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Victor Frankenstein And Modern Prometheus Analysis

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Marry Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ or ‘The Modern Prometheus’, largely resembles the Greek myth, where the subject makes severe mistakes, attempting to play god, as he disregards the ethics of humanity, as well as his own moral. Victor Frankenstein, who is the ‘Modern Prometheus’ in Mary Shelley’s novel, attempt to do the impossible – create life! While the Greek Prometheus (a titan), commits three sins against Zeus, one of them being the giving of fire to humans. Both are in their own way absurd, however in both cases, they succeed. However both are subjected to either pain or suffering, whether it is physical or mental, after realizing what they have done. Victor Frankenstein’s insatiable scientific drive surpasses the limit, as he creates life and later comes face to face with it; by doing so he comes face to face with his moral code and his judgment of right and wrong, while Prometheus is punished by Zeus in three different manners, one of which is having his liver eaten by birds everyday, while strapped to a rock. They are similar as they both got punished for initially trying to help humanity. The two main characters of ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Legend of Prometheus’ are in many …show more content…

Both Victor and Prometheus are stubborn and are prepared to follow through with their ideologies and ideas to achieve their goals. In both cases the goal is to create life. Frankenstein said "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"

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Sacrificing. Suffering. Despising. The novel Frankenstein by Marie Shelly tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a grotesque creature in an experiment trying to invent life of his own. Victor regrets his action so turns the creature lose to the world and closes himself in his abysm of thoughts.

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He had not thought about the downfall his actions could bring until after the monster was created. This novel is often referred to as The Modern Prometheus. In greek mythology, Prometheus is known for stealing fire from the gods, and giving it to mankind. This can be compared to Victor because he stole God’s job; he created life. Victor abused his understanding of human anatomy and created another being, which led to disaster in his life.

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Elana Sargent Instructor Toni J. Weeden Honors Senior English 7 November 2017 Prometheus Versus Frankenstein In the novel “Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus” by Mary Shelley, many underlying references connect straight back to a story from Greek Mythology about the original Prometheus. The main character, Victor Frankenstein, possesses many qualities that can also be found in this Greek Titan. Shelley added this subtitle in order for readers to understand that her main character was most likely created with Prometheus in mind, as she gave Frankenstein the same intellectual and rebellious mannerisms as the Titan.

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In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, it scrutinizes the punishments when a man creates life, and plays the role of God. Victor Frankenstein, is at fault for the creature’s actions. Victor was looking for some honor and triumph, but when he accomplished his experiment, not only did it bring terror to Victor, but to the whole world. The monster never learned right from wrong and was never raised correctly, his first moment of life, all he experienced was the fear in Victor's emotion, and was abandoned right from the start. Victor selfishly isolated himself from society and ran away from his responsibilities which caused destruction to the people Victor cared for and loved deeply.

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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

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A timeless human goal has always been to set visionary goals to advance the coming generations. Although many results can be successful, a great number of them can turn out deadly. In the novel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley illustrates the result of a man’s visionary motive of creating life, which consequents into the birth of the deadly creature. The creatures understanding of justice is based on eliminating anyone or anything preventing him from reaching his goal; accordingly, his actions to attempt revenge upon Victor only led to his downfall throughout the novel. The creature’s understanding of justice and it’s revenge against Victor is the driving force of the story because it builds up the anticipation the reader has for the final confrontation.

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Frankenstein Literary Criticism Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, is filled with motifs of Nature and companionship. During the Romantic period or movement, when the novel Frankenstein was written, nature was a huge part of romanticism. Nature was perceived as pure, peaceful, and almost motherly. As we read the novel through Victor Frankenstein 's perspective, we the readers can see how romanticized-nature is perceived as by those who find comfort in nature. This novel also contains, in addition to romantic elements, heavy-filled gothic scenes and descriptions.

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Duality is shown in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, a gothic tale of a scientist whom looks to advance the life-giving qualities of mother nature. Through this novel, Shelley proves that good and evil in human nature is not always simple to define, and that everyone has both of these qualities within them. The duality of human nature is shown through the characters of Victor Frankenstein and his monster, who are both heroes in the novel while simultaneously displaying anti-hero qualities. Shelley forces the reader to sympathize with them both but also creates gruesome ideas of the two. Frankenstein’s creature places himself in a submissive position when he begs his creator to have mercy on him and asking the creator to “create a female for [him] with whom [he] can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for [his] being.”

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The knocking stopped suddenly although it’s echos were still in the house. “I’m sorry” The words resounded through the room, giving off an eerie atmosphere. Mrs.White slowly turned around, a mix of both fear and desperation in her eyes. “You didn’t” she whispered, as tears threatened to fall.

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Victor questions why men so instinctively attempt to become superior to nature when men are also a product of nature. He criticizes that if humans reverted to our primal instincts, “hunger, thirst, and desire” (67) that we’d be free, or content with our lives. This is his subliminal self-reflection as he understands that seeking the secret to life, by creating the monster, did not bring him happiness but rather brought him misery and self-loathing. In this last line of the passage, Shelley highlights a major morale and theme of the story which is using science to tamper with nature, a critique against the enlightenment period. The consequences of Frankenstein’s creation have not only caused the death of William and Justine but will also become the reason for his own inevitable doom

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“Whenever the creation order is inverted, there is disorder, destruction, and death. When we tamper with this order, even a little, we become life-takers rather than life-givers”(J. Ligon Duncan III ). This quote plays a large part in the overall literature that is Frankenstein; it pulls together the attributes of the story in a way I haven’t seen before. This essay will be focusing on the relationship between the gothic novel of Frankenstein, and the greek myth of Prometheus. It will be a compare and contrast of the dueling stories.

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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.

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Frankenstein In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a conflict as old as life itself emerges as the story progresses; parent versus posterity in a struggle for reconciliation. Victor Frankenstein and his creation become tied up in a constant battle as the creation seeks his origins, finding a horrifying truth; the creator had abandoned the creation. This central conflict derives from the creation of the creature, inability of Frankenstein to appreciate his creation, and the creation’s need for a parental figure. The conflict addresses themes of the book such as human desires for prestige, acceptance, and the intimacy of a relationship with one’s creator.

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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,

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He also views Victor Frankenstein as the modern Prometheus that is stated in the title of the book. He argues Victor rebels against the divinely arranged order, steals spark from heaven, as illustrated in the book and creates a creature in his image (Cantor para. 3). However, just like Prometheus, he ends up bringing destruction and disaster upon the very people he was trying to help. The monster created by Victor plays a good role of the Prometheus in Shelly’s story (Shelley 104). Moreover, Paul also agrees with the Hetherington’s view that Frankenstein despite playing the role of God in creating the monster, he also compares himself to Satan.

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