Analyzing Frankenstein as the Modern Prometheus

The myth of Prometheus is a Greek tale of the creation of man. Prometheus is chosen to form the body of man and gives it a likeness similar to that of the gods. In return for granting the allowance of living man, the Greek god Zeus demanded to be paid in a sacrificial manner of every animal killed by man. Prometheus tricked Zeus into choosing the bones and fat of the animals to be accepted as the sacrifice. "In his anger over the trick," the temperamental Zeus "took fire away from man."(page 281) Prometheus, which also means or embodies

"foresight" (http://mural.uv.es/madelos/prometheus), had the insight to see that fire would be a valuable commodity for survival, and delivered more fire to man. This angered Zeus yet more, and the god ordered conditionally eternal suffering of Prometheus by an eagle devouring his liver, and the first lady, Pandora, to be sent to earth to torment mankind and the brother of Prometheus, Epimetheus. Epimetheus embodies

"hindsight" (http://mural.uv.es/madelos/prometheus) in the way that Prometheus embodies foresight. This symbolizes how the being Prometheus realizes that fire would be a very beneficial possession, but looking back the being Epimetheus is tortured by Pandora and her jar because of the realization that it is not wise to try to play in the role of a god (Zeus took away fire, and being the leading god, should not have been ignored by fire being returned to man behind Zeus's back). The beautiful Pandora torments mankind by succumbing to temptation and opening the forbidden jar, unleashing terrible things on the world such as disease, war, and the need to work to live.

Shelly's Frankenstein is referred to as "the Modern Prometheus," because of numerous parallels in the two tales. The Dr. Frankenstein manages to create a semblance of man and give it life. However, Dr. Frankenstein is an obsessive character and becomes so absorbed in creating his monster that he does not give pause to consider foresight. The doctor plays god not in giving something material (like fire) but by giving his being sentient life. As in the myth of Prometheus, Frankenstein must be punished. This punishment is distributed by the monster breaking down and becoming a homicidal sociopath. This flow of evil after the monster's mentality cracks can be related to Pandora's box being cracked open and letting evil flow amongst the people of the world. As in the Greek story, Epimetheus can do nothing to abate the pains and tortures set loose, but watch; just as how, in hindsight, Frankenstein can do nothing but chase his creature in futility. Prometheus's punishment, being chained to a mountain with an eagle picking at his inner organs until certain conditions are met (an immortal dies and a mortal kills the great bird), is similar to the way Frankenstein is punished by having to chase his creature through tundras and ice until a certain condition is met (in his case being death). Frankenstein and Bad Parenting

Susan Coulter's essay on Frankenstein related to parenting and social development is primarily based on the "nurturing" school of thought in terms of the nature versus nurture debates in science. Coulter quotes Maslow's "Hierarchy of Human Needs" which include the needs in chronologically obtained order for a mentally healthy being as physiological, security, social, and esteem.

Frankenstein's monster manages entirely on his own to cope with his physiological needs in due time. He learns to consume to quench his pangs of hunger and thirst almost immediately by being awoken from sleep and intuitively grabbing berries and visiting a nearby brook (page 125). He then feels the need for shelter and warmth as displayed by his comment after achieving his goal of finding a place out of weather and in range of a food supply (page 130) "I retreated and lay down happy to have found a shelter, however miserable, from the inclemency of the season…" This is when he discovers the qualities of fire and ends up in the De Laceys' hovel. This gives him security, a place to reside where he can sleep out of harsh winds and precipitation.

Living next to the De Laceys also gives Frankenstein's monster the first tastes of normal social interaction. "I longed to join them, but dared not," (page 134) remarks the creature. He knows the accompaniment of other sentient beings will help him become a happy person, but is nervous. The creature was nervous because slightly earlier, "the whole village was rouse; some fled, some attacked me, until…[I] fearfully took refuge in a low hovel…" The unwillingness of the creature to approach the De Laceys until many months later signifies the downward slope of the monster's self-esteem. Many events encourage the monster to become less sure of himself and lose self-esteem and his feeling of self-worth. When he looks in the reflection of the water and is repulsed by his own physical characteristics is one, as is the time when he was shot after saving a little girl from death by drowning. "An idea seized me that this little creature was unprejudiced and had lived too short a time to have imbibed a horror of deformity"(page 172) is the thoughts of the monster during a turning point in his mental condition. The little boy did in fact feel filled with horror at the sight of the creature and the monster felt intense loneliness and lost his esteem for mankind as a whole, shortly committing his first murder to spite his creator ("my enemy is not invulnerable; this death will carry despair to him"). If Frankenstein had not been revolted by his creation, and had actually cared after the monster, the monster would not have felt entirely alone, and would also never have felt the need to spite Frankenstein. When the creature's own "father" was filled with fear and hatred at the sight of his creation, the monster was not instilled with good qualities such as open-mindedness or requited love.

"I love Elizabeth and look forward to our union with delight. Let the day therefore be fixed…
…I should almost regard him as invincible, and that when he had pronounced the words 'I shall be with you on your wedding-night,' I should regard the threatened fate as unavoidable. But death was no evil to me…" (page 231)

This passage is spoken by Dr. Frankenstein, at first speaking to his father and then later remembering the threats of his monster. It gives the reader some insight to the character properties of Frankenstein as a person. He appears to not hold women in a very intellectually equal light, and is also very self-centered.

Frankenstein tells his father he will marry Elizabeth without consulting Elizabeth, since she was expected entirely to agree and be very happy in marrying Victor. This could be seen as part of the product of the times, being that in the 1700's women were not really given options the way men were. However, it still reflects on the selfish nature of Frankenstein, that he should decide he will get married and actually have the plans follow through without first asking the other party if it would be acceptable.

In regards to his creation, Frankenstein is also very selfish. He is terrified of the monster and will not get over it in order to give the creature guidance, except for a space of a few moments when he thinks "did I not as his maker owe him all the portion of happiness that it was in my power to bestow?" (page 178). This is how eventually the monster gets Frankenstein to agree to create a bride. Unfortunately, later in the story Frankenstein goes back on his word, destroying the unfinished bride and making himself unhonorable and shifting his monster into a vengeant, demoniacal, stalking maniac.

The creature threatens Frankenstein by saying that he will see the doctor on his wedding night. More of Frankenstein's self-centered nature shines through as he assumes that the monster wishes to kill himself. The thought never occurs to Frankenstein that the monster may go after his new wife - "Great God! If for one instant I had thought what might be the hellish intention of my fiendish adversary, I would rather have banished myself for ever from my native country and wandered a friendless outcast over the earth than have consented to this miserable marriage."(page 231) While the events are transpiring, Frankenstein thinks that the monster would go after him and put him gracefully out of life and responsibility, not that Frankenstein ever took responsibility for his creature. If Frankenstein had not been so focused and concentrated upon himself, it would have been immediately obvious that the monster was planning on making Frankenstein suffer as much as possible before his death because of his betrayal.