Homunculus Vs Frankenstein

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, pulls from many myths and legends. The idea of a human creating artificial life can be traced back to early Jewish writings about the golem, and later to the concept in Alchemy known as a homunculus. (Campbell) When Victor Frankenstein begins his studies, he is fascinated by works by authors like Cornelius Agrippa, who wrote books on cabalistic ideas and the occult. After Victor creates the monster, he is written as almost but not quite human. He expresses interest in human activities and longs for a connection to another being, but each human the monster encounters is disgusted by him and as such the monster has little chance in gaining what he desires. This idea that artificially created life cannot quite meet

A homunculus is translated from Latin meaning “little man” and the term is often attributed to Paracelsus (Rowen), whom Victor studied alongside the works of Agrippa and others. It was thought by Alchemists that a human could be made “by mixing human semen with a mystical phosphorescent elixir and ends with a newborn homunculus emerging from a cow, growing human skin and craving its mother's blood inside a large glass or lead vessel.” (Lamb) It’s a gruesome picture, and though the details for the creation of Frankenstein’s monster are never mentioned, it’s not difficult to see that his research was heavily influenced by medieval alchemists. Though it’s never mentioned in the book, the other myth Frankenstein may have read about was the Jewish golem. In “The Golem of Prague,” a rabbi constructs a creature of clay and he along with two others circle the creature chanting cabalistic incantation. (Ausubel) While this is more mystical than that of the homunculi or Frankenstein’s monster, the rabbi’s obsession with creating the golem is similar to that of Frankenstein’s. During the monster’s creation Frankenstein withdraws from society and focuses all his attentions on that of creating the monster, which he thinks will become a new and better kind of

Now I was led to examine the cause and progress of this decay and forced to spend days and nights in vaults and charnel-houses. My attention was fixed upon every object the most insupportable to the delicacy of the human feelings.” (45) This disregard for his own well being and the consequences of his actions embodies the “mad scientist” archetype that can be seen throughout the Science Fiction genre. However, in the scene which the monster awakens, that changes and Frankenstein realizes what a grave mistake he’s made. Unlike the many remakes of the scene, the original novel doesn’t have Frankenstein gloating over his new creation, but fleeing from it. When the golem is created the rabbi doesn’t flee, but it is made clear that the golem is not human just as Frankenstein’s monster is not