The novel of Paradise Lost by John Milton starts with the story of Adam and Eve and how they had lost their place in Paradise, this story comes from the first chapters of the Bible called Genesis. Milton expands on the story of creation, giving it more details and then he introduces the story of Satan. Satan, also known as Lucifer was an angel in heaven that resented his lack of recognition in heaven, he created a war against God, and this lead to Lucifer’s exile to hell. Satan is determined to get back at God for sending him to hell, so he decides to hurt what God loved the most - man. This same thirst for revenge is similar to the need of revenge of the creature that was created by Victor Frankenstein in the novel by Mary Shelley. However this need for revenge is driven by different factors and thus regardless of the similarities that we can find between Satan and the creature, the cause of their hatred is what differentiates this two characters apart. By examining the key facts like the noble savage, the source of their hate and what they desired, we can see how the Frankenstein's creature parallels the character of Satan in Milton’s Paradise Lost.
The concept of the noble savage was a concept idealized by a man called Jean-Jacques Rousseau, this concept was glorified in the romantic literature because it enabled the possibility that there was an innate goodness in man, and that man was corrupted by society and the influence of civilization. In the novel of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein, a man that had devoted his entire career and life to the creation of a creature that would perhaps symbolize the incarnation of his studies. With this innate passion of acquiring knowledge, Victor “opens the pandora box” a...
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...ting vile actions. Satan did this not to get something back from God but to get revenge, but Frankenstein's creature wanted affection and he seeked attention from his creator.
The parallelism between Paradise Lost and Frankenstein isn’t purely coincidencial. In the novel of Frankenstein Victor’s creation tries to get educated, he encounters three books The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe, Plutarch’s Lives, and finally Paradise lost; but the Creature’s reaction to reading Paradise Lost is most profound. There is a parallelism between Satan and Victor’s creation, but before this one existed Victor's creation had much larger similarities with Adam, proving how regardless of choice he was destined to be a monster. This also proves how he was like a noble savage he was good but he was corrupted, as he said “I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel.”
Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, illustrates the Romantic idea of the sublime naturalworld as an emotional experience for the characters of the novel. Within the text, Shelleyutilizes an allusion to the John Milton’s biblical story, Paradise Lost, to make a parallel betweenthe characters. Within the passage, the monster compares himself, as well as his creator, Victor,to the characters Adam and Satan. He comes to realize that he is more similar to Satan;ultimately, leading him to his reign of terror and the revenge he wishes to impose on Victor. Themonster realizes that he is similar to Adam in Paradise Lost in that they both do not want to bealone. The monster also realizes that there is good in the world that is deeply contrasted with
The most important religious comparison in Frankenstein, are the outstanding similarities between Victor as God and the monster as Lucifer. This idea is proven by the monster in the quote where he states, " I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed." Broken down, this quote shows us that the monster feels that he is the neglected creation and that he has been created to be unhappy, although he has committed no wrongdoing, and he doesn't deserve to be mistreated by society. As it goes in the bible, God created Lucifer as the most brilliant and beautiful angel in the sky with good intentions, but Lucifer turned his back on his creator and began a notorious streak of evil as the "malignant devil." Now if the role of God is switched with that of Victor, and the role of Lucifer is switched with that of the monster, the story is retold in almost the same context. Now to prove that this is not just farfetched speculation, the monster even says in his quote that he ought to be Adam, God's successful creation, rather than the fallen angel (Lucifer). Among other quotes in which the monster deigns Victor as [his] creator, this is a powerful novel reference and this quote beautifully shows the direct motif of religious role-playing in Frankenstein.
The characters in Frankenstein are a collection of those in Paradise Lost. Frankenstein parallels Eve in the Garden of Eden in that they would do whatever it takes to gain the knowledge of all things. While, the Creature corresponds to Satan because they both wanted to break free from their creators and receive a chance at their own decisions. In Chapter 15 of Frankenstein, Shelley alludes to Paradise Lost in order to establish a connection between the Creature and Adam, when the Creature tries to 'sympathize with [his] feelings and cheer [his] gloom.' However, he then realizes that it was all a 'dream, no Eve soothed [his] sorrows, nor shared [his] thoughts, [he] was alone.' The creature meets with the fact that Frankenstein abandoned him, and ?in the bitterness of [his] heart [he] cursed him.' Yet, earlier in Chapter 10, Shelley suggests an affiliation between the Creature and Satan. He feels like a 'fallen angel, whom thou drivest from misjoy.' Both Satan and the Creature make a vow to destroy something good. In Book I, Satan vows to 'seek to bring forth evil' out of good. Similarly, the Creature declares that 'if [he] cannot inspire love, [he] will cause fear. This network of characters aids the reader in identifying the intertextuality of the two pieces.
In the gothic novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley weaves an intricate web of allusions through her characters’ expedient desires for knowledge. Both the actions of Frankenstein, as well as his monster allude to John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Book eight of Milton’s story relates the tale of Satan’s temptation and Eve’s fateful hunger for knowledge. The infamous Fall of Adam and Eve introduced the knowledge of good and evil into a previously pristine world. With one swift motion sin was birthed, and the perfection of the earth was swept away, leaving pain and malevolence in its wake. The troubles of Victor Frankenstein begin with his quest for knowledge, and end where all end: death. The characters in Frankenstein are a conglomeration of those in Paradise Lost. Frankenstein parallels Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, as well as God, while his monster acts an Eve/Satan mixture.
As the story of Adam and Eve. Mary Shelly was influenced by the epic story of Adam and Eve. Especially she was influenced by John Milton’s great work, Paradise Lost. It retells the biblical story of Genesis, beginning with the satan’s cast out from heaven and ending with the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Victor Frankenstein can be seen as Adam; the creation of the monster can be seen as Frankenstein’s metaphorical eating of the “apple”. Adam and Eve go against the wills of God, their creator. Adam and Victor are looking to have the acquirement that is meant only for God. Adam and Eve are tempted to attain the acquirement from the snake with the promise they would be like God.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has thrilled readers for two centuries, whether for the enthralling mad scientist, creation gone amok, or simply the mythical aspect of creating life from lifeless matter. Frankenstein is the story of Victor Frankenstein, a student attending university who becomes consumed by an experiment. But this is no ordinary experiment; Frankenstein believes that he has found the secret to life. For months, he enthusiastically works in secrecy on his experiment, an attempt to create a being composed of parts stolen from corpses. When he finally succeeds at bringing his creature to life, he runs from the creature, sickened and horrified by what he has created, leaving the creature to wander the countryside. Paul Sherwin accurately describes the events that follow as “one catastrophe after another” (qtd. in Soyka). Frankenstein is the story of a secret experiment gone amok and the interminable effects this experiment has on Frankenstein’s life. Throughout the book, Victor Frankenstein acts the part of the modern Prometheus, God the creator, and cursed Satan, while the Monster takes the roles of innocent Adam and Satan the avenger.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, explores the monstrous and destructive affects of obsession, guilt, fate, and man’s attempt to control nature. Victor Frankenstein, the novel’s protagonist and antihero, attempts to transcend the barriers of scientific knowledge and application in creating a life. His determination in bringing to life a dead body consequently renders him ill, both mentally and physically. His endeavors alone consume all his time and effort until he becomes fixated on his success. The reason for his success is perhaps to be considered the greatest scientist ever known, but in his obsessive toil, he loses sight of the ethical motivation of science. His production would ultimately grieve him throughout his life, and the consequences of his undertaking would prove disastrous and deadly. Frankenstein illustrates the creation of a monster both literally and figuratively, and sheds light on the dangers of man’s desire to play God.
Frankenstein 's Fallen Angel is a story about how victor is a doppelganger of his creation, the monster. The monster is a representation of who Victor is, throughout the book you can see how Victor and the monster are similar and how the differences don’t seem that different the more you read. “Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed.” These lines refer to the Biblical story of Adam and also Milton 's Paradise Lost.
Frankenstein and Paradise Lost Striking similarities between a duo of novels are not unusual. The novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelly, deals with a scientist named Victor Frankenstein who embodies a creature, who eventually wreaks havoc on his life. The novel Lost Paradise, by John Milton, exposes the cruelty of Christianity or the Christian God within the characters God, Satan, Adam, and Eve. Victor Frankenstein and God have many similarities, as they are both creators of incarnations. Victor's creature, known as the monster, shows striking similarities with Satan and Adam.
The monster of Frankenstein suffered endless trails of bitter rejection which lead to his final rejection of Victor. His original lack of knowledge ignited a curiosity which played a pivotal role in his downfall. Satan, though a prideful character, also suffered a rejection that drove him to seek revenge on his creator. Curiosity enabled Satan to tempt Adam and Eve to turn away from God. It becomes evident that both characters experience a lack of acceptance, which leads them to reject their own creators breaking one of the most critical bonds of any being.
Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" narrates a story about a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, and his creation of a monster set apart from all worldly creatures. Frankenstein's creation parallels Milton's "Paradise Lost" and God's creation of man; Victor Frankenstein is symbolic of God and the monster is symbolic of Adam. The parallel emphasizes the moral limitations of mankind through Victor Frankenstein and the disjunction and correlation with "Paradise Lost". Shelly links the two stories together through Victor's creation of the monster and his "fall" from humanity which I will focus on initially. More importantly, the main divergence of the two works lies in the representation of God in "Paradise Lost" and Victor in "Frankenstein". Both the correlations and disjunctions prove three human moral limitations: omnipotence, ambition, and (in relating to Christianity) human imperfection. Furthermore, each limitation relates to the author's warning to humanity of our progression as a society.
John Milton’s Paradise Lost is an epic poem that describes the fall of Satan and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. Satan is the protagonist of Paradise Lost and has several characteristics in which readers may identify with him. Throughout the poem, Satan is not only a tragic hero but also the key character that drives the plot and portrays many flawed human qualities. As an angel fallen from the high esteem of God and a possessor of hubris that leads to his downfall, he represents a tragic hero but also a character in which readers may identify with.
In Milton's Paradise Lost, he writes the story of the fall of Satan, his followers, and mankind. Many critics often view Satan as the unlikely or tragic hero of the epic poem. Satan is, obviously, the main character throughout most of the poem, but not necessarily the hero. Satan's main purpose is to fight G-d, and try to be on the same level as Him. The important thing is to realize that Satan is sin, and being humans, who are all born into sin, we can easily relate to a sinful character. G-d is holy and perfect. This is something which we, being fallible humans, cannot begin to comprehend. Satan does, at the beginning, follow many of the attributes which coincide with Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero; however, after the first few Books, Satan looses his status as a tragic hero rather rapidly. Along with this, Satan's thoughts parallel the idea of "Evil, be thou my good," (p76, line 110) which is the opposite of what G-d intends.
Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost is a complex character meant to be the evil figure in the epic poem. Whenever possible Satan attempts to undermine God and the Son of God who is the true hero of the story. Throughout the story Milton tells the readers that Satan is an evil character, he is meant not to have any redeeming qualities, and to be shown completely as an unsympathetic figure. Satan’s greatest sins are pride and vanity in thinking he can overthrow God, and in the early part of the poem he is portrayed as selfish while in Heaven where all of God’s angels are loved and happy. Satan’s journey starts out as a fallen angel with great stature, has the ability to reason and argue, but by Book X the anguish and pain he goes through is more reason for him to follow an evil path instead. Even so, Milton uses literal and figurative imagery in the description of Satan’s character to manipulate the reader’s response to the possibility that Satan may actually be a heroic figure. As the plot of the story unfolds there are moments where the reader can identify with Satan’s desires and relate to his disappointments.
Helen Gardner addresses this notion, claiming how “Satan is, of course, a character in an epic, and he is in no sense the hero of the epic as a whole. But he is a figure of heroic magnitude and heroic energy, and he is developed by Milton with dramatic emphasis and dramatic intensity” (Baker/Helen, 208). Satan is without a doubt the antichrist, or “villain” in the biblical scriptures, however one must take into consideration his alternative and more ambiguous portrayal in Paradise Lost. In this paper, I will analyze Satan’s actions, physical portrayal and speeches in Book I of Paradise Lost, and argue that from the textual evidence, these aspects of Satan are ultimately ambivalent, thus Satan cannot be categorized as either the extreme hero or the extreme villain, but rather as a dramatic figure with both heroic and villainous characteristics. The preliminary depiction of Satan’s actions in Paradise Lost appears after Milton describes God, his kingdom of heaven, and his children Adam and Eve.... ...