Frankenstein is referred to as the “Modern Prometheus” as there is increasingly evident comparison that can be made between the two. To modernize something means to make it in a time frame that is much closer to the present, rather than the original event- Mary Shelley does just this in her novel. In many ways Prometheus and Victor can be compared but some extremely evident comparisons are: allowing for the release of something destructive into society, using Earth itself to create the creator's creations, and defying a superior in the pursuit of knowledge. Frankenstein and Prometheus may have connections as old as history itself, regardless of the time frame, both stories of these individuals can be applied to one another. These creators …show more content…
“How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?” (Shelly 51). Victor released a creature that looked so unpleasant and hideous into nature with no idea of the consequences that would soon follow. The actions of the creature lead, either directly or indirectly, to the deaths of William, Justine, Henry, and Elizabeth. By allowing a creature to come to life, the entire fate of humanity depended on Victor to contain the creature's actions and eventually kill him. This relates to Prometheus by the creation of woman on Earth bringing diseases. “the punishment of Prometheus and the foolishness of Pandora in releasing evil and suffering into the world are a version of the Fall and the end of innocence as told in Genesis” (Bible Society 5). Prometheus, after his escape from the infinite torture of the eagle eating his liver, met Pandora, Prometheus’s brother’s bride, and were put on Earth. When Pandora was created, by Zeus in vengeance of being tricked by Prometheus after a dinner where Prometheus gave Zeus bones to eat. Zeus then punished Prometheus by the eagle and brought Pandora to Earth. As a “gift” Zeus gave Pandora a jar that secretly was the key to destruction …show more content…
“With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet” (Shelly 51). Victor absorbed the energy of lightning in order to start the creature’s life- this harness of energy shows that the use of Earth’s materials is yet another allusion to Prometheus. The process of using natural resources is the illustration that Victor was determined to do whatever necessary in order to achieve the satisfaction that he could create life. “In some traditions, Prometheus made the first man from clay, whilst in others, the gods made all creatures on Earth, and Epimetheus and Prometheus were given the task of endowing them with gifts so that they might survive and prosper” (Cartwright). Prometheus creating the first man out of clay relates to Victor as he also used nature in order to complete his creations. The modernization accomplished through the creature being reanimated through the use of lighting and multiple body
Whether atop the baffling Mount Olympus or below in the blank slate of a city being Ingolstadt, a mythological god and a man seek power on their trek to greatness. Both Zeus of the Greek gods in “The Story of Prometheus” and the simple man Victor Frankenstein of the literature work Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, can be viewed as leaders who lost their purpose in their quest for power. Victor possesses more morality in his actions, while Zeus rules with an iron fist and does not care what happens to the ones around him. To understand the beneficial traits and flaws of these characters, one must delve into the stories of their lives. These characters throughout literature show signs of great potential, but also of substantial corruption. Disregarding the feelings of others, along with a
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.
To this day, the story of Pandora fascinates human beings enough to survive in media and culture. However, the modern adaptations of the myth often deviate from the misogynist undertones of Hesiod’s original version. As retaliation for Prometheus stealing fire from Olympus and gifting it to humans, Zeus resolves to afflict mankind with misfortune in the form of Pandora. He instructs Hephaestus to mold a woman out of clay and water, and asks Athena and Aphrodite to give her “painful yearning and consuming obsession”, “a bitch’s mind and knavish nature” and “lies and wily pretenses” (Works and Days, 39). Pandora is given to the misguided and forgetful Epimetheus and, due to her curiosity, releases all the terrible things that trouble mankind. Only hope is left at the end, which becomes trapped in the jar when Pandora replaces the lid. Despite Hesiod’s conclusion that the story proves “there is no way to evade the purpose of Zeus” (Works and Days, 40), it is clear that Pandora taking the form of a woman with negative attributes carries its own, separate significance. Hesiod proves this in the following: “For from her [Pandora] is descended the female sex, a great affliction to mortals as they dwell with their husbands” (Theogony, 20). Hesiod believed that all women were descended from Pandora – a woman he described as being deceitful, troublesome and difficult. By
Victor suffers at first, because he thinks his creation represents failure. At one of Victor's lowest points, his breaking point, he thinks, “I [am] alone; none [are] near me to dissipate the gloom, and relieve me from the sickening oppression of the most terrible reveries.”(171) Victor remains lost in his thoughts and sickened by what a creature he created could do to himself. Nothing excites his mind at this stage in life. Victor tries to mask his emotions to the people around him, but ends up being almost impossible with the guilt hanging on his neck, just like an albatross. Prometheus has a different kind of punishment. His consequence for disobeying Zeus is to be chained atop a mountain for eternity. As Prometheus hangs defenseless, he must endure many pains, “And there he [hangs], with the storm-winds whistling always around him, and the pitiless hail beating in his face, and fierce eagles shrieking in his ears and tearing body with their cruel claws.”(6) Everyday this eagle comes back to repeat destroying his body, just as a savage carnivore eats away at a dead decaying corpse. In
Both characters from the novels Prometheus and Victor Frankenstein were similar because they were both intelligent. Victor loved science, he sued to go on journeys to seek more information about life and death, because at home he had nobody to teach him.” My father was not scientific, and I was left to struggle with a child's blindness, added to a student's thirst for knowledge. (Victor Frankenstein quotes on education). And he even studied abroad to see more knowledge on his favorite subject. This created major conflicts with his professor at the university but also admiration among professors and peers.
Many stories have progressed enough to be the topic of conversation from time to time. The novel, Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus has different relationships to many other topics. The author of the story, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley who was born almost 200 years ago bringing with her the age of horror (Edison 5), used biographical strategies to write Frankenstein. Also, as time progressed, Frankenstein became a well-known story. It was turned into many different films that depicted the time period that it happened to be from. One final relationship that Frankenstein has happens to be the way that everyone can draw morals from the story, no matter what the reader’s age, or how the reader’s life has evolved.
Have you ever watch or even read two unique stories’ that are both alike as they are different? That’s the instance for the book Frankenstein and the movie Blade Runner. They both involve the American dream of wanting to live with love but also the pain of murder. It’s all comes down to the revenge the creation has planned out for the creator.
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein and the monster that he creates are very similar. For example, Victor creates the monster to be like himself. Another similarity is that the anger of both Victor and the monster is brought about by society. One more parallel between Victor and the monster is that they both became recluses. These traits that Victor and the monster possess show that they are very similar.
“In the beginning GOD created the Heavens and the Earth”; thus, their power is limitless even in scenery. Mary Shelley’s 1816 gothic science fiction novel, Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus, introduces us to a young intellectually inquisitive man, Victor Frankenstein, who walks a thin line between scientific exploration and blasphemous conduct while attempting to bring glory to his name by creating a new species as if it were human. The setting in this novel highlights much significance: the unnatural occurrences of man have caused them to seek refuge in nature’s pure beauty implying the restorative powers of nature in the face of unnatural events.
Victor Frankenstein from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the embodiment of the Greek titan, Prometheus. Victor is controlled by his desire for results but he ignores his path to getting those results. It’s helpful that he is able to ignore reality when doing so because then he is able to focus more on the developments. Being on the selfish side, Victor Frankenstein never bothers with the questions such as “Why” but focuses on the “Why not”. Victor Frankenstein is the modern Prometheus because of his realization when reality does not match what he imagined, brute strength to compensate for his ignorance and constant reluctant to take responsibility for his actions.
Mary Shelly was absolutely correct when she compared Frankenstein to “The Modern Prometheus.” Frankenstein and Prometheus were similar in their character and how they wanted to help humanity, though one protagonist took it too far. They both attempted to be godlike by creating life and they suffered consequences for their actions. The mortal humans were in need of saving so two intelligent, gentle, men came forth to help. Did they try to become too godlike or were their attempts of helping the mortals of the world justified?
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus can be interpreted as a chilling warning of the dangers of scientific overreaching and ambition. Mary Shelley was already aware of the works of scientists such as Erasmus Darwin and was being influenced by writers such as Byron when, at “the age of nineteen, she achieved the quietly astonishing feat of looking beyond them and creating a lasting symbol of the perils of scientific Prometheanism” (Joseph, 1998, p, xiii). The fact that Shelley parallels her story of Frankenstein with the myth of Prometheus is interesting and gives an immediate insight into the extent of criticism she bestows on Victor Frankenstein’s scientific ambition. In one version of the Prometheus myth (Prometheus Pyprphoros) he brought down fire from the sun to succour mankind, and was then punished by being chained up with an eagle feasting on his liver in a perpetual cycle. In another version (Prometheus Plasticator) he animated a man from clay in an act of usurping God. The undoing of Frankenstein can be taken as a metaphor for either version and is key to understanding that as Shelley orchestrates Victor’s downfall she is presenting his actions as a warning of what horrors blind scientific ambition can wreak upon mankind.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is subtitled "The Modern Prometheus", and rightfully so. Prometheus, the Titan of Greek mythology that created man and gave them fire, is a fitting symbol for Victor Frankenstein, the man who created a "monster" and gave him life. The most obvious aspect of the similarity between Frankenstein and the Prometheus myth is the underlying theme - both stories deal with ill-fated actions with tragic consequences. The classic Prometheus stories, as told by Aeschylus, Percy Bysshe Shelley and summarized by Edith Hamilton, contain symbolic and thematic elements that closely parallel Mary Shelley's "modern Prometheus."
Prometheus tried to warn his brother to not accept any gift from the Olympians. However, when Epimetheus saw Pandora he forgot about his brothers warning. Pandora’s beauty and charm made a quick effect to the titan. Pandora arrived to Epimetheus with a box. This box was given to her by the gods and it contained evils for mankind. Instead of Pandora, being the evil punishment it was the box she carried that encased all the evil. When Pandora opens the box all the evil spirits fly out and spread evil all throughout the world. According to Harris (2008), “Other versions of Pandora myth indicate that the jar she brings with her contained not evils but blessings”. However, Hesiod version of this story Pandora lets out miseries for mankind. Thus, Hesiod illustrates Pandora as being a malevolent person that causes turmoil. This myth is a way for Hesiod to warn his fellow man against women. The gods are Hesiod’s way to say negative aspects about women that can derive from his own personal
Pandora was the first mortal woman who was made by the gods out of clay. Prometheus