Frankenstein, a classic novel written by Mary Shelley, is also known as The Modern Prometheus. It may be assumed that this “modern Prometheus” is Frankenstein’s monster, on the contrary Mr. Victor Frankenstein himself mirrors the life of the mythological titan in various ways. Both seeking enlightenment and power, they create something incredible, and yet conflicting; furthermore they also experience what seems like unending torture. This novel demonstrates the ways in which the stories of both Frankenstein and Prometheus share similarities. The definition of “enlighten” is to give knowledge or understanding, or to explain something to someone (Merriam Webster). In the beginning of Frankenstein, Mr. Victor Frankenstein is a highly ambitious man who seeks to be enlightened. While at the …show more content…
Nearing the end of his life, Frankenstein fell ill due to what seemed a fragile emotional state. Seeing the corpse of his beloved friend, Henry Clerval, almost immediately sent him over the edge to death. Nevertheless, he continued to live in order to track down his creature and see that none of his loved ones were harmed. Unfortunately, his creature was not to be stopped, and continued with the murder of Frankenstein’s beloved wife, Elizabeth. (Shelley, 137). Unable to cope with the stress and unexpected tragedy, Frankenstein’s father died not long after. These sudden loss of his loved ones brought nearly overwhelming grief and anger, for Frankenstein considered himself to be the source of the assassinations. “How have I lived I hardly know; many times have I… prayed for death.” (Shelley, 142). Frankenstein took off restlessly in pursue of the monster, following him into the punitive, icy realm. The rest of his tattered life was spent in this manner of grief, anger, and physical strain. Subsequently, Frankenstein met his weary death aboard a ship, with his creature still
He vows revenge on his creator, but also longs for company. After Frankenstein denies the monster his request for a bride in return for his disappearance, the creature decides to rid his selfish creator of his loved ones. He kills many people Frankenstein loves, but eventually runs away again. Frankenstein, ruined and depressed, spends the rest of his life chasing after his family’s
When Frankenstein had his initial nightmare his abandonment from his monster was not yet concrete. When Frankenstein awoke from his nightmare he still had the chance to reclaim his creation and nurture him. However, once the separation is complete between the monster and Frankenstein, a worse fate lies before Frankenstein. Soon after realizing “the apartment was empty, and [Frankenstein’s ] bedroom,” making it virtually impossible for Frankenstein to raise the monster, as he will never find it, Frankenstein enters into his nervous fit. The
When Henry dies Frankenstein says, “ Have my murderous machinations deprived you also, my dearest Henry, of life?” (218). Since Frankenstein did not take care of the creature, the creatures growing resentment grows into bitter revenge and kills those around
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley has been an American classic for almost 200 years, which contains both philosophical and moral themes in the text, making the reader question the limits of humankind and its desire for power. For every character presented in the story their independent desire to overcome their intentions becomes so intense that the future that lies upon them is nothing close to what they can imagine. Victor Frankenstein´s desire to quench his thirst for power ends up clouding his judgement and making him elude the future that awaits him. As Victor´s intention to succeed in natural sciences grow to an abnormal point, his judgement about what to do with that knowledge didn't let him contemplate the future consequences
As a society we all seek answers to how God did it or question how we all got here, in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein the key theme is the thirst for knowledge. Throughout the novel there are three prominent characters that seek for the understanding of life, including Victor Frankenstein, the creature, and Walton. The most important character involved with this particular theme is Victor Frankenstein, it all starts with his curiosity. Victor’s curiosity sparks with the statement that “The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine” (2.1).
The monster in “Frankenstein” very much reflects both The Enlightenment and what it means to be enlightened. Starting with The Enlightenment, although the monster did not attend formal schooling, he was an avid
ENG-3U0 November 20 2015 Frankenstein: The Pursuit of Knowledge Throughout the course of their individual journeys, Victor Frankenstein’s extreme passion for gaining knowledge about creating life, Robert Walton’s curiosity to discover land beyond the North Pole and the monster’s eagerness to obtain knowledge about humans was the principal cause of each of their suffering. As such, In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the pursuit of knowledge is a dangerous path which leads to suffering. Victor Frankenstein develops a keen interest in discovering knowledge about living beings which ultimately results in his personal suffering as well as others suffering. To begin with, Victor embarks on an assignment through combining body parts and following various
Frankenstein follows his creation to one of the most symbolic places on earth in coalition with his heart, The Arctic. He brings himself to his wit’s end on this search for the monster. However, Frankenstein describes how revenge is his driving force when he says, “many times have I stretched my failing limbs upon the sandy plain, and prayed for death. But revenge kept me alive; I dare not die, and leave my adversity in being" (219). Frankenstein’s rage filled hunt for his creation comes to an end when he realizes he will not be able to catch the monster.
The creature then ventures into the outside world to attempt to live his life independently. Frankenstein, paranoid that the being may cause harm to others, makes it his personal goal to end the creature’s life. The being is good at migrating on it’s own, causing the chase to proceed for a long period of time. In this time, Frankenstein’s entire life is put on hold, as he is preoccupied with this task.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein follows the story of a scientist and his experiment gone wrong. Victor Frankenstein, the scientist, abandons his creature at the first sight of it coming to life. The monster, left alone and afraid, transforms from a warm, loving character to one that seeks revenge as the toils of nature and reality begin to take control. Their title changes of “master” and “subordinate” are often referenced in Frankenstein, and plays off the feelings of vengeance they have for each other. Shelley has built the novel around this relationship in a way that captures not only the audience’s attention but also the character’s feelings of regret and hatred as the consequences of exceeding these moral boundaries come to haunt them in the decisions they make and influence the people around them.
Due to neglect and immediate abandonment during the beginning of his life, the creature develops a hostile attitude and seeks revenge on Victor Frankenstein. In response to the cottage dwellers attacking him, the creature exclaims “cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence of which you had so wantonly bestowed” and reveals his feelings “of rage and revenge” (Shelley 135).
Such passion is seen in Victor’s ‘noble intent’ to design a being that could contribute to society, but he had overextended himself, falling under the spell of playing ‘God,’ further digging his grave as he is blinded by glory. His creation – aptly called monstrous being due to its stature, appearance, and strength – proved to be more of a pure and intellectually disposed ‘child’ that moves throughout the novel as a mere oddity, given the short end of the stick in relation to a lack of familial figures within his life, especially that of parents. Clearly, Victor Frankenstein had sealed his fate: by playing God he was losing his humanity, ultimately becoming the manifestation of Mary Shelley’s hidden desires, deteriorating into The Lucifer Principle by which the author Howard Bloom notes social groups, not individuals, as the primary “unit of selection” in human psychological
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein depicts the remarkable resemblance to the “modern” myth of Prometheus. The intertextuality used to connect these two stories, allow Shelley to bring out the most prominent themes of Power and suffering. As both of the characters deal differently with the struggle to resist the power that comes with creating life, the inevitable end for both characters are the same; they fall at the hands of their own creations. Shelley carefully utilizes the legend of Prometheus to express the connection between punishment and creation.
As the book progresses, Frankenstein becomes more engrossed in the different aspects of science, and Shelley no longer uses natural scenes to describe what is happening around him, because of his disconnection with ‘appreciation of the unknown’. This aspect of his life is shown in this quote, “days and nights of incredible labor and fatigue... my cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement... my limbs now tremble, and my eyes swim with the remembrance... I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit.”
Marry Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ or ‘The Modern Prometheus’, largely resembles the Greek myth, where the subject makes severe mistakes, attempting to play god, as he disregards the ethics of humanity, as well as his own moral. Victor Frankenstein, who is the ‘Modern Prometheus’ in Mary Shelley’s novel, attempt to do the impossible – create life! While the Greek Prometheus (a titan), commits three sins against Zeus, one of them being the giving of fire to humans. Both are in their own way absurd, however in both cases, they succeed. However both are subjected to either pain or suffering, whether it is physical or mental, after realizing what they have done.