Comparing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the Prometheus Myth

The title of Mary Shelley 's novel is Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus. So it shouldn 't come as a shock that Mary Shelley was actually influenced by this tale. Her husband Percy Shelley had actually begun composing his own tale of Prometheus in the form of poetry entitled, Prometheus Unbound. He began composing this piece around the same time that his wife was publishing Frankenstein. Mary Shelley included "The Modern Prometheus" as part of her title for the novel and she attempts to compare Victor Frankenstein, and the Monster with Prometheus. (www.enotes.com) Frankenstein and Prometheus are both epic stories and they are alike in many ways, including: Victor and Prometheus both created life, their creations were abandoned by

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.

Another similarity is that of demands that are placed upon Prometheus and Frankenstein. Frankenstein’s creation commands Frankenstein to make him a female friend. In Frankenstein’s bitterness he destroys his work on the female counterpart and claims that he had been “struck senseless by my creations fiendish threats (Shelley 121). The creation then punishes Frankenstein by killing Henry Clerval and Elizabeth. This parallels Prometheus in that he had the knowledge of the woman who will one day bear a son for Zeus that would one day dethrone the god. Prometheus is interrogated by one of the messengers of the god. He is threatened because he refuses to answer. Prometheus does not give away his knowledge. Both Frankenstein and Prometheus had enormous requests given to them. Both held their ground and did not give in to the people demanding their service and knowledge.

Prometheus was a greek god that created the human race out of clay is the main story line of Prometheus. Victor Frankenstein in the fifth chapter, his eight foot monster from scratch just like, Prometheus did with the human race. Prometheus gave life to the human race by fire like Frankenstein gave life to the monster with lightning. During the Renaissance while this was going on, theories of creation strayed away from the original theistic beliefs and moved towards a scientific approach. The trend of the era was anatomical research. Anatomical murders and grace robberies were not uncommon especially during a time in which cadavers were in such a high demand. Frankenstein expressed that he was not afraid to go searching through grave yards, that he was raised not to fear the paranormal. In the second chapter he expressed his interest in Galvanism which contributed to the Birth of his monster. During the Renaissance there were multiple scientific discoveries in the subject of anatomy that contributed as one of the many influences to this

As Shelley subtitled Frankenstein "The Modern Prometheus" the relation of the Greek titan to Victor Frankenstein is prominent. Prometheus stole fire from the gods of Mount Olympus to give it to people. For

Frankenstein as similar to Prometheus took the gift of life into his own hands and re-gave life to a creature after the people of whom the body parts came had died. He played for God and gave it life again. At that time it was believed that no other then god could create and take lives. With Frankenstein creating a life again he is as a god. He created life with the thought that “a new species would bless him as its creator and source” (Shelley, 1818, pg. 40). To later be horrified by the new sight he has created. As both creators multiple connections can be drawn: both Frankenstein and Prometheus found the ‘normal’ species not interesting or perfect enough. Prometheus shaped mankind with his hands out of clay and water. Victor also found

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, is one of the most iconic tales of 19th century literature. Grandly displaying a mastery of psychological depth within the characters, the author portrays a flawed society inherent within their scientific progression. As such, the enriching tale draws many criticisms from the society in which Shelley lived in, some of which encompasses appearances, feminism, and class restrictions. Retold through multiple mediums, the story is generally seen as a tale of the dangers of scientific progression to such an extremity that it illustrates faults in the upbringing of its citizens. Although, there is more to the story than a criticism of science being a dangerous endeavor with harsh complications, the characters show faults in their psyche from being ill-treated by civilization. The creature’s symbolism emphasizes a defect in a hypocritical society and its discontents. Thus, the creature reveals society’s flaw in supporting a superficial image of the world.

This relates to the alternative title “The Modern Prometheus,” because Prometheus was a Greek mythological figure that took fire from the gods to give it unto man and consequently suffered eternal punishment. The definite correlation linking Prometheus and Victor Frankenstein who also tried give animation to lifeless matter though he was unworthy. For these heinous acts they had committed that were acts only gods are worthy of and for this their lives were sentenced to alienation to live forever in despair.

The Prometheus myth have very similar component with Frankenstein. This piece of literature was originally called Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. It can show how similar it is when compare to the prometheus myth.

In the book Frankenstein and Prometheus we have to find out the similarities. Dr Frankenstein created a monster and he said "Its alive Its alive now i know how it feels to be a god." In the the book Prometheus there are gods and titans. Frankenstein and Jupiter feel like humans don't deserve there power. In the book Prometheus Jupiter is a selfish god because he wants everything just for the gods he don't think the humans are worthy of the power that fire could give you. Prometheus wants to give the humans fire so they could use it to keep them warm and cook there food. The other gods don't want to Prometheus asked Jupiter can i give the humans fire and Jupiter said NO. This makes me think that Jupiter wants all the power to himself and not

The similarity between Frankenstein and Prometheus is the attempt to create life, trying to improve it, and being punished until eternity. Dr. Victor Frankenstein was trying to create life (Shelley). Victor said "I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet" (Shelley 56). He was trying to improve mankind with his revolutionary research. After he created his monster, he was punished with disgust, the death of his friends and family, and finally dies

At the first read The Modern Prometheus may appear a peculiar name for a book such as Frankenstein. This is because a scientist who brings life to a creature who becomes set to destroy him and a Greek Titan that gave mankind fire. One must delve a little deeper to reveal the truth behind the name and how Mary Shelley cleverly intertwined one of the most famous Greek myths with what was to become one of the most well known Gothic books of all time, Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus. Though both Frankenstein and Prometheus created a new species of creatures It is in the way the two acted towards their creation, and the choices that they made made that led to the difference between life and death. First off, to understand the similarities

I feel that the way Dr. Frankenstein created the monster held a connection to Prometheus’ creation of human life. Without an understanding

Mary Shelley gave Frankenstein the subtitle of The Modern Prometheus. As such, Prometheus and Victor Frankenstein share many similarities. Both characters start off with good intentions. Frankenstein wants to create life and states that his new species would “bless [him] as their creator” (Shelley 54). And Prometheus creates mankind and gives them fire.

When Mary Shelly wrote her 1818 classic Frankenstein, she subtitled it “The Modern Prometheus.” She compared the character of Dr. Victor Frankenstein a highly intelligent scientist to the Greek Titan Prometheus the wisest of the Titans. There are numerous parallels between Dr. Frankenstein and Prometheus which could be the reason why Mary Shelly subtitled her novel “The Modern Prometheus”. Dr. Frankenstein and Prometheus both create a male human being, they both sought glory from their creations, and they