The Ancient Myth of Prometheus
A tale of Greek mythology, this story tells the tale of the God Prometheus, who was responsible for moulding man out of clay in the image of the Gods. For centuries, humans and Gods live in harmony, because the Gods had a power that their human counterparts did not; the ability to create and use fire. Zeus forbid Prometheus from giving the humans the gift of fire, but one year, Prometheus disobeyed his orders. Wanting to create a similarly powerful species, he introduced humankind to fire, which then led to war between the Gods and mankind. For his actions, Prometheus was imprisoned and tortured for decades. Shelley’s novel is poignantly subtitled ‘The Modern Prometheus,’ which invites her readers to draw a distinct association between the protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, and the rebel God Prometheus. In place of Prometheus’ fire, Victor’s use of electricity as a life-giving source aligns with the ‘modern’ component of the title. Shelley thus implies that, like Prometheus, Victor is an overachiever, whose unbridled thirst for knowledge led him to overstep his moral boundaries and usurp God’s omnipotence.
Paradise Lost and The Book of Genesis
Paradise Lost is an epic poem written by John Milton. Interestingly, it presents Satan as a likeable antagonist, and is essentially a story of a fallen hero (Satan, or in Shelley’s novel, the Creature) taking on an authoritarian ruler (God, or in Shelley’s novel, Victor Frankenstein). In Paradise Lost, the idea of original sin is explored through the sexual attraction between Adam and Eve, but broadly, it suggests that as humans, we are all flawed. In Frankenstein, it is the Creature’s discovery of Milton’s poem when he is observing the De Lacey family that prompts the Creature to question the injustice of his creation and subsequent abandonment. He is able to compare God’s creation of Adam and Eve with that of Victor’s creation of himself, and is filled with hatred for his own creator. Calling Victor out for his paternal failings, the Creature laments that whilst he “ought to be [Victor’s] Adam,” he was rather the “fallen angel” and where “God made man beautiful... [the Creature] was only a filthy form of [Victor’s].” In many ways, the Creature’s ability to connect with Milton’s poem evokes a desire to punish Victor, and acts as a catalyst for his descent into evil.
It is also important to note the epigraph from the poem at the beginning of the text which reads:
“did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould me man? Did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me?”
Therefore, the poem is used to establish a certain tone amongst readers from the outset. It appears to be a direct instruction from Shelley to intimate who she wants readers to sympathise with.
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner is also an epic poem and is referenced multiple times throughout Frankenstein. The section of the poem important for our understanding is when a ship exploring the icy climes of the South Pole come across an albatross whose presence appears to be a good omen. Each day that the albatross comes, the ship is granted strong and accurate winds. However, one day, the Mariner who narrates the poem, shoots and kills the albatross for no apparent reason. As punishment for harming the innocent and almighty dominion of nature, the mariner is forced to wear the dead albatross around his neck, to constantly remind him of the brevity of his actions. Ultimately, the albatross around the Mariner’s neck, in combination with the death of his sailors, causes the Mariner to have an epiphany, realising the value and equality between all of God’s creatures.
Like many of the allusions in Frankenstein, Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner intends to analyse and question mankind’s assumption that they may assume dominance of the natural world. Robert Walton’s expedition eerily parallels with the Mariner’s, however Victor can also be likened to the Mariner as they both violate the laws of nature and are forever weighed down by the guilt that accompanies the consequences of their actions.
Aligning with the doppelganger discussion, where Walton and Victor differ is that Walton is able to learn from Coleridge’s poem and respect the power of nature, whereas Victor, like the Mariner, refuses to respect the dominance of nature and suffers for it. It comes to depict the guilt and isolation experienced by characters who commit acts of immorality.
Sorrows of Young Werther
The Creature comes across this semi-autobiographical book when he is still living nearby the De Lacey family. Whilst much of the story has little to do with Frankenstein, the text does play a key role in the Creature’s development of feelings and emotions. Broadly, The Sorrows of Young Werther is a tale of how yearning for love and companionship only brings about misery and loneliness. Hence, reading this book normalises the idea of desiring human connection for the Creature, and allows him to associate his lack of connections to his suffering. It also introduces the Creature to the concept of suicide, or ending life, which, we can infer, shaped his thought processes at the end of the novel.
Plutarch’s Lives
Yet another book discovered nearby the De Lacey house, Plutarch’s Lives taught the Creature about the history and hierarchy of human society. He acknowledges the role this book placed in shaping his value systems, as it inspired in him the “greatest ardour for virtue” and “abhorrence for vice.” Ultimately, this collection of books that the Creature miraculously stumbles upon serve to shape his worldview, and although none of these texts are intrinsically good or evil, the fact that they contribute to the Creature’s psyche shows how the quest for lofty ideals and “virtues” can nevertheless bring about pain and unhappiness.
Mutability
An excerpt from Percy Shelley’s poem ‘Mutability’ is found in Chapter II of Volume 2 when Victor ascends the summit of Montanvert and is confronted by the incredible power of the sublime. Situating the excerpt at this point is compelling because it calls into question the volatility of human life. It shows that mankind is not immortal, and that, despite Victor’s best efforts to be remembered, individual existence is always forgotten after a time. That Victor is able to finally realise this acts as a critical turning point in the text, where he begins to question himself and his actions to the point where he is able to appreciate the pointlessness of his pursuit for otherworldly glory.
