Shelly's "The Mortal Immortal": Plagued by the Gift of Immortality

Honestly, I couldn't help but to think of Twilight before reading Mary Shelly's, The Mortal Immortal. But, thankfully, the plot line to this tale was a lot more realistic then a story about sparkling vampires. I enjoyed reading this story because Shelly was efficient in portraying the realities of living for forever. When you first think of immortality, obviously it sounds like the best thing in the world. I mean, dying is like the worst thing that could happen to you, right? And I couldn't tell you how many times my mother has complained about her incoming grey hairs and the wrinkles that seem to appear on her face overnight. Who wouldn't like to look like they were 20 for forever? There are so many anti-wrinkle creams on the market that I'm pretty sure the majority would agree.

Youth is idolized so much in society today, and media pressingly advertises that beauty is youth.  But Shelly puts a different spin on living forever, and the problems she proposes are legitimate. The narrator introduces the conflict of aging in the beginning of the story, "I detected a gray hair amidst my brown locks this very day- that surely signifies decay" (987). I found this line to be very interesting, and not only because I am very fond of rhymes. It is a very straight-foward statement, plus I was impressed that he was able to spot that single grey hair. To me, the rhyme that Shelly uses, charges this sentence positively. I laughed at the thought that the narrator probably wished he had more grey hairs. But, it also was foreshadowing all the negatives that the narrator, Winzy, would have to suffer due to his preserved youth. "Could I imagine that the despicable gifts of youth and good looks outweighted disgrace, hatred, and scorn?" (993) I think not, and the problem here lies with his lover, Bertha.

It is quite apparent that Winzy is madly in love with Bertha. The way he first describes her makes her seem to be a lovely girl with good morals. She appears like quite a catch for Winzy, ultimately because he is so poor and she lives in a castle. But after she was introduced, I had such a hard time finding anything to adore in her character. But, love is blind they say. Which is ironic because Bertha doesn't seem to return the favor when the tables turn. Bertha reveals her selfishness and immaturity when she said, "You pretend to love, and you fear to face the Devil for my sake!" Winzy, appearing wiser, immediately explained, "I protested that I had only dreaded to offend her- while she dwelt on the magnitude of the reward that I should receive" (988). These statements showed me how much Winzy did love Bertha, and it broke my heart to watch her get progressively more annoying as their relationship went on.

As a little side note, I picked up on a few interesting choices Shelly used as descriptive words. For example, "living waters," and "a year passed away." By stating things in this manner, I believe Shelly is trying to enforce the theme of life and death. Throughout the tale of The Mortal Immortal, Winzy is plagued by the gift of immortality.

The magic potion that Cornelius concocted was the most fascinating aspect of this tale. The way it looked was magical and beautiful, just like youth would appear to an older person. "I gazed on it in wonder; flashes of admirable beauty, more bright than those which the diamond emits when the sun's rays are on it" (989). It was a unbelievable to think that a potion this magnificent would stop a person from loving. It seemed like it would do the opposite, and in fact it did. The effects of the medicine on Winzy were awesome. Honestly, its seemed similar to that of an anti-depression drug at first, but Cornelius's potion surpasses any kind of medicine our scientists have created today. The potion granted immortality, which people have spent their lives in search of. Cornelius basically created the Fountain of Youth in a beaker.

 I wonder if Winzy would have not taken it if he knew what the side effects were, but then again, he was blindly in love with Bertha and probably could not imagine her become so jealous of him. He was instructed not to drink the potion in the first place "Do not touch the vessel- do not put it to your lips" (989). But he did anyway.

Its a shame Bertha took such a negative view on her husband's prolonged youth. They both could've enjoyed their life much better if she wasn't so jealous. There was no way he was going to leave her because he loved her so much. And Bertha, as self centered as she was, should of been pleased with a husband that never looked a day older than 20. I wish that the magic potion saved Cornelius's life so he could make some more, because I'd love to get my hands on some of that stuff!