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In this essay I will be discussing who really is portrayed as the monster in her gothic horror novel, Frankenstein or “The Modern Prometheus”. Frankenstein was written in 1816, (thought by many to be the first real science fiction novel) during the age of Romanticism and it tells the story of a selfish man, Victor Frankenstein, whose ambition conducts him to seek for supernatural powers and leads him to death. He is a young scientist, eager to discover something new, the key to life, help to make scientific advances and let other scientists get a better idea of how the body works and who after studying chemical processes and the decay of living beings, gains an insight into the creation of like, leading him to create a monster that becomes

Frankenstein, a novel first published in the year 1818, stands as the most talked about work of Mary Shelley’s literary career. She was just nineteen years old when she penned this novel, and throughout her lifetime she could not produce any other work that surpasses this novel in terms of creativity and vision. In this novel, Shelley found an outlet for her own intense sense of victimization, and her desperate struggle for love. Traumatized by her failed childbirth incidents, troubled childhood, and scandalous courtship, many of Shelley’s life experiences can be seen reflected in the novel. When discussing the character and development of the monster, Shelley launches an extensive discussion on the

Victor Frankenstein, also known as the modern Prometheus according to Shelley, holds a similar yet different story and fate as Prometheus. While Prometheus only wanted to correct his brother’s mistake in making a superior race of man, Victor wants to understand “the secrets of heaven and earth” in order to elevate himself to a godlike status (Shelley, 30). He decides that he will create “a new species” which “would owe their being to” him and give him the

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus is a tale of humanity's obsession with creation and science, and continues to draw readers with the novel's many interpretations and heavy emphasis on the classic myth of Prometheus. In most interpretations and readings of Frankenstein, people often attribute Victor Frankenstein to be the “Modern Prometheus” in the story, as a creator of life. However, there is another “Prometheus” to be found in Shelley's novel: Robert Walton; This is the major connection between Victor Frankenstein to Walton. Walton's ambitious, almost obsessive, journey to the northern Arctic to bring the back unknown mysteries and knowledge, something that has been unavailable to mankind makes him Prometheus: The Fire-Stealer.

In order to illustrate the main theme of her novel "Frankenstein", Mary Shelly draws strongly on the myth of Prometheus, as the subtitle The Modern Prometheus indicates. Maurice Hindle, in his critical study of the novel, suggests, "the primary theme of Frankenstein is what happens to human sympathies and relationships when men seek obsessively to satisfy their Promethean longings to "conquer the unknown" - supposedly in the service of their fellow-humans". This assertion is discussed by first describing the Promethean connection. Thereafter, the two forms of the myth, Prometheus the fire-stealer and Prometheus the life-giver are reviewed in the context of Shelly's use of the myth in her novel

Mary Shelley’s cautionary horror tale, Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus, portrays the deadly consequences of callous indifference to life. Throughout the novel, Shelley employs allusions to the Prometheus myth, Paradise Lost, and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Through these allusions, Shelley illustrates the creature’s yearning for love and acceptance, and Victors lack of love and compassion which leads to his ultimate destruction.

Frankenstein, Or the Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley, tells the story of a bright and ambitious scientist that wishes to discover the secrets of life. After several years of research, he achieves his goal and brings to life a creature fashioned from old body parts. Horrified by his creation, Victor flees and spends the rest of his life hiding from and witnessing horrendous acts by the creature he so desperately wanted to create.

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, she uses “The Modern Prometheus” as her subtitle and with sufficient evidence, she was correct in doing so. Furthermore, through comparing Victor Frankenstein and Prometheus, the reader can visualize Frankenstein as a romantic hero. From the tale of Prometheus, Shelley uses a sense of repercussion resulting from seeking knowledge and enlightenment. The story about Frankenstein begins with Victor Frankenstein being found on a piece of ice by Captain Robert Walton. The story is told through Walton’s letters to his sister describing the life of Victor Frankenstein. After his childhood in Geneva, during his college years, Victor was obsessed with finding knowledge in his studies in Natural Philosophy, Chemistry,

Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, references many other works of literature in her renowned book. To name a few of the referenced works there were John Milton’s Paradise Lost, the Greek “Prometheus myth”, and the widely known poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. Each of these allusions gave a new meaning to Shelley’s story, affecting how each of the readers interpreted her words.

Remembered for its classic scene of ‘ITS ALIVE’ and a monstrous figure rising from a gurney, Frankenstein (or the Modern Prometheus) by Mary Shelley can be considered as the world’s first terrible book-to-movie adaptation. And in this translation, it seems that we have lost what Frankenstein’s true core message was; a cautionary message to modern science.

Nineteen-year-old Mary Shelley didn’t know when she began it that her “ghost story” would become an enduring part of classic literature. Frankenstein is an admirable work simply for its captivating plot. To the careful reader, however, Shelley’s tale offers complex insights into human experience. The reader identifies with all of the major characters and is left to heed or ignore the cautions that their situations provide. Shelley uses the second person narrative style, allusions both to Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and the legend of Prometheus, and the symbols of both light and fire to warn against the destructive thirst for forbidden knowledge.

Sometimes considered one of the first science fiction novels of supernatural terror, Frankenstein proved itself an instant success when released anonymously in 1818. The mad scientist Victor Frankenstein and his creation provoke readers with the fear of the unknown and the power of natures forces. A deeper look into the character of Victor Frankenstein, the role of scientific experimentation and the intricate settings of nature in which the story evolves, prove Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein , a worthy example of both Romantic and Gothic representation in nineteenth century British Literature.

In most people’s minds as of today, there is no question to who the monster is in Mary Shelley’s book, Frankenstein. It is the creature that Viktor Frankenstein created, that murders innocent people. However, when looking beyond the appearance of the creature, it is evident that he did not begin as a monster. Mary Shelley analyzes fundamental and crucial issues in her novel in terms of being able to use science and knowledge for the good of people and not for the satisfaction of personal ambitions without even being able to take responsibility for that. It is also the novel of social rejection based on external looks and inability to accept. It was the extreme misconceptions of humans that resulted in the extreme isolation of Frankenstein’s

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a literary classic that tells a story of a young scientist Victor Frankenstein who created a monster that tries to live in society but is rejected. The monster will later seek revenge by going after his creator. In this essay I will be evaluating two critiques about the novel. Beginning with Professor Naomi Hetherington’s critique and the second critique written by Professor Sherry Ginn.

Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus is a gothic horror novel that it has been written by Mary Shelley and was published in 1818. “Is one of the most influential literary text in English. It is a novel which is embedded in the cultural and political period we call Romantic” (Allen, 1). It also encompasses the nature, monstrosity, secrecy and demonstrates what the consequences are if someone uses dangerously his knowledges and attempts to exceed his limits. In this essay some parts of the novel will be critically analyzed and also the novel will be seen through a feminist perspective.