Frankenstein: "The Modern Prometheus"

In the novel Frankenstein, which author Mary Shelley herself even subtitled "The Modern Prometheus," there are many allusions to the mythological character Prometheus, who the Greeks credit with the formation of human life from inanimate material. In Romantic works of writing, Prometheus typically represents the solitary intellectual who works to improve life on Earth, usually through a quest for scientific intelligence, and suffers some misfortune as a consequence of his research. In Frankenstein, Victor becomes consumed with his scientific quest, and dedicates all of his efforts to trying to create life from dead or decaying human body parts. Victor overextends his capabilities so much so that he cuts himself off from the rest of the world, neglecting to write even his dear friends and family, and drives himself mad with ambition. When he finally succeeds in creating "the monster," he realizes the horrible reality of what he has done, and acknowledges the demise to which his life is now permanently bound.

  
Above: Prometheus; Bottom: Victor Frankenstein as portrayed by Gene Wilder


Young Frankenstein also submits to hubris, or actions that degrade and dishonor subjects for personal gain, during his experiments to create human life from nonliving material. Victor admits that "a churchyard [is to him] merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of life, which, from being the seat of beauty and strength,
ha[ve] become food for worm"(46). He "spend[s] days and nights in vaults and charnel houses"(46), dissecting the bodies of the dead, which, at the time, was considered an utmost vulgar, disgusting, and sinful crime. Grave robbing and ripping apart corpses, though often for anatomical study and scientific gain, was condemned during the Romantic era. In fact, human corpse mutilation has been regarded as unlawful and heretic for centuries, which is why Victor's physiology studies are conducted in secret.


Images provided by:
http://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/prometheus-fire.jpg
http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-prn1/23156_1785102291_4581_n.jpg