Comparing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the Prometheus Myth

Comparing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the Prometheus Myth

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is subtitled "The Modern Prometheus", and rightfully so. Prometheus, the Titan of Greek mythology that created man and gave them fire, is a fitting symbol for Victor Frankenstein, the man who created a "monster" and gave him life. The most obvious aspect of the similarity between Frankenstein and the Prometheus myth is the underlying theme - both stories deal with ill-fated actions with tragic consequences. The classic Prometheus stories, as told by Aeschylus, Percy Bysshe Shelley and summarized by Edith Hamilton, contain symbolic and thematic elements that closely parallel Mary Shelley's "modern Prometheus."

Prometheus' creation of man parallels Frankenstein's own creation. Prometheus, whose name means forethought, was very wise, wiser even than the gods...Epimetheus[Prometheus' brother] gave all the best gifts to the animals-until no good was left for man. Prometheus, then, took over the task of creation and thought out a way to make mankind superior. He fashioned them in a nobler shape than the animals, upright like the gods; and then he went to heaven, to the sun, where he lit a torch and brought down fire. (Hamilton 71)

Just as there was "no good left for man" in the Prometheus myth, Frankenstein's creation was fashioned from animal parts, the "dissecting room and the slaughter house" and created by a man who "dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave" and "tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay" (Mary Shelley 33). Again, the allusion to "lifeless clay" relates to Prometheus, who supposedly fashioned mankind out of clay. This reference to clay also emphasizes the lack of detail describing Victor Franke...

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... and actions are less noble than that of Prometheus, but perhaps that only puts more emphasis on him as the modern version. He personifies that self-glorification so often found and desired in today's society, and undoubtedly in Shelley's.

Works Cited

Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New York: Mentor, 1942.

Norton, Dans and Peters Rushton. Classical Myths in English Literature. New York: Greenwood Press Publishers, 1969. P. 311-316.

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Ed. D.L. Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 1994.

Smith, Johanna M. Forbidden Knowledge or "Sad Trash"? HTTP://www2.centenary.edu/forbidden/smith. February 1, 1999.

Mullen, Patrick. The Creation of Man by Prometheus. HTTP://members.tripod.com/`greekmyth/creationman.html. January 31, 1999.