Frankenstein: a Modern Prometheus

Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus

Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus is a novel written by Mary Shelly, published in 1818 anonymously; Shelley’s name soon appeared on the second edition in 1823. One night in 1816, whilst she was a guest at Lord Byron’s villa near the Swiss Alps, Byron read a book of ghost tales to start off the night’s entertainment. He then proposed that everyone present ought to compose a ghost story of their own. It’s been said that although most other though of ideas for their stories quite quickly, Mary had drawn a blank; as if she had what we call writers block.
Not too many nights later, a vision appeared. “I saw-with shut eyes, but acute mental vision-I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he has put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some power engine show signs of life and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion. Frightful it must be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavor to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world.” Shelley began to write Frankenstein the next day.
Frankenstein is very much like the vision that had appeared to Marry Shelley. The book is named for the narrator of majority of the novel, Victor Frankenstein. He was born into a wealthy Swiss family and lived a very joyful and ideal childhood. One day, Victor’s mother, Caroline, wanders by the home of a beautiful foster child. Although the family is kind and caring, the foster parents’ poverty makes caring for this girl a financial burden. Named Elizabeth, this young girl was adopted by Caroline. Elizabeth played an enormous part in Victor’s childhood and the rest of his life. He considered her more than a cousin and a sister; he considered her his.
As Victor’s childhood passed by, his family settled in Geneva. Soon after, his parents decided it was time for Victor to begin his university studies at Ingolstadt. Before he leaves, his mother passes away. On her deathbed, Caroline wished for Victor and Elizabeth to get married. As he’s mourning for his mother, he leaves for university. He soon chances upon a chemistry professor, Waldeman, with whom he shares the ambition and desire to achieve fame in the field of natural philosophy. Victor develops this strange and unnatural obsession with the life principle and the force which imparts life to a human being.
After countless amounts of research and experiments, Victor creates life out of numerous body parts of various (dead) people. When the eyes of the creature open to see him, Victor is aghast. He immediately leaves his laboratory and pursues comfort in the night. When he returns to his rooms, the creature has disappeared. Victor had never given the creature a name, nor did he care for it. However, the creature did manage go out into the real world and create catastrophe. It killed several people and had rage built up inside but all it really wanted was a companion, a friend, someone to love. Because of Victor’s foolish mistake and lack of judgment many were harmed. Had he cared and nurtured for what he created, the situation wouldn’t have been as harmful. In fact, had he not that fierce longing to create life or bring one back to life, this tragedy might not have happened at all.
Victor’s crave to create life is quite similar to a Greek mythological Titan, Prometheus. Frankenstein’s subtitle is “the Modern Prometheus” and many believe it to be true. Victor demonstrates how dangerous it can be to have an excessive amount of knowledge. Prometheus exhibits the endangerments of constantly giving the best until no more good was left. He generated man and gave them fire, whereas Victor is the man who formed a “monster” and gave him life. Prometheus’ construction of man is identical to Victor’s own creation of the monster. Both tales deal with unfortunate actions with awful penalties. Common Prometheus stories contain symbolic and thematic elements that closely parallel Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Works Cited
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus. Ed. D.L. Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 1994.
Norton, Dans and Peters Rushton. Classical Myths in English Literature. New York: Greenwood Press Publishers, 1969. P. 311-316.
Mullen, Patrick. The Creation of Man by Prometheus. http://members.tripod.com/’greekmyth/creationman.html
Patterson, Arthur Paul. A Frankenstein Study. http://www.watershed.winnipeg.mb.ca/Frankenstein.html
Smith, Christopher. Frankenstein as Prometheus. http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/class/sf/books/frank/papers/FrankCS.html

Cited: Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus. Ed. D.L. Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 1994. Norton, Dans and Peters Rushton. Classical Myths in English Literature. New York: Greenwood Press Publishers, 1969. P. 311-316. Mullen, Patrick. The Creation of Man by Prometheus. http://members.tripod.com/’greekmyth/creationman.html Patterson, Arthur Paul. A Frankenstein Study. http://www.watershed.winnipeg.mb.ca/Frankenstein.html Smith, Christopher. Frankenstein as Prometheus. http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/class/sf/books/frank/papers/FrankCS.html