it illustrates just how much our environment can affect how we turn out. Perceived differences of behavior or cognition in cultural groups is as a result of our experiences. Humans can be born into any culture, and adopt the norms of their birth culture. This is illustrated in Frankenstein, as the first culture that the Creature becomes engrossed with is one that values kindness. Therefore, he declares, “This trait of kindness moved me sensibly.” The Creature’s first interaction with the subculture of a nuclear family made him believe that kindness was the primary human trait. However, if the Creature had initially been spying on a cruel family, he could have easily adopted their ideals. Eventually, this does become the case. Frankenstein is only treated with cruelty, so he believes he must inflict this same treatment on others. 

Us (2019) is a widely revered psychological horror film. While the film can withstand several interpretations, one that is extremely noticeable is the concept of nature versus nurture. The film centers around a family, the Wilsons, who learn that they (along with the rest of the United States populace) have genetic counterparts. These genetic counterparts, called “The Tethered,” are genetically identical to their non-tethered companions. The only difference between the Tethered and the humans is their upbringing. However, the viewer can see an immense difference between the two identities. The Tethered, having been raised underground, have nothing but animosity towards their counterparts. The humans, having been raised to have the whole world at their disposal, do not feel the same rage that the Tethered do. The differences in personality of these split-personalities is not due to genetic differences. In the nature v. nurture debate, this film lies solely in the realm of nurture. Frankenstein also deals with the idea of a person who has been simply wronged by circumstance seeking revenge. The Creature seeks revenge on his creator as the Tethered aim to murder their halves in the film. 

This article was published in Scientific American, written by Robert Plomin, an American-British psychologist and geneticist. Plomin argues that “in the Nature-Nurture war, Nature wins,” and that “environmental influences are important, too, but they are largely unsystematic, unstable, and idiosyncratic.” The writer believes that our experiences don’t drive our lives, our genetic makeup does. Furthermore, Plomin argues, our environments have a largely genetic impact. He states, “We select, modify and even create our environments in line with our genetic propensities . . . For example, parental negativity correlates with their children’s antisocial behavior, but this doesn’t mean the parents cause their children’s antisocial behavior. Instead, this correlation is substantially caused by parents responding negatively to their children’s genetically-driven propensities.” This alluring idea is clearly on the “nature” side of the debate. Plomin further believes that studies on twins reared apart have shown that we would essentially be the same person had we been raised in a different family. Also, since these differences are “unstable and idiosyncratic,” they can not be accounted for. In contrast, our DNA is the “consistent, lifelong source of psychological individuality, the blueprint that makes us who we are. A blueprint is a plan.” Plomin goes on to argue that while our environment does matter, it matters far less than we think it does. On the other hand, genetics matter far more. This particular scientific case argues that genetics mark people for life, and are far more impactful than their “nurture” counterparts. While this may be true, many scientists tend to argue that both nurture and nature factor significantly into how a person develops. 

In her TedTalk, Autumn Wang argues that nurture is what truly shapes who we become. Wang has spent her childhood ferried between China and North America, moving 7 times in 14 years. Over the course of her life (so far), Wang has noticed just how much her environments have affected her. Wang states that children are more shaped by their experiences. She provides an example, citing that her education in North America taught her to value creativity and to see making mistakes as a part of the process, but her experience in China taught her to seek perfection and to value hard work over creativity. It is easy to see how different schooling environments could raise a child who values creativity, or one that values hard work. While Wang is aware of the different circumstances that she has been raised in, many people are very unaware of just how different their set of values would be if they were raised in a different environment. She states, “nurture is what makes you you.” In a different environment, she argues, we would be totally different people. Wang’s idea is in line with the psychological theory of tabula rasa, which essentially means that people are born as blank slates, and our experiences mold us like clay.