Frankenstein, By Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein And The Modern Prometheus

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a monster is described as “part animal and part human”, “ferocious”, “ugly”, and “frightening”. Yet at the same time, a monster can be “amazing” and “extraordinary” . From these characteristics alone, a monster can essentially be anything. In the literal sense, a monster is perceived to be large and physically grotesque, however inner qualities of monstrosity can be easily masked, and are therefore often overlooked. Three 19th century novels, Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde reveal both physical and mental qualities of monstrosity through the characters and demonstrate how these qualities relate to one another.

What is a monster, really? Is it really a Creature that has three eyes instead of two, with pus seeping out of every crevice in his face and an abnormally large form? Or is it someone with a mind so corrupt it rivals that of Satan? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a story within a story that centers on the tale of a man with an immense thirst of knowledge and a fetish to imitate the Creator. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a lot like the Greek mythological tale of the Greek God, Prometheus, and his brother, Epimetheus, who were assigned the task of creating man. The story captivates the theme of monstrosity. Mary Shelley wrote the novel in a form so the reader’s opinions never stray far from sympathy for the monster and apathy for Victor

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

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein tells the tale of a man whose entire life turns to misery after creating what he calls a monster, a demon and a fiend. However, the real monster in this story is pride and the feeling of superiority. This is evident in the novel with Robert Walton’s view of himself and his expedition, Victor Frankenstein’s attitude towards himself in comparison with the creature, and mankind’s perception of the creature and their ignorance towards him.

The word monster has a negative connotation to it and usually refers to something that is evil in nature. In chapters ten and eleven of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, Victor is shown to be more monstrous that his creature.

Although humans have the tendency to set idealistic goals to better future generations, often the results can prove disastrous, even deadly. The tale of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, focuses on the outcome of one man 's idealistic motives and desires of dabbling with nature, which result in the creation of horrific creature. Victor Frankenstein was not doomed to failure from his initial desire to overstep the natural bounds of human knowledge. Rather, it was his poor parenting of his progeny that lead to his creation 's thirst for the vindication of his unjust life. In his idealism, Victor is blinded, and so the creation accuses him for delivering him into a world where he could not ever be entirely received by the people who inhabit it. Not only failing to foresee his faulty idealism, nearing the end of the tale, he embarks upon a final journey, consciously choosing to pursue his creation in vengeance, while admitting he himself that it may result in his own doom. The creation of an unloved being and the quest for the elixir of life holds Victor Frankenstein more accountable for his own death than the creation himself.

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.

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.

As scientists pursue the progress of their field, it would be good if they could do so to benefit the human race. However, if scientific discoveries are motivated by selfish ambition, and scientists do not take responsibility for them if they fail, their creations might become threats to humans. The novel Frankenstein, written by the English author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, tells the story of a young scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who unintentionally creates a grotesque creature in a scientific experiment, which causes tragedy including deaths of many innocent people. When people read this book, many of them might see the creature as a monster because the term “monster” commonly refers to an imaginary creature that is typically large, ugly, and frightening. However, this is only what the creature looks like, not what it might be like emotionally; also, people who appear to be normal outsides might be “monstrous” inside, such as Dr. Frankenstein. Indeed, while the creature is guilty of taking the lives of innocent people, if Dr. Frankenstein had taken any responsibility for it, and if humans had treated the creature humanly instead of being violent, it might not have turned out to be a killer. Therefore, even though the creature in Frankenstein seems to be the monster, since it has a horrific appearance, and eventually kills people, it is actually a victim; Dr. Frankenstein is the actual monster because he is the person who created

In Mary Shelley´s Gothic novel, Frankenstein, the Monster once claimed, “The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.” Frankenstein, since the 1910 film adaptation, has known a series of several adaptations that changed drastically, not only the plot but one of the main characters, the Monster, from stealing its creator´s name to being portrayed as a cold villain. Though, in the original storyline, the biggest threat to society is the creator itself, the one pretending to play as God, Victor Frankenstein. This essay will discuss the nature of the main characters of the novel and conclude who is the “real monster” in the end.

Who is the real monster?” acts as the dominant question throughout the novel “Frankenstein” written by Mary Shelly as the reader explores the protagonist Victor Frankenstein and his nameless creation. As the novel progresses, the reader notices how the relationship between the two characters goes far beyond a neglectful creature and resentful creation, for the two influence the thoughts, actions and emotions of each other. Furthermore, the creature’s physical appearance acts as his purpose throughout the novel as well as a mirror of Victor Frankenstein’s true identity. Additionally, the creature’s lack of identity begins to initiate Frankenstein’s shame towards his own identity, revealing the flawed character of Frankenstein and determining the resolution to the question “Who is the true monster? Who is the true catalyst of destruction?” During the novel, the reader is able to identify the creature as the most effective foil for Victor Frankenstein because the creature causes: Frankenstein to view the action of the creature as his own work, the shift between pride and shame in Frankenstein, and his physical appearance demonstrates his purpose to reveal the true character of Victor Frankenstein.

Throughout the novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, the creature is subjected to countless acts of violence and rejection. For a monster to develop, one must have been formerly exploited either by an individual or their society. The creature is not only a physical product of science, but his atrocious behavior is also an explicit result of Victor’s actions toward him. The creature was not born a monster, but slowly morphed into one as he experiences violence and rejection from his society.

What purpose does it serve to have multiple narrators telling a story? In Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, Frankenstein, three main narrators tell the story about the creation of a monster and the events that follow. The job of narrator shifts between Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the monster that Victor creates. As each narrator shares his own recollection of the events that occurred, new facts are introduced to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Although Frankenstein uses multiple narrators to tell the story, it is important to look at the effects it might have on the stories accuracy. In this essay, I will closely examine the motives, differences, and similarities of each narrator to see what influences, if any, they have on the narrative.

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 portrays one of the darkest, most hopeless situations that could possibly occur due to the monstrous deeds performed by the main characters in the novel. When one thinks of Frankenstein, they generally think of Victor’s creation as being a monster, and the cause of the unfortunate events that occur in the novel. While Victor’s creation is indeed a monster, Victor is equally as monstrous in his actions. While both characters are initially innocent, they are being constantly corrupted throughout the story. Both Victor and his creation become monsters through their actions.