Frankenstein And The Modern Prometheus

What do a god and a crazy doctor have in common? Nothing right! Wrong! In the stories Prometheus and Frankenstein the protagonists are very alike in many ways. They both tried to play god, steal, and they both get punished for what they did.

Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein as a modern day version of the legend of Prometheus. Prometheus created men out of clay and taught them the "arts of civilisation" (Webster's World Encyclopedia CD-ROM 1999). Zeus, the chief god of the Titans, wanted to destroy Prometheus' creation but Prometheus stole fire from heaven to help mankind. Zeus punished Prometheus by chaining him to a rock where an eagle would feed on his liver during the day and each night the liver would grow back. Prometheus was able to bargain for his release because he knew a secret which concerned Zeus' future. Heracles shot the eagle and so Prometheus gained release. Victor Frankenstein is Shelley's modern Prometheus in that

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

MJ DeMarco, author and entrepreneur, related choices in life to hitting a golf ball. If the club is rotated even a fraction of a degree when it hits the ball, the ball has a trajectory that diverges further away from the golf course until it is nearly impossible to get back on track. (Pros) At first the change is hardly noticeable, but later its consequences are so devastating that its new course is completely transformed from the course it used to be on. (Pros) Like this situation, DeMarco says that one bad choice can set one’s trajectory off by only one fraction of a degree today, but in the future the error is magnified and has monumental consequences. (Pros) What appears to be a good choice, ends up being a bad choice in the end. This idea connects to two of the main themes in Frankenstein or A Modern Prometheus: the dangerous pursuit of knowledge and fate versus free will. The choice to pursue knowledge may be appealing, but it has life threatening consequences, like fate for instance. In Frankenstein or A Modern Prometheus, Mary Shelley uses the motif of light to illuminate and connect the themes of fate vs. free will and the dangers of the pursuit of knowledge.

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.

The foil is a person or thing whose traits, by differences and similarities, help to emphasize and enhances the qualities and actions of the protagonist. Many characters, such as Elizabeth Lavenza, Henry Clerval, Robert Walton and Frankenstein’s creature, in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus qualify as foils for Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist. However, Frankenstein’s creature is the most effective foil for Victor Frankenstein. The creature’s similarities and differences with Frankenstein along with his actions and traits allow him to be a more effective foil than Walton, and contributes to the meaning and structure of the novel.

Psychologists and sociologists often refer to Mary Shelley 's masterpiece Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus as a starting point to drive the question: what it means to be human. Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus suggests the possibility of reconstructing a broader approach towards scientific discovery by portraying the dangers of blindly pursuing scientific knowledge done so by the modern Prometheus that is Victor Frankenstein. Thomas Vargish in "Technology and Impotence in Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein" states that although technology serves to express, aid and extend values (325), Victor Frankenstein immerses himself to creating a creature that manipulates what technology is made to do. Bernd Jager in "Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein and the Fate of Modern Scientific Psychology" affirms that science and technology brings man in direct confrontation with an anonymous natural order. Furthermore, this order ignores man 's presence. Jager 's definition of the meaning of humanity is to learn and master technology and science while maintaining an uninhabitable relationship with it (271). The cryptic title of the novel alludes to the classical Greek mythology of Prometheus, a Titan who was eventually punished by Zeus made man out of clay and gave them fire for survival. The novel thereby alludes to the Ancient mythology by giving the readers a sense of consequence resulting from seeking enlightenment and the ability to create life like God.

In Greek Mythology, there is a tale where a Titan named Prometheus stole fire from the gods and put it in the clay to make man. Like in the Greek Mythology, Mary Shelley has Victor Frankenstein steal life from nature. As Mary Shelley states in the title of her book Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, she parallels Victor Frankenstein to the Titan Prometheus. As Mary Shelley states in Frankenstein the pursuit of unknown knowledge is dangerous. “ So much has been done… I will pioneer a new way, explain unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation( Chapter 3). ”. This quote means that Victor wants to explore dangerous areas that should not be explored. Dangerous and unknown knowledge

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.

Many scientific discoveries have been made that better society. However, the pursuit of knowledge has the potential to come with a great price. Lord Byron’s “Prometheus” alludes to the Greek myth of the titan Prometheus who was sentenced to a life of torture simply because he gave mankind fire in order for them to become educated and obtain light. Mary Shelly, a close friend of Lord Byron’s, wrote Frankenstein, which also centers around the same concept, that the discovery of experimental knowledge can come at a terrific price. While Lord Byron’s “Prometheus” mirrors the edifying themes and biblical allusions in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, both pieces complement and contrast their own messages.

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; Or, the Modern Prometheus: The Original 1818 Text Third Edition she presents the story of a man named Victor Frankenstein and his creation. The story is told through Robert Walton, a man at sea who meets the estranged Victor Frankenstein and shares Victor’s story to his sister, Margaret Saville through a series of letters. Through these letters we get an insight into the life of the Frankenstein family as well as the relationship Victor has built with his creature. Although Victor was very selfish, and only did things that were in his best interest, his predetermined life and his family played a huge role in his expectations when creating his monster.

This literary analysis will define the role of “monster” that co-exists in Victor Frankenstein and the monster in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein: or, the Modern Prometheus.” Victor Frankenstein’s unethical and immoral use of science to create the monster defines a “monster” of science that does not truly understand the ramifications of his creation. In this manner, Victor’s motives for “reanimating” a human being are partially caused by the death of his mother (and the desire to end death), but he becomes so self-absorbed he does not consider the dangers of his experiment with the Monster. However, the monstrous and unethical behavior of Victor’s scientific experiment inevitably creates a creature in his own image. After the Monster is reanimated, it begins to understand the sympathetic relationship it has to Victor:

What would you do if you discovered a secret that changed everything? “I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation.” (Shelley 37). Ab initio Victor Frankenstein, the main protagonist, is being put on a level with Prometheus through the subtitle. An indication that Mary Shelley did indeed have the myth in mind as she wrote the novel, is not only her subtitle, but moreover the parallels between the Prometheus myth and Frankenstein, which are undeniable. The title itself gives a lot away of the story which follows. It links the modern world with the ancient Greek myth. Victor Frankenstein “steals” the secret of life, just like Prometheus stole the secret of fire.

In Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” she provides the readers a subtitle “The Modern Prometheus,” in order to show the allusion she has drawn between Victor Frankenstein and the Titan god Prometheus throughout the novel. Prometheus was one of the few Titan gods that sided with Zeus during the war to take control and wasn’t banished to Tartarus. He became the god of forethought and crafty counsel who was given the task to create and protect mankind. Because of a trick played upon Zeus at Mecone, Zeus became infuriated and took fire from the humans as punishment. As the protector of mankind, Prometheus stole the fire from Zeus and gave it back to the humans, subsequently he caused the creation of Pandora, the first woman, and all the evils to be

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, Victor Frankenstein struggles against the monster that he creates. Their conflict eventually leads to tragedy for both of them. In the novel, the author provides numerous references to the opposites of fire and ice in the experiences of both Victor and his creation. Mary Shelley associates ice to Victor Frankenstein and fire to the monster to represent their respective underlying character.