Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus

901 Words2 Pages

“In the beginning GOD created the Heavens and the Earth”; thus, their power is limitless even in scenery. Mary Shelley’s 1816 gothic science fiction novel, Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus, introduces us to a young intellectually inquisitive man, Victor Frankenstein, who walks a thin line between scientific exploration and blasphemous conduct while attempting to bring glory to his name by creating a new species as if it were human. The setting in this novel highlights much significance: the unnatural occurrences of man have caused them to seek refuge in nature’s pure beauty implying the restorative powers of nature in the face of unnatural events. The naturalistic setting serves a multi-functional purpose in this novel. Primarily, it mirrors the simplistic workings, yet the astonishing stature of the Creature and contrasts his undeniable ignorance that first accompanies him. Since he is assembled from old body parts and strange chemicals, the Creature is similar to nature because he too is divinely constructed and with so much detail “when [he] look[s] around [he] s[ees] and hear[s] none like him”; furthermore, not even his creator can gracefully bestow him. Moreover, the eight foot tall, enormously strong being with yellow skin and straight black lips is unfathomable as the serene images of nature are in Shelley’s novel. The setting also magnifies the vast world that the Creature has been thrown into without any regard, for his mind was originally that of a newborn. The setting is symbolic of knowledge and experience; however, the Creature lacks in all aspects. Victor, his creator, priding himself in schooling, education and exploration still fails to provide his “offspring” with such valuable traits. Nature brings him to lif... ... middle of paper ... ...elf upon the creature. Self-inflicted agony and stress causes Victor to refresh his mind and soul as he seeks solitude in the mountains of Switzerland, down the Rhine River in Germany, and on tour in England. The nature of the setting was the only remedy for his internal torment, at least momentarily. While immersed in its beauty, Victor and his creation escaped worldly problems and entered a supernatural bliss. In short, Shelley presents nature as very powerful. It has the power to put the humanity back into man when the unnatural world has stripped him of his moral fiber. In comparison to the pure beauty of nature, the unnatural acts of man are far more emphasized; therefore, the reader is clearly aware of man’s faults and their repercussions. Unfortunately, not even the power of nature could balance the work of man: “the cup of life was poisoned forever.”

Show More
Related

  • Free Essays on Frankenstein: The Creature as a Foil to Frankenstein

    2166 Words  | 5 Pages

    Frankenstein, speaking of himself as a young man in his father’s home, points out that he is unlike Elizabeth, who would rather follow “the aerial creations of the poets”. Instead he pursues knowledge of the “world” though investigation. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that the meaning of the word “world” is for Frankenstein, very much biased or limited. He thirsts for knowledge of the tangible world and if he perceives an idea to be as yet unrealised in the material world, he then attempts to work on the idea in order to give it, as it were, a worldly existence. Hence, he creates the creature that he rejects because its worldly form did not reflect the glory and magnificence of his original idea. Thrown, unaided and ignorant, into the world, the creature begins his own journey into the discovery of the strange and hidden meanings encoded in human language and society. In this essay, I will discuss how the creature can be regarded as a foil to Frankenstein through an examination of the schooling, formal and informal, that both of them go through. In some ways, the creature’s gain in knowledge can be seen to parallel Frankenstein’s, such as, when the creature begins to learn from books. Yet, in other ways, their experiences differ greatly, and one of the factors that contribute to these differences is a structured and systematic method of learning, based on philosophical tenets, that is available to Frankenstein but not to the creature.

    Read More

  • Juxtaposition In Frankenstein

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, illustrates the Romantic idea of the sublime naturalworld as an emotional experience for the characters of the novel. Within the text, Shelleyutilizes an allusion to the John Milton’s biblical story, Paradise Lost, to make a parallel betweenthe characters. Within the passage, the monster compares himself, as well as his creator, Victor,to the characters Adam and Satan. He comes to realize that he is more similar to Satan;ultimately, leading him to his reign of terror and the revenge he wishes to impose on Victor. Themonster realizes that he is similar to Adam in Paradise Lost in that they both do not want to bealone. The monster also realizes that there is good in the world that is deeply contrasted with

    Read More

  • Victor Frankenstein: The Real Monster of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1574 Words  | 4 Pages

    Victor Frankenstein: The Real Monster. & nbsp; Science is a broad field that covers many aspects of everyday life and existence.  Some areas of science include the study of the universe, the environment, dinosaurs, animals, and insects.  Another popular science is the study of people and how they function.  In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dr. Victor Frankenstein is an inspiring scientist who studies the dead.  He wants to be the first person to give life to a dead human being.  He spends all of his Frankenstein is to blame for the tragedy, not the monster he has created, because he is the   mastermind behind the whole operation, and he is supposed to have everything under control, working properly as a good scientist should. & nbsp; Although some critics say that the monster Victor has created is to blame for the destruction and violence that followed the experiment, it is Victor who is the responsible party.  First, Victor, being the scientist, should have known how to do research on the subject a lot more than he had done.  He obviously has not thought of the consequences that may result from it such as the monster going crazy, how the monster reacts to people and things, and especially the time it will take him to turn the monster into the perfect normal human being.&nbsp something that would take a really long time and a lot of patience which Victor lacks.  All Victor really wants is to be the first to bring life to a dead person and therefore be famous.  The greed got to his head and that is all he could think about, while isolating himself from his friends and family.  In the play of  Frankenstein, when Victor comes home and sets up his lab in the house, he is very paranoid about people coming in there and & nbsp; I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body.  For this I deprived myself of rest and health.  I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. (156)  & nbsp; Victor is saying that he has isolated himself for two years and in the end, he is not at all happy because of the bad outcome.  He also adds, "Winter, spring and summer passed.so deeply was I engrossed in my occupation" (156).  By spending most of his time inside on his experiment, never going out, but mostly worrying about his success,  he has got himself crazier.  This has made him lose sight of his surroundings and judgment & nbsp; Moreover, the monster should not be held responsible for killing Victor's family members and friends as shown in the book and movie, because it is Victor who has brought a dead creature back to life.  He expects the monster to know everything when he wakes up cool, calm, and collected.  But when the monster is awakened, he does not know anything.  He sees a world different from what he is used to, which makes him get nervous and scared, so he&nb has removed him from  dead.  With the dawning of life, the monster has to learn about his new environment.  In the play of Frankenstein, the monster starts to gradually get used to things.  The problems he encounters are with Victor's assistant, Peter Krempe,  Victor's friend, Henry, and other family members, including Elizabeth, and these are reactions to how these people treat him.  These reactions are clearly shown in the movie of Young Frankenstein, where Victor tries to teach the monster how to live like to show off the monster to an audience in a dance routine of sorts.  But then people start to scream,  panic and throw things at the monster, so he reacts by attacking them to defend himself.  In this case, it is clear that Victor tries to push the monster too hard because he wants to be famous.  

    Read More

  • Frankenstein: Natural and Artificial Dichotomies

    555 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shelly's portrayal of Victor Frankenstein is morose and conniving. Frankenstein has sacrificed his entire life to the pursuit of knowledge, though his pursuits are tabooed and deemed unlawful- they are condemned akin to witchcraft. With the advent in science and experimentation during the19th century, Shelley and many others feared (and still fear) the secrets of nature would be uncovered. It was common belief that nature was the purview of God, not man, and that its secrets were best appreciated without an answer. Frankenstein's pursuits are thus considered to have "the tendency to weaken your affections, and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures (33).” Accordingly, Shelly exhibits the dichotomies of nature and scienc...

    Read More

  • Monstrosity in Frankenstein

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, explores the monstrous and destructive affects of obsession, guilt, fate, and man’s attempt to control nature. Victor Frankenstein, the novel’s protagonist and antihero, attempts to transcend the barriers of scientific knowledge and application in creating a life. His determination in bringing to life a dead body consequently renders him ill, both mentally and physically. His endeavors alone consume all his time and effort until he becomes fixated on his success. The reason for his success is perhaps to be considered the greatest scientist ever known, but in his obsessive toil, he loses sight of the ethical motivation of science. His production would ultimately grieve him throughout his life, and the consequences of his undertaking would prove disastrous and deadly. Frankenstein illustrates the creation of a monster both literally and figuratively, and sheds light on the dangers of man’s desire to play God.

    Read More

  • The Doppelgänger in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1492 Words  | 3 Pages

    Victor Frankenstein and his creation are alike in several ways, one of them being their appreciation of nature. Victor embraces the nature for the quick moment that he escapes the creature as it “filled me with a sublime ecstasy that gave wings to the soul and allowed it to soar from the obscure world to light and joy” (Shelley 84). Vict...

    Read More

  • (A Comparison of Frankenstein to Prometheus)

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    The concept behind the story of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley isn’t a new idea by any means. Way back when, the Greeks had a mythological figure called Prometheus. Trent Lorcher says this about him. “The full title of the novel, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, emphasizes the theme of Victor as an overreacher, one who ascends further than his ability. In Greek mythology, Prometheus created man. As a modern Prometheus, Victor creates a new species. Prometheus feels love for his creation (unlike the modern Prometheus) overreaches and steals fire from Zeus. Zeus punishes Prometheus by chaining him to a rock for eternity and sending an eagle to eat his liver daily.” So, what does Frankenstein have to do with this Prometheus guy? Believe it or not, they are practically the same character. Viktor Frankenstein from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Prometheus are similar in that they both pursue knowledge, they both defy a higher power, and they are both determined.

    Read More

  • The Monstrous In Frankenstein

    1362 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or; The Modern Prometheus, published in 1818, is a product of its time. Written in a world of social, political, scientific and economic upheaval it highlights human desire to uncover the scientific secrets of our universe, yet also confirms the importance of emotions and individual relationships that define us as human, in contrast to the monstrous. Here we question what is meant by the terms ‘human’ and ‘monstrous’ as defined by the novel. Yet to fully understand how Frankenstein defines these terms we must look to the etymology of them. The novel however, defines the terms through its main characters, through the themes of language, nature versus nurture, forbidden knowledge, and the doppelganger motif. Shelley also shows us, in Frankenstein, that although juxtaposing terms, the monstrous being everything human is not, they are also intertwined, in that you can not have one without the other. There is also an overwhelming desire to know the monstrous, if only temporarily and this calls into question the influence the monstrous has on the human definition.

    Read More

  • Ecocriticism and Frankenstein

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    Given the deep ties to nature that Mary Shelley explores within Frankenstein, the principles and methodology of ecocriticism can be applied in many different ways. The interaction of humanity and nature is a concept explored throughout the novel, relating directly to a core tenet of ecocriticism, "directly relat[ing] who we are as human beings to the environment" (Bressler 231). Being as there is no "single, dominant methodology" (235) within ecocriticism, the extent to which we can use ecocriticism to interact with Frankenstein contains considerable depth. However, I will look to a few main methodologies of ecocriticism to look at Frankenstein in detail to uncover how the novel deals with the changing attitudes of humanity and nature in early 19th century England.

    Read More

  • "Frankenstein": The Modern Prometheus, Boldly Creative

    2070 Words  | 5 Pages

    For my final project of the novel unit, I chose the novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley and first published in 1818. Frankenstein is a tale about an ambitious young scientist who in his practice oversteps the boundaries of acceptable science and creates a monster which destroys everything Victor Frankenstein loved and held dear.

    Read More

  • Frankenstein And Blade Runner: A Comparative Analysis

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s seminal science fiction novel Frankenstein cautions man against becoming “greater then his nature does allow” as Victor’s ironic claim “a new species would bless me as their creator” is ultimately juxtaposed with a subsequent self-loathing of his creation “became a thing such as even Dante could not conceive”. Further intertextuality occurs when Walton writes “therefore do not be alarmed for my safety or if I should come back to you as worn and woeful as the ‘Ancient Mariner” serves to resonate with victor’s remorse, metaphorically hung around his neck. Throughout Frankenstein, Mary Shelley identifies nature and familial interaction as a means to prevent the contextually profane religious allusive pursuit of “a country of eternal light”. This is further emphasised through religious allusion and metaphor as Walton asserts his compulsion has arisen from “an enthusiasm which elevates me to heaven”. Walton’s hindrance to Victor’s cautioning celebrates Shelley’s ultimate Romantic idealistic yet familial French Revolution assertions; a return to traditional natural and human interaction is vital in repairing this contemporary division between science and ethical

    Read More

  • Moral Issues In Frankenstein And Blade Runner

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    The texts exploration of this theme is no doubt a result of Shelley’s strong romantic influences surrounded by noted Romantics such as her husband Percy Shelley, she would often trek into the countryside and immerge herself within nature. Victor displays similar behaviour in the novel when he retreats to nature following his creation of the monster and uses descriptive and connotative language in his words “It was a divine spring and the season contributed greatly to my convalescence”, thereby elucidating nature’s healing ability. However, it is not simply Victor who appreciates nature’s ability to rejuvenate, epistolary form of the narrative provides the reader with three separate views that of victory the Monster and Walton and it is clear each character shares similar sentiments towards nature. For example, the monster personifies nature by stating “I gradually saw plainly the clear stream that supplied me with drink and the trees that shaded me with their foliage”. Here nature is presented as a caring entity, which is reflective of how Romantics perceived it. Similarly, before undertaking his expedition, Walton uses pleasurable imagery to describe how “a gold northern breeze… fills me with delight”. These favourable perceptions of nature illustrate Shelley’s fondness towards nature and allow readers to understand part

    Read More

  • Comparing Frankenstein And Death Of Sardanapalus

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    Based on Pantheist values which emphasise the unity between man, God and nature, Shelley warns against excessive ambition unchecked by a moral compass through the introduction of the motif of light when Frankenstein notes “Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world” foreshadowing the dangers of tampering with God’s right to create. Furthermore, Shelley explores how Frankenstein’s ignorance of nature catalyses his moral corruption through the unnatural imagery in his nightmare “Delighted, I embraced Elizabeth, but I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of flannel” employing the vivid human imagination to emphasise the dangers of disconnection from nature. Indeed, in line with the Romantics awe of nature, it is only through solitude in nature whereby Frankenstein regains his compassion, moral boundaries and mental stability explored through “It was a divine spring; and the seasons contributed greatly to my convalescence … and in a short time I became as cheerful as before I was attacked by the fatal passion”. This was a notion supported by Romantic philosopher William Wordsworth who encourages “Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher”. Ultimately, Shelley

    Read More

  • Modern Day Prometheus In Frankenstein

    1511 Words  | 4 Pages

    A modern day Prometheus, not so modern to us. Mary Shelley’s most iconic work, Frankenstein, reveals to the reader a look into 19th century literature at its finest. Prometheus, a Greek demi god that was accredited with the creation of man, sounds very different from the more modern mad scientist of England, Victor Frankenstein. It will become clear however, that these two seemingly polar opposites actually have a lot in common, this is how the story of Frankenstein, revered its nickname “The modern day Prometheus”. These two stories compare to each other by exhibiting the common aspect of the search for acceptance and love from the creator and from the creation.

    Read More

  • Frankenstein And Prometheus Research Paper

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    Frankenstein and Prometheus: What does a mad scientist and a Greek god have in common? In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley was inspired by the tale of Prometheus. She gave the subtitle of the book The Modern Prometheus. Victor Frankenstein, the main character in Frankenstein, and Prometheus are parallel from one another because of their family status, creation of mankind, and punishment for shaping man. Prometheus was born into a highly recognized family.

    Read More

More about Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus

Open Document