Sruthi Sundaram IP One Essay Victorian Gothic Fiction M04742976 3/03/2013 Immortalitya Gift or a Curse? What is immortality?

Is it just a blissful life granted so one need never worry about dying? Or is it actually an underhanded curse hidden behind the veil of everlasting life? Winzys psychological journey through life in Mary Shelleys story Mortal Immortal is a tumultuous one, filled with intense internal conflict caused by the consequences of the protagonists decision to drink the Elixir that causes immortality. The Elixir is a very important part of this story with many mysteries surrounding it. It is first presented by Cornelius to be a cure for love, which is the main attractive force that causes Winzy to drink it. However, its actual effect is to cause immortality, which then brings a series of dire consequences that haunt Winzy throughout his extended life. Consequently, the Elixir brings to notice the question of whether the idealistic notion of immortality that everyone covets is really as grand as it seems. After experiencing Winzys journey through an endless life watching all those he knew die before him, one naturally wonders at the extents of the Elixirs powers. Is there perhaps a dual nature to the Elixir, a possible side effect initially masked behind its obvious purpose, but revealed in much greater resonance later on in the consumers life? There is one particular statement made by Cornelius that hints at the dual nature of the Elixir. Following this statement, a series of changes in Winzys state of mind as lives far longer than those of his generation reveals this dual nature, so cleverly hidden behind the mask of the

Elixirs obvious purposeto cause immortality. When Winzy is in the frenzy to be cured of his love for Bertha, Cornelius tells him, Winzy, my boy [] do not touch the vessel -- do not put it to your lips; it is a philtre -- a philtre to cure love; you would not cease to love your Bertha -beware to drink! This seemingly contradictory statement is interesting as it could be interpreted in several different ways. One possible interpretation is that Cornelius tells Winzy that the potion would not cure him of love because he himself does not want to be cured of his love for Bertha. The statement could also be a way to deter Winzy from taking the potion, so Cornelius can have it later and become immortal, himself. This interpretation introduces a very poignant situational irony as the reason Winzy actually drinks the potion is because it can supposedly cure him of love, which is what Cornelius tells Winzy in place of truth to prevent him from drinking it. Lastly, the interpretation that best supports what follows in the story, including Winzys reaction to Corneliuss words and his behavior afterwards, is that the Elixir does cure love but not in the obvious way; it is a different kind of cure, not immediate but over time, and of a mysterious nature. Soon after Winzy drinks the potion, he feels curiously alive and strong: This it is to be cured of love [] I will see Bertha this day, and she will find her lover cold and regardless; too happy to be disdainful, yet how utterly indifferent to her! The reader can notice the falseness of Winzys cure. He feels strong and thus believes he does not love Bertha anymore. However, he still judges her fianc as cold and wishes unhappiness for both of them, at the same time claiming that he is indifferent on the matter. The hypocrisy exhibited in his words shows that the Elixir actually failed to cure him of his love for Bertha, but instead instilled in him a false sense confidence. He says that he is indifferent to Bertha but then says that she will find her lover cold and regardless which shows that he is obviously not indifferent. Winzys self-

contradictory words show the inner conflict in his mind. He still loves Bertha, but does not want to, and thus he convinces himself that he actually does not love her anymore. The true consequence of the Elixir is shown later in Winzys life. When he finally gets the love of his life, their marriage is filled with unhappiness and distaste as she grows older while he remains stilled in time. Later on in his life, Winzy reflects: I grieved deeply when I remembered that this was my Bertha, whom I had loved so fondly and won with such transport -the dark-eyed, dark-haired girl, with smiles of enchanting archness and a step like a fawn -- this mincing, simpering, jealous old woman. I should have revered her grey locks and withered cheeks; but thus! -- It was my work, I knew; but I did not the less deplore this type of human weakness. Winzy already refers to his love for Bertha in the past tense. He remembers the dark-eyed, dark-haired girl, with smiles of enchanting archness that he loved so deeply when he was young, and compares his past feelings to his present onesthis mincing, simpering, jealous old woman. He deeply regrets that it is his fault her life was ruined, but cannot force himself to love her as he used to. Winzys physical journey through life is stunted, and as a consequence of it, his psychological journey become increasingly painful as he loses empathy for those around him, especially for Bertha; his love and devotion becomes a shadow engulfed by the guilt aroused by the weaker feeling of sympathy that is all that remains for him. The distaste evident in his tone and the impersonal nature of his words show the degradation of his love for her as well as the weakened hold he has to humanity caused by so many years of prolonged youth. Winzy stays with Bertha throughout her life, even though her jealousy of his extended youth becomes so unbearable. He feels bound by his duty to her, despite the unhealthy nature of their relationship. Finally at her death, Winzy states his regrets: She had been mine in youth, she was

mine in age; and at last, when I heaped the sod over her corpse, I wept to feel that I had lost all that really bound me to humanity. At this point, he realizes the dual nature of the potion he consumed so many years ago. The Elixir actually does cure him of love, but not in the way he imagined when he was young; instead, it causes him to remain stilled in time when everyone he knows grows old. Subsequently, everyone he actually did love die, and he loses all ties to humanity and the physical world. The most obvious objection one could bring up relating to this question is a claim that the Elixir does not actually cause the consequences described, but that these consequences are caused by the unstable nature of Winzys own mind. However, this argument falls short because of Corneliuss very initial statement about the Elixirs purpose: Winzy, my boy [] do not touch the vessel -- do not put it to your lips; it is a philtre -- a philtre to cure love; you would not cease to love your Bertha -- beware to drink! Cornelius, the maker of the potion, specifically states one aspect of the potions purposeto cure love. This side effect, so neatly masked behind the immortality aspect of the Elixir, turns out to be the most miserable side effect later on in Winzys life. The potion does not cure love immediately but achieves its purpose in a slow and much worse way than Winzy expected. His prolonged youth is the direct cause of Berthas jealousy, which then leads to the degradation of his love for her: Her jealousy never slept. Her
chief occupation was to discover that, in spite of outward appearances, I was myself growing old [] She would discern wrinkles in my face and decrepitude in my walk, while I bounded along in youthful vigour, the youngest looking of twenty youths. Winzys immortality, caused by the

Elixir, leads to Berthas jealousy. All of her misgivings are directly tied to his youth; she consciously tries to find flaws in his physical appearance to make herself feel better about the inequality in their relationship. Similarly, Winzy is unable to connect to her as she grows aged and he remains stilled in time. After Berthas death, he is completely drained of empathy, all his

relationships having failed because of his prolonged youth. Thus, he really is cured of love, as he no longer loves any human being alive. All of the consequences described are directly tied to immortality that the Elixir causes. Regardless of what type of mentality Winzy originally possessed, the result after the long years of distance from humanity as a whole would still have been the same. As the title of the story, Mortal Immortal implies, he becomes immortal in the physical aspect, but remains mortal in his psyche, as he degrades mentally from his youth full of love for Bertha, to aged devoid of any empathy or connection to humanity. All of Winzys life can be summed up in Corneliuss words to him before he drinks the potion. When he warns Winzy, Winzy, my boy [] do not touch the vessel -- do not put it to your lips; it is a philtre -- a philtre to cure love; you would not cease to love your Bertha, he is warning Winzy of the irreversible consequences of drinking the potion. The potion contains two effects. First of all, it causes immortality. However, with the immortality also comes overconfidence in oneself which, through the years, leads to the loss of empathy and ones connection to the rest of the humanity. This loss of empathy is one of the worst curses a person could have incurred on himself, as it completely disassociates the person from all he knows so that he truly becomes alone in the world. This loneliness could lead to madness and more. Concluding the story, Winzy speaks of his misery: Thus have I lived on for many a year -- alone,
and weary of myself -- desirous of death, yet never dying -- a mortal immortal. He longs for the feelings of love and caring that he experienced when he was young, but since he has lost all empathy, nobody in the world can relate to him. Winzy is a mortal immortal, one who is mentally dying every day, with continuous thoughts of suicide, but who is unable to die physically. He remains

stuck inside his immortal body constantly tortured by the consequences of the Elixir, whose dual nature, he did not realize in his youth, when he first consumed it.