мешавина од апстрактно и реално

poetry was really important to European society in the 19th century, while science, as we know it, was just emerging. in the 21st century, it's kind of the opposite - poetry is peripheral to life, but science and technology is central ///

If you read Shelley's 'A Defence of Poetry' or Wordsworth's 'Preface to Lyrical Ballads' you get a sense of how highly poetry was regarded. Here is a quote from Wordsworth's preface: 

The Man of science seeks truth as a remote and unknown benefactor; he cherishes and loves it in his solitude: the Poet, singing a song in which all human beings join with him, rejoices in the presence of truth as our visible friend and hourly companion. Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge; it is the impassioned expression which is in the countenance of all Science.....the Poet binds together by passion and knowledge the vast empire of human society, as it is spread over the whole earth, and over all time......Poetry is the first and last of all knowledge—it is as immortal as the heart of man.

Here is another section where Wordsworth writes about the relationship between science and poetry: 

If the labours of men of Science should ever create any material revolution, direct or indirect, in our condition, and in the impressions which we habitually receive, the Poet will sleep then no more than at present, but he will be ready to follow the steps of the man of Science, not only in those general indirect effects, but he will be at his side, carrying sensation into the midst of the objects of the Science itself. The remotest discoveries of the Chemist, the Botanist, or Mineralogist, will be as proper objects of the Poet's art as any upon which it can be employed, if the time should ever come when these things shall be familiar to us, and the relations under which they are contemplated by the followers of these respective Sciences shall be manifestly and palpably material to us as enjoying and suffering beings. If the time should ever come when what is now called Science, thus familiarized to men, shall be ready to put on, as it were, a form of flesh and blood, the Poet will lend his divine spirit to aid the transfiguration, and will welcome the Being thus produced, as a dear and genuine inmate of the household of man.

For me, it's impossible to not think of Frankenstein when I read that last sentence, because he's talking about the production of a 'Being' through the use of science. I'm not sure if that's literally what he meant though. was he speaking figuratively? 

Wordsworth expresses the idea that both are important - science and poetry. In the rest of the preface he also writes about the important role that poetry plays in dealing with the negative effects of technology on society. So, it's a kind of balance - the scientific and technological impulse has to be balanced with (or maybe augmented by) the poetic impulse. 

And maybe Frankenstein can be read as a story about the horror that results when the scientific enterprise is pursued with no regard for the importance of the poetic sensibility. For Wordsworth, poetry had a humanising/ socialising influence, so if you leave out poetry, you end up with monstrosity and alienation. 

Frankenstein seems to also be about, among other things, the danger of obsessively pursuing some kind of intellectual or moral quest and losing sight of everything else. Things that we think are really, really good and worthwhile (which is how Frankenstein regarded his endeavour) can turn into nightmares when they are realised, and there seems to be a link between extreme zeal and obsession about some good thing - or something perceived as good - and tragic results - results which are the opposite of what was pursued.