An Analysis of the Subtitle ‘the Modern Prometheus’ with Reference to the Character of Viktor Frankenstein in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein free essay sample

The Modern Prometheus’ with reference to the character of Viktor Frankenstein in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. The idea of man’s attaining God like power, challenging the authority of the divine and having a homocentric world was the interest of the nineteenth century scientists, physician and other natural philosophers. They dissected and experimented on many living things including humans in order to gain the knowledge of the insides of the human body and explored every possible way to create life. The idea of a ‘mad scientist’ in Viktor and the concept of creating life in a laboratory originated with Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus (1818). Authors such as Poe, R. L. Stevenson, H. G. Wells and many more followed Shelley’s lead and incorporated science fiction as a genre in their works. Shelly’s Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus is Man’s challenge to the authority of creation which is limited only to God and constantly seeking to define his place in the universe. We will write a custom essay sample on An Analysis of the Subtitle ‘the Modern Prometheus’ with Reference to the Character of Viktor Frankenstein in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Viktor, born into a wealthy family in Geneva, is encouraged to seek a greater understanding around him through science and he becomes so obsessed that he plans to reanimate life and hence works very hard in his mission. Frankenstein reflects the interest of early nineteenth-century world in biology and experiments on animals to revive the drowned and the newly dead, and reanimating dead tissue using electricity. These researchers sought to benefit humankind and to end death and disease through their investigations into â€Å"the secrets of nature. † Both parts of the title of Shelleys book refer to the main character of the story; they refer to the scientist Victor Frankenstein whom she termed as the ‘Modern Prometheus’. While the first part of the title mentions that the book could be taken as a biography of Viktor Frankenstein, the second part of the title brings up a question of interpretation. To understand the Promethean theme in Shelleys book, it is very important to know the story of Prometheus: In subtitling her novel The Modern Prometheus, Mary Shelley drew upon the mythological figure of the Greek Titan, Prometheus, who was punished by Zeus for giving fire, a symbol of knowledge, to humankind. Prometheus wanted to create a being which was able to absorb spirit, took clay and water and shaped human beings according to the image of the gods. Athene gave the creatures divine breath and shortly after the creation a great number of men lived in the world. Now Zeus and his fellows became aware of them and wanted to be adored by the human beings. The gods promised to take care of the human beings if they adore the gods and said what exactly they had to do in order to be protected. Prometheus went to Zeus as a lawyer of humanity to see to it that the conditions would not be too hard and stole a piece of the sun in order to provide fire to the humans. As a result Zeus got very angry and had Prometheus tied up to a rock of the Kaukasus to be tortured every day. For Shelley and her contemporaries, Prometheus represented the human desire to comprehend the universe. In her transformation of the Promethean myth, Mary Shelley created a new and dangerous story about discovery that is carried out for private gain and personal ambition, rather than for the enlightenment of all. The protagonist, Victor Frankenstein initially sees his actions as bringing wisdom and enlightenment to humanity much as Prometheus brought light and warmth to mankind, jumpstarting civilization. As time goes on, Frankenstein begins to see himself as a twisted version of Prometheus who has brought not enlightenment, but destruction and terror to the world. The being he creates turns against him due to his neglect and despise towards his creation. He can also be viewed as a reflection of the aristocracy of the time, who themselves created one of their biggest problems: the middle class and forgot to take care of them in turn, he gets himself and the whole world into trouble.. Members of the aristocracy and upper class, such as Rousseau and Burke, advocated for the education of all citizens, but it was this education that allowed the underprivileged to gain wealth and influence to the point where they threatened the supremacy of the aristocracy. This allows us to view Frankenstein almost as an amalgam of Zeus and Prometheus, as he wishes to come to humanity’s aid like Prometheus, but instead finds himself creating problems for them such as Zeus often did. Gautam Keisham http://gokeisham. blogspot. in/