When you hear the word “Frankenstein”, the first thing that comes to mind is a creepy, zombie-like monster; but this is not exactly what the story is all about. The monster is not actually named Frankenstein; it’s the creator of the monster whose name is Victor Frankenstein. Because of Victor’s interest in natural science and creation of life, he decided to study relentlessly and create his own human out of something inanimate. Once brought to life though, the creature ends up being more of a curse than an amazing invention. Victor then spends the rest of his life in fear and grief to try and put an end to the monster he created. The novel Frankenstein shows remarkable and deliberate connection with the myth of Prometheus from the cover page to the creation scene and is tied in through the rest of the book. (Whisenant)Victor Frankenstein can be called a modern-day Prometheus because of his creation of a being, their love for human kind, and their fate at the end.
To begin, Frankenstein is comparable to Prometheus because of his initial creation of a living being. Victor pursues his interests in the sciences by taking it a step further trying to discover the secret of life. He decides to try and create something that can live. Once brought to life though, he is immediately repulsed by its appearance and flees, allowing the monster to escape, “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,” (Pg 42) Prometheus on the other hand was a Titan whose job was to mold mankind out of clay. After this though, he grew fonder of his new creations than the actual gods like him. Prometheus then decided to trick the g...
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Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Maurice Hindle. Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus. London: Penguin, 2003. Print.
Many stories have progressed enough to be the topic of conversation from time to time. The novel, Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus has different relationships to many other topics. The author of the story, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley who was born almost 200 years ago bringing with her the age of horror (Edison 5), used biographical strategies to write Frankenstein. Also, as time progressed, Frankenstein became a well-known story. It was turned into many different films that depicted the time period that it happened to be from. One final relationship that Frankenstein has happens to be the way that everyone can draw morals from the story, no matter what the reader’s age, or how the reader’s life has evolved.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. The 1818 Text. New York: Oxford UP, 1998.
"So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein — more, far more, will I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation." (Shelley 34) This quote from the book helps give proof to why Mary Shelley subtitled Frankenstein with the Modern Prometheus. Victor can be compared to the Greek Titan Prometheus in uncanny ways that can point to nothing but the fact that he is the a modern version of the Greek Titan.
When early civilization needed an explanation for something found in earth, they created a story to explain it. Prometheus, the creator of man in Greek Mythology, was used as a tool to show how man was created. His story demonstrates the consequences that come along with such a task, also. In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the main character Victor is portrayed as the creator. The myth of Prometheus and the book Frankenstein, contain evident similarities. Both men create a being, and in turn, they suffer immense repercussions for their actions. When comparing these two pieces of literature, however, one can see there are many differences. In both Frankenstein and the myth of Prometheus, the views toward the creations, the price each creator pays for their actions, and the way they receive their punishments are complete opposites.
First of all, Victor Frankenstein’s character in Shelley’s text has the traits of a hero by his original intention for the monster and the similarities between Prometheus and Frankenstein. Aaron Atsma describes this correlation when he writes: “Many parallels can be drawn between Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and the story of Prometheus. Despit...
One perception of Prometheus' actions views him as a hero: the creator of man, the giver of knowledge, one who is self-sacrificing for the good of others. Meanwhile, there is another perception of Prometheus' actions, which is almost the complete opposite of "Prometheus the Hero." That is the view that Prometheus was more the "usurper of their [the Gods'] powers" (Smith, p. 1) than a hero. It is the two contrasting views of the Prometheus myth that makes its connection to Frankenstein so intriguing. Frankenstein also has a duality in how its story is perceived. Was Victor Frankenstein the archetype of the Promethean hero, or was he the usurper of divine power? Although there are direct parallels between Victor Frankenstein's story and that of Prometheus, there are many differences that contribute to why Frankenstein was subtitled The Modern Prometheus. In following the pattern of a well-known Greek myth, with the addition of her own changes, Shelley makes it clear that Victor Frankenstein is more the usurper of divine power, as opposed to being an archetype of ...
Spositos, Martin. "Frankenstein Is a Modern Prometheus." Msposito3s Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and the Greek myth Prometheus mirror each other almost perfectly in many ways. Through significant events, they line up and connect. Both of the pieces main characters Victor and Prometheus undergo a transformation throughout their lives and face a variety of similar fates that lead to their demise. As power shifts throughout both pieces, the main focus is around both Victor Frankenstein and the Titan Prometheus and how both their transformations from various events both relate to each other. It is almost a cycle that starts at their very innocence, that will lead all the way up to their god like role where they both become afraid of losing their power and become punished in the process. But how do these two pieces
Frankenstein is referred to as the “Modern Prometheus” as there is increasingly evident comparison that can be made between the two. To modernize something means to make it in a time frame that is much closer to the present, rather than the original event- Mary Shelley does just this in her novel. In many ways Prometheus and Victor can be compared but some extremely evident comparisons are: allowing for the release of something destructive into society, using Earth itself to create the creator's creations, and defying a superior in the pursuit of knowledge. Frankenstein and Prometheus may have connections as old as history itself, regardless of the time frame, both stories of these individuals can be applied to one another. These creators
In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Shelley portrays Victor Frankenstein as an ashamed, selfish, and weak creator; when compared to the other creation stories of “Genesis” and the “Myth of Prometheus” these flaws are even more apparent. In the stories of “Genesis” and “Myth of Prometheus” God, and Prometheus provided for their creation by giving them the means to survive whether it be giving them fire or a perfect Garden they could live in (Genesis 1:1 - 3:24 [King James Bible]); however, the story of Frankenstein and his monster is unlike them because when Frankenstein's’ monster (creation) comes to life he abandons it saying “.. Breathless horror, and disgust..” (Shelley 35) talking about his shame to create such a horrid, ugly abomination.
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.
Stories are often so similar to each other that people are able to compare the two stories. After reading and discussing Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and reviewing the story of Prometheus, I have concluded that the two tales have two identical characters: Victor Frankenstein, a scientist whose experiment goes terribly wrong, and Prometheus, a Titan. Because of these characters, the stories have triggered curiosity in a profuse amount of people, and these people have formed varying opinions of the two stories in relation to each other, all of which have advantages and disadvantages. I believe Frankenstein by Mary Shelley does deserve the alternate title “The Modern Prometheus” as they share several components.
Prometheus was a Greek God that gave fire to humans. Humans see him as one of the greats, meanwhile, the gods see him as a betrayer. The same observation can be said of Dr. Frankenstein. Whether it is entirely true, is left up to the audience's discretion. The idea that creation of life is bad, isn’t often argued as a bad thing. Like creating a baby, most people are excited of the prospect of bringing a child into the world. Couldn’t the same be said of a creation made by man? Dr. Frankenstein thought his creation would be the foremost of science; however, after completing his work, he despised it. Frankenstein can be seen as the modern Prometheus for three reasons; his creation was unparalleled