Frankenstein
According to the Greek poet Hesiod, the Titan demi-god Prometheus was responsible for the creation of men. He manufactured them from clay, from the natural earth. When Mary Shelley wrote or the Modern Prometheus, she left little doubt that the creator of the monster, Victor , by making a living creature from inaminate parts was a new Prometheus. But her metaphor extends beyond the immediately obvious. In Hesiod’s myth, Prometheus had an inflated sense of self importance and was determined to be adored by men. Because men had no control over fire they were destined to remain mere animals. The forbidden knowledge of fire, the most basic and natural form of energy was the domain of the ...
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women, they would undergo birth by procreation, and consequently old age, suffering and death. She was given a box which contained all manner of misery and evils and was responsible for letting them escape, to torment humankind forever. Secondly, Zeus caught Prometheus, chained him to a rock, and each day an eagle would visit him and feed on his liver. Prometheus’ liver, however, replenished itself overnight, so he was condemned not so much to a single act of punishment but to perpetual torture. This is the price of tampering with nature. Prometheus’ ultimate downfall was caused, not by a poorly executed theft, but by the driving force of his own self-interest. By characterising Prometheanism, Mary Shelley’s is a critique of male egoism.
Shelley represents male egoism through the assertiveness of her glory seeking characters. The attitude of her narrator, Robert Walton, is typified by his belief in his ‘God given right’ to have ultimate success in Arctic explorations. He writes ...
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belonging to the brave men who encountered death and honour, and the benefit of mankind”(214). Despite Victor’s rousing speech, the crew resolve to return to the safety and warmth of ‘Mother England’, no longer able to call themselves ‘true men’. Or, perhaps they have some forethought that, in finding absolution in ‘Walton The Confessor’, Victor’s parting words would be, “Seek happiness in tranquillity, and avoid ambition...”(217). With these last words, Victor is finally able to release himself from his dogma of glory and from life itself but his unflagging egoism will not let him concede that he might have acted in error: “I have myself been blasted in these hopes (of discovery), yet ...
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Frankenstein. (2006, October 1). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Frankenstein/53226
"Frankenstein." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 1 Oct. 2006. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Frankenstein/53226>
"Frankenstein." Essayworld.com. October 1, 2006. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Frankenstein/53226.
"Frankenstein." Essayworld.com. October 1, 2006. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Frankenstein/53226.
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