Allusions pervade Frankenstein. The novel commonly known as Frankenstein is subtitled The Modern Prometheus. According to the Greeks, Prometheus was given the task of creating man, which he is said to have created out clay. Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give to mankind. The gods, afraid that mankind would rival their power, punished Prometheus by chaining him to a rock where an eagle ate his liver which grew back each day. There are also allusions to Christianity when the monster is compared to Adam. The monster is also compared to the fallen angel – Satan – and Victor takes on comparisons to God. Shelley uses the following quote from Paradise Lost as an epigraph to the text:
"Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould me Man, did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me?"
– Paradise Lost, X, 743-45
To mould me Man, did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me?"
– Paradise Lost, X, 743-45
Do the book’s religious influences force characters to be either good or evil? What might Shelley be saying about this?
It seems like Shelley is alluding to the fact that all men are evil. Everyone is imperfect and everyone makes mistakes. The monster, whether compared to Satan or Adam, is perceived as a flawed individual in either comparison. Victor is compared to God which his own flaw. The creature seeks revenge on Victor because Victor attempted to play God. Even the characters who seem good, like Henry or Victor's family, ultimately are naive to the danger around them, which could be considered their own fatal flaw. Nobody is perfect and I think that is what Shelley is ultimately trying to point out.
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ReplyDeleteI thought the religious aspects did seem to force characters to be within a certain mold. The monster Victor made could not have been good for he was not created by God. To attempt to preform miracles reserved to God is typically a thing punished in Christianity, such as Satan's ambitions to rule as God did. Thus, religion affected the book in that it told a tale in which an ambitious man that defied God and created an ungodly monster was punished for his crime. I do not know the author's opinion on the subject, though. By making him violent, threatening, and physically ugly, she could be suggesting that evil was almost dormant within him. Yet by making the 'demon' sympathetic and intelligent, one could interpret she was suggesting that he had a chance to be good, unlike is what is expected of him.
ReplyDeleteNo matter the book there is always good and evil, one can simply not exist without the other.In Frankenstein the reader views the monster as evil and Victor as innocent. However, there is also a flip side to this. Victor abandoned his creature and the creature craved love. Victor is viewed as more of a God figure and the creature as Satan. Yet, these religious influences don't necessarily force the characters to be good or evil. Victor,although a god, is a neglect creator. While the creature is a loving murder.They have both good and evil within them.Shelley appears to show through this that all people have good and evil qualities. That no person, God or Satan, can be wholly good or wholly evil.
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ReplyDeleteAs Christine said, I do believe the religious aspects that Shelley uses present the reader with a bias on whether each character is good or bad. The idea that the creature is referred to as "the fallen angel" or Satan, does infer that he is a creature of evil. However, Shelley referring to Victor as god-like doesn't make him seem good to me; it seems she uses this comparison to point out that no one can act as God, but God himself.
ReplyDeleteVictor does resemble a god figure in the monsters eyes, he is his creator. The monster considers himself a demon/Satan which can be blamed on Victors nuture or lack of. All demons were angels at one point but fell into darkness, like the monster victor created him for good, and he choose an evil path almost like the angels that followed satan and rebelled agaisnt god in Paradise Lost.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I'd have to say I don't really see any connections religously in this book, I mean, yes, Victor kind of played the role of God by bringing life to this creature, but what can be made of this? God created the world and all human life and he loves his creation, but Victor never loved his creation. So if anything I think the message is that through envy, and obsession it will bring the downfall of us all.
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ReplyDeleteI can see the religious connection in Frankenstein causing a bias to make you see the characters as good or bad. The creature is seen as the fallen angel. Satan, had originally been good, but then became jealous of God and choose to rule in hell then be in the shadow of God. In the novel, the creature is at first innocent and good, then after being rejected by mankind for his appearance, he became jealous of his creator for having everything that he, the creature, could not have. I believe that Shelly is saying that everything is inherently good, but the world corrupts it. Having ambitions of doing God's work will leave you in misery, for it should not be done.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious as to whether or not anyone would repost after our discussion in class today. My hope is that after reading the short excerpt from Milton's "Paradise Lost" you are able to reason as to why Shelley included allusions to the text, God, Satan, and Adam.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that Frankenstein could be represented as God and the monster as an intended angel that falls just like that of Satan. The monster was designed to be a moral creation. It was suppose to be beautiful and pure. Its contribution to this world was suppose to help Victor receive his desires. Instead, everything went terribly wrong and his creation did not become the angel that he had intended it to be, so he left it, thus, driving it into a spiral of wickedness and placing it onto the path of a fallen angel. The monster fell because Victor couldn't love him or show him any signs of compassion.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the characters are forced to act one way or another. There is good and evil in everyone. The only thing that matters is your intentions. There is always a flip side to everyone actions. The creature is always seen to have been bad but, you never see the other side of it. He wants to be loved but that never happens because people are afraid of him. He then resorts to acting out just to get attention, he goes about it the wrong way but on the other hand no one ever taught him the right way to act. In this book Victor is also seen as good. What I think people don't realize is that he is responsible for all of the bad things that happen in the book. He never took responsibility for his actions. I think that Shelley wanted us to realize that everyone has good and bad in them. What really matters are your intentions and actions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kenzie that when Shelley refers to the monster as the "fallen angel" that he is an evil person. Being considered that dooms the creature into being an evil being. Like we talked about during class about the Heaven of Hell and Hell of Heaven, the creature made harming Victor's family his Heaven. But in reality, it was drawing him away from the ultimate Heaven into Hell. The creature can also be compared to Satan because he tormented Victor. Satan's job is to torment people and to tempt them to do the wrong thing. I also agree with Rosie that Shelley intended that everything was created to be good but some things have gotten corrupt and caused those things to become evil.
ReplyDeleteThe religious aspects of the book do force the characters to do bad things. I believe Shelley wanted to get across that if you betray "God's Law(s)" then there will be punishment; i.e. when Victor played God and created life, he was punished severely for that, much like Prometheus. Victor was "chained" down to his home to try and protect his family while the monster (eagle) killed one of his friends/family one by one. I believe that because of the very important choices the characters make throughout the book, decides the reaction level by religious intervention, consequently making their fate good/bad. Shelley is saying that actions have consequences, she believes that one can do whatever they want but there will be consequences for them if they aren't careful like Frankenstein, and I think that she believes these consequences come from a higher order (religious influence).
ReplyDelete-Mitchell Harger
With the reference to The Modern Prometheus the author is showing the relationship between Prometheus and Victor. The two have the similarities of creating life, yet both are punished in a different way for different reasons. Victor is punished for creating life and is punished by having his creation kill his loved ones and destroy his life, while Prometheus is punished for stealing from the gods and has his liver eaten every day. The relationship between the monster and the fallen angel is the second comparison of religious figures within the book. Both have felt betrayed by their once master and now seek to destroy everything that is good in there life. The monster attempts to do this by killing all of his family members while Satan attempts to raise a rebellion against god and turn all that is good into evil.
ReplyDeleteI believe that religion does play a major part in shaping the characters. For example, because the monster was not created by God it could never be good. Like Brittany said, Frankenstein could be compared to God and the monster could be compared to the "Fallen Angel".
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