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. In the myth of Prometheus, he creates man and steals the gift of fire to give to humanity. His punishment is eternal torture, having his liver eaten and regrown every night. Much like Prometheus, Viktor creates a ‘monster’ only for it to destroy him. The major similarity between Viktor and Prometheus is the consequences they dealt with after the making of their creations. Despite the thrill they got from creating life, both faced the harsh consequences of rebirth and were ripped away from their irrevocable attachment to creation. The most prominent similarity in this case comes from fire and lightning. It’s symbol provides not only a birth of life, but also of destruction, seeing that it holds so much power it becomes formidable. …show more content…
By connecting the character of Viktor to Prometheus, and adding an allusion to create a better understanding of the characters Shelley allows the reader to uncover the fate of both characters along with their creations and the punishments that follow. The connection to the greek myth, allows the readers to take on a second perspective when reading Frankenstein. The very prevalent themes enhance not only the authors writing but also the characters themselves. Overall, Shelley’s use of Prometheus as a silent background helped foreshadow the inevitable fate of Frankenstein's creator,
It is clear by analysing these stories that both protagonists were first abandoned by their creator and then once again by society. Shelley and Burton both effectively incorporated the techniques of setting and mood to portray moments of abandonment in both Edward and the monster’s lives. Consistent within various chapters of the Frankenstein novel, are scenes of the monster wandering around alone in different environments, portraying him to be a creature disregarded and abandoned by society. The diverse use of both change in setting, and mood of language, effectively displays the moments of abandonment that the monster is experiencing and hence allows the audience tio sympathise with his emotions.
The pregnant Mary Dempster delivers a malformed and unnaturally small new born child. That single moment of her life causes signification to compel and defy their own personal devil. In the same way, in Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein; the modern Prometheus, Victor Frankenstein’s ultimate accomplishment
How does Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands utilise characterisation, imagery and foreshadowing to demonstrate the theme of abandonment and its consequences? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands both explore the ideas of being misunderstood and rejected by society. Through his curiosity in the field of science, Victor Frankenstein envisions the creation of a being, not knowing what it would later become as a result of his neglect and lack of care towards it. Victor’s passion for science and his ambition to create his ‘monster’ causes him to feel guilt and regret, eventually resulting in his demise. On the other hand, Edward Scissorhands experienced a positive upbringing, with his creator
In this week 's reading, the texts that stood out to me would have to be the article “In Defense of Literary Adaptation and Cultural Production” and the X-files Frankenstein adaptation “The Postmodern Prometheus”. The latter being the first X-Files episode I ever watched, suffice to say it was an interesting adaptation. Being a sociology major, after watching the episode and then reading the article I genuinely became intrigued with literary interpretation through generations. As I’ve learned in previous classroom settings storytelling was brought to life for multiple reasons. The most prominent reason which comes to mind would be the spread of cultural knowledge whether it be language, rituals, education, entertainment, or warnings of past
Through the eyes of the monster, Viktor Frankenstein is seen as a God. Viktor is the one who delivered him the gift of life and provided him the freedom to live. The problem between the creation and creator arises when Viktor becomes fearful of his creation and refuses to help his monster navigate the complicated path of life. Viktor feels the monster is simply no longer his problem and allows his monster to experience emotions such as pain, isolation, and neglect all on his own without guidance. The common theme portrayed throughout Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is without proper guidance and a stable sense of acceptance one is destined to live a life of despair and resentment towards those who did not accept him.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a gothic novel that tells the story of scientist, Victor Frankenstein, and his obsession with creating human life. This leads him to creating a gruesome monster made of body-parts stolen from grave yards, whom upon discovering his hideousness, the monster seeks revenge against his creator, causing Victor to regret the creation of his monster for the rest of his life. Shelley uses the literary elements of personification, imagery, and similes to give a vivid sense and visualization of Victor Frankenstein’s thoughts and feelings as well as to allow us to delve deeper into the monster’s actions and emotions. Throughout the novel, Shelley uses personification of various forces and objects to reflect the effect in Victor’s actions.
Throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a great comparison is shown between Victor Frankenstein, the main character, and Prometheus, one of Greek mythology’s greatest Gods. Shelley borrows from the tale of Prometheus a consequence resulting from searching for a great source of enlightenment and power. In creating a being and giving it life, Frankenstein seems to take on the remarkable role of God which leads him to thinking that a power that is so heavenly cannot be played with by mankind. During his quest to expand his creative knowledge, abilities, drive, and ambition to know the origin of life, he puts himself in conflict. Frankenstein gambled his way into the godly realm without realizing he committed a sin by creating the monster, and
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
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the story of a young man named Victor Frankenstein who does the unthinkable, creates life from dead flesh. Victor is a young, educated and wealthy member of society who grows up in a loving home with high standards of ethics and morality. He creates a creature out of impulse with little thought of its future well-being and abandons it carelessly. The creature is left to discover life without teaching or direction. Only when the creature impacts Victor’s life, by taking away his loved ones, is Victor forced to deal with the consequences of his own actions.
Frankenstein In most fiction stories, there are always two characters that do or do not represent different sides of the same character. Frankenstein is a short gothic horror story written by Mary Shelley. Shelley writes about a scientist who created a being from dead body parts. Victor Frankenstein as the protagonist of the story created a monstrous character that was a reflection of himself.
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.
In the novel Frankenstein,by Mary Shelley, the mysterious and unnatural origins of the character of Frankenstein’s monster are an important element. The Monster, having been created unethically and haphazardly, is at odds throughout the novel, resulting in his alienation from society and prolonged feelings of anger, desertion, and loneliness. Shaping his character, his relationships with other characters, and the meaning of the work as a whole, the Monster’s origins are what define him. The Monster faces rejection and violence every time he attempts to make contact with the new, foreign world he has been thrust into.
The fictional horror novel of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is driven by the accentuation of humanity’s flaws. Even at the very mention of her work an archetypal monster fills one’s imagination, coupled with visions of a crazed scientist to boot. Opening her novel with Robert Walton, the conduit of the story, he also serves as a character to parallel the protagonist’s in many ways. As the ‘protagonist’ of the story, Victor Frankenstein, takes on the mantle of the deluded scientist, his nameless creation becomes the embodiment of a truly abandoned child – one left to fend for itself against the harsh reality posed by society. On the other hand, Walton also serves as a foil to Victor – he is not compulsive enough to risk what would be almost
A Monstrous Assembly: “The Modern Prometheus” Prometheus, a titan in Greek Mythology, is proclaimed to be the creator of mankind. However, the crux surrounding Prometheus is that he created people with fire stolen from Mount Olympus. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, presents the story of a man who has an unquenched thirst for knowledge. Thus, pushing him off of the brink of insanity, allowing his character to explore a soon to be familiar world of monstrosity and is exposed to imminent risk of disaster. This calamity is then presented when Victor is faced upon an eight foot tall, seemingly unnatural creature.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Critical Analysis About the author Naomi Hetherington is a member of the University of Sheffield, the department of lifelong learning. She is an early researcher in sexuality, religious culture, the 19th-century literature, and gender. She holds a BA in Theology and religious studies, an MA and a Ph.D. in Victorian Literature. She currently teaches four-year pathway literature degree at Sheffield University for students who have already attained foundation degrees. Among the books, she has written the critique of Frankenstein.