Allusions To Paradise Lost In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Brandon McCormick
Ms. Headley
English 2013
8 December 2014
Allusions to Paradise Lost in Frankenstein
In the nineteenth century gothic novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses numerous allusions within her novel that can easily be interpreted by the reader. These allusions make it easier for readers to understand the characters and compare their circumstances throughout the story. The most significant and most used was from John Milton’s epic Paradise Lost. It is known that, “…Paradise Lost stands alone in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries atop the literary hierarchy, and Milton’s epic is clearly rooted in the history of Puritanism and in the bourgeois ideal of the individual, the ‘concept of the person as a relatively autonomous self-contained

Satan is similar to the Monster in a way that he is also alone. Satan is also made in the appearance of God like Adam is. Though the Creature is not made in any image of his creator, he still states, “Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition, for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me” (Shelley 124). The Monster is able to relate to Lucifer’s relationship with his creator. They are both disturbed and angry for the way they end up becoming. This is the main cause that both seek retaliation on their

Though Victor does nothing wrong to Frankenstein, he too is cast down in a way to his own internal “Hell.” He has to force himself into isolation from any human contact due to people being afraid of him. The Monster tries numerous times to befriend humans, just as Satan tries to befriend Adam and Eve. God attempts to isolate Satan from human contact because he initially wants to cause harm to mankind. Satan and the Monster soon escape their cages and come in contact with humans. This causes trouble to mankind in both of the stories. The Monster tries to comply with humans in a virtuous way for a second time, but once again receives hatred in response. Satan’s contact with humans begins with Eve, who he persuades to turn to sin. The Monster and Satan both seek revenge on their creators. The Creature begins with killing the people that are most dear to Victor. Satan does the same thing in a similar way by bringing death to God’s own children. Lucifer causes trouble and even mortality to Adam and Eve’s perfect life. Once he introduces sin to them, all of God’s children thereafter are doomed. It is from these actions, that it is easily said that the Monster and Satan are damned for eternity. Victor Frankenstein can be compared with Eve from Paradise Lost. Victor and Eve both have a strong ambition for searching for an expansion of knowledge. They are also both tempted to expand their knowledge by an