...restraint/And knew not eating death” (Milton Book IX 790-791. This quote by poet John Milton perfectly describes Victor Frankenstein from Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein, and his unbridled ambitions. Frankenstein sought to create a new species of superior beings by together bodies and imbuing them with life, but soon realized his mistakes which cost him the lives of friends and family. Prior to his first successful creation, Frankenstein set himself up as God, and later his creation found that it resembled Adam. In a tale about the genesis of a race, it is natural that it would be rife with religious allusions, and indeed Shelley brings up John Milton’s Paradise Lost, an epic poem about the creation of...
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...Allusions in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Throughout the novel, Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, allusions to famous pieces to literature, including parts of mythology and the Bible, are often used to foreshadow events from another story to Frankenstein, and to connect stories for better understanding to what the point of the particular part of the book is. Pieces of literature including Prometheus, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the Inferno, the Bible and Paradise Lost are often referred to throughout the book, especially Prometheus, the sub title of the book is The Modern Prometheus, Shelley is obviously alluding to the myth of Prometheus. Shelley would have never put the subtitle of the book as The Modern Prometheus if she didn’t want her audience to consider it while reading Frankenstein. In the myth Prometheus, Prometheus created man out of clay, as well stole fire from the sun, and gave to man. The actions of Prometheus made Zeus very angry, and he was condemned for his said actions, his punishment was to be bound to a rock for eternity while an eagle pecked at his liver. In Frankenstein, no one was condemned to have their liver pecked at, but Frankenstein was condemned by having his whole family murdered by the monster. He wanted to play God, and create something, and just like in Prometheus, a new creation was made, and because someone else wanted to play God, they were punished. On page 45, Shelley clearly alludes to Prometheus with the creation of man by clay...
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...In Frankenstein, many biblical allusions are made, specifically the idea of a creator and servants. For example, the creation of the monster by Victor Frankenstein can relate back to the creation story in the Bible in differents ways. First of all, Frankenstein gives the misfit creature life, but not shelter or food. Similarly, God also breathed life into Adam and Eve, more broadly creating the human race. In both instances, a new race of species is born to inhabit the earth. Additionally, the demon in Frankenstein requests a female as a companion much like how Eve is created for Adam. However, Victor Frankenstein later “sacrifices” the creation of the female monster to save the world from the destruction the pair could bring to humans if the...
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...Adam as well as Victor were looking to have the knowledge that was implied only for God. In his refusal to make one more beast, Victor further separates himself in my mind from the allusion to him being God. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, their countless recommendations to God and also the scriptures, particularly the book of Genesis. Intertextual insinuations are utilized by writers making the viewers think past the significance of the text before them. It needs the reader to additional look into the second message as well as discover the concepts and also indicating the writer is attempting to share by alluding to it. A writer's function could not constantly be totally clear, and could leave the interpretation up to the reader. These allusions are never arbitrary;...
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...In Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus, Shelley alludes to many other pieces of work such as Rime of the Ancient Mariner and biblical stories such as Paradise Lost constantly throughout the book. All of these allusions carry a compelling meaning between Frankenstein and the other literary work. Shelley’s reasoning for using various pieces of literature in her novel was to compare the characters in her novel to the other characters in the other works. The main characters in Shelley’s novel all portray other characters form the literary works in a way due to their actions and thinking. Frankenstein alludes to the literary works of Prometheus, Paradise Lost, and Rime of the Ancient Mariner to emphasize the certain actions that occur in the novel and how they are similar to the alluded works. All of these allusions provide insight to the actions of the characters and the characters in general. Many of the literary pieces alluded to in the novel are referenced by the protagonists in the story. In fact, the monster is taught how to speak by reading Paradise Lost, after stealing it and through this; he learns the concept of good and evil. The characters are aware of these works and realize that their actions are similar to those of the characters in the other literary works. All of the literary works deal with great tragedy but the protagonists in Frankenstein don’t seem to realize that even though they are acting a lot like the other characters in the literary...
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...Frankenstein Biblical Allusions Essay Marco Ng Mrs. Hawes English 11 14 January 2016 To what extent does one’s collective intellect and diligence increase his/her capacity to achieve greatness? Is it feasible to believe that humanity—with adequate knowledge and wisdom— may be capable in imitating the abilities and power of God? These questions are flamboyantly revealed in the novel, Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelly, as a result of numerous biblical allusions focusing on the relationship between Victor Frankenstein and the monster. Through the biblical allusions in Frankenstein, Victor and the monster are utilized to emphasize the terror of uncertain human boundaries and also portray the duality of the two questionable protagonists in the novel. The duality depicted serves to critique the dominant religious beliefs developed up to the time period of the novel and challenge the axioms formed due to religious faith towards the Bible. The primary biblical allusion illustrated in Frankenstein is the reflection of Victor and the monster as creator and creation. In other words, Victor represents God and the monster represents Adam. By forming this allusion, Shelley illustrates the uncertain boundaries of human capability and arouses fear towards the power of human achievement. This biblical allusion inducing fear in human achievement first appears in chapter four through implicative dialogues involving the reanimation of life. While Victor defines reanimation, he accentuates...
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...Frankenstein Essay Assignment For this essay, you will choose a focus in the novel, Frankenstein, and create an original argument based on it. Your writing may be strictly literary analysis or it may take the form of a compare/contrast essay that works to connect an aspect of the novel to concepts or events outside the book. You are free to choose whatever focus you like in the novel. A good starting point is to consider what aspects of Frankenstein interest you most as you read it; for example you might be particularly drawn to the monster’s development, the relationship between Victor and Walton, Victor and the monster, the role of women, the nature vs. nurture debate, the importance of companionship, or the role of nature in the book. Here are some topic ideas that you may choose if you would like to connect the novel to outside sources: 1) Psychology/Identity formation- research child development, nature vs. nurture, and connect what you find to the monster’s development in the novel. What does Shelley’s novel seem to suggest about how identity is formed? Compare and contrast Shelley’s views with your research. 2) Philosophy- Shelley was heavily influenced by Locke and Rousseau, two major philosophical thinkers. Read excerpts of their works, and apply concepts from their writings to the novel. 3) Shelley’s biography- If you are interested in learning more about the writer behind the story, this is a good option for you. It won’t take you long to see...
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...Mary Shelley in her novel uses the mentions of the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner to give correlations which give the reader a more profound comprehension and association with Frankenstein and its characters. In Frankenstein, Shelley refers to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner several times throughout her novel. In letter 2, chapter 5, Victor goes to the arctic to eventually find his creature. The mariner, Robert is also in the arctic. Victor Frankenstein feared deep down the monster he had created. In addition, the mariner moreso, feared the revenge of the albatross. In the novel, Victor says, “Like one who, on a lonely road doth walk in fear and dread, and, having one turn'd round, walks on, and turns no more his head; because he knows...
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...Both Frankenstein and Blade Runner deal with issues of science and nature, and their implications upon their respective societies. Through their contextual basis, we understand the relationship between the two, and the concerns that arise by its exploration. Their confrontation is didactic, through their warnings of things to come; the texts voice these issues as of universal concern. Singularly, both texts confront the origin of creation. This corruption of nature, of faith is possibly the greatest crime, as stated by Shelley in her introduction to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein; “those who endeavour to mock the mechanism of the creator” will suffer grave consequences. This concept is a main idea of the novel, and the graphic consequences of Victor’s hubris are evident. The monster he creates is eloquent and rational, but corrupted by his lack of compassion is ravages his friends and family. This shirking of responsibility is most evident in the creature’s biblical allusion, “I ought to be thy Adam but I am rather thy fallen angel.” By referencing Lucifer, the creature has isolated the source of his violence, the irresponsibility of his creator. This relationship between creator and creation is mirrored in Blade Runner during the meeting between Tyrell and Roy. The awkward detachment of Roy from his masterpiece is shown through formal, scientific language and biblical allusions are also used, “nothing the god of biomechanics wouldn’t let you into heaven for.” This statement...
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...The novel’s title, Frankenstein, references the protagonist’s name, Victor Frankenstein. In modern adaptations, Frankenstein’s monster is commonly referred to as “Frankenstein”, even though Mary Shelley never names the monster. The common misconception is likely rooted in the novel’s title. As a result, the monster is unofficially named “Frankenstein” by readers, and Shelley may have done this intentionally to convey how after the murders, the monster is the last evidence of Victor Frankenstein’s “family”. In addition, it may also allude to the idea that as the creator of the monster, Victor assumes the role of a father; therefore, as the “child” and Victor’s product, the monster also assumes his father’s last name. The novel is also subtitled...
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...Questions Donald Trump: Immigration Ban 1. Describe the action taking place in the cartoon and identify any key objects or persons. The action taking place in the cartoon is: Donald Trump, who is represented as Frankenstein, is set free after the GOP has created him and starts walking towards the public, saying “Immigration Bad!”, “Mexican Rapists!”, Mexican Criminals!”, “Mexican Drug Dealers!”, “Fire!”, “Fire!”, “You’re Fired!” On the other hand, the GOP is standing there holding jumper cables and saying “To be fair, we did kind of create him!” Also, a member of the Tea Party is standing beside the GOP, holding his brain. Persons/Objects portrayed...
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...Frankenstein Critical Reading Portfolio Section I: Significance of Title The title is significant because Frankenstein is the man who had created something beautiful that no one else has ever done before. One may think that the title Frankenstein sounds like something destructive. In this, Frankenstein symbolizes God and a parent to the monster because he saw himself as creating life from scratch and creating something that has never been done by anyone else. He sees himself as a parent because to him, the monster is his son. Even though the monster isn’t genetically Frankenstein’s son, he still sees him as that because he created him and invested so much time into creating him. Section II: Author The author of this book is Mary Shelley. In this story, Mary Shelley clearly expresses that the monster had trouble getting to know people because of his looks. One may say that her major theme was appearances because of how she puts the monster into talking about the way he looks and the way he sees other people. This is expressed a lot throughout the story. Another thing that one may have noticed is that there weren’t really any mother figures in this book and she kind of made it a male based story. The reason why one may point this out is because of how Victor creates a “son” without a wife in the picture and how the story goes on with this. Section III: Plot The plot exposition is within the letters written between Walton and his sister. They are telling the story of Victor...
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...though your comparative stuffy of Frankenstein and Blade Runner? By juxtaposing texts, their paradigmatic undercurrents emerge, with timeless scientific and ontological concerns transcending contextual discrepancies. Shelley’s 1818 gothic novel, Frankenstein, written in response to the Industrial Revolution, and its prospering advancements, values the moderation of scientific endeavour connected to the enlightenment. Similarly Scott’s neo-noire film, Blade Runner is in response to the impact of his 20th century, consumer driven society on mans ethical framework, condemning progression of technology through his depiction of a dystopian future. Ultimately Frankenstein and Blade Runner are cautionary tales when explored individually, however when examined comparatively, values presented in each become more comprehensive for both contexts and enduring audiences. Shelley’s retrospective depiction of a milieu exploited by scientific egotism embodied by Frankenstein highlights the disruption of nature, and criticizes the 18th century enlightenment in relation to Frankenstein’s galvanistic approach to knowledge. The Declaration in the text “I will pioneer a new way, to explore unknown powers,” underscores victor’s ambition for knowledge, his egotistical desire to control nature and his unwavering conviction regardless of consequence. Furthermore the myriad of classical allusions, to paradise lost, concerned with “mans first disobedience.” Frankenstein, a man driven by insatiable desire...
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...The worlds of Frankenstein and Blade Runner are effective representations of their context and the values which were catalysts for their composition. How has your study supported this? Throughout time, literature has served well as a window into the schools of thought and social concerns of any given era of human history. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (Director’s cut), 1986, continue this trend. Frankenstein is a typical example of Gothic literature that engages with issues commonly raised during the Enlightenment and Romantic Movement. Blade Runner was composed in the early 1980’s, a time of radical change and development in areas of science and business. Despite their differing social contexts, both texts question similarly ethically driven issues. The question over man’s right to push the boundaries of science in the creation of life has transcended time, growing increasingly relevant with recent advancements in technology. The contentious issue was predominant throughout the Enlightenment period, an era characterised by significant change where reason was valued over religious faith. This contextual significance is mirrored in Shelly’s condemnation of Frankenstein’s experiment through the loathing tone of “now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” She furthers her argument through the monster’s description of Frankenstein as an “unfeeling, heartless creator!”, reflective...
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...As a myth about procreation, the maternal imagery in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is clear, evident, pervasive. Yet, while the novel suffers no shortage of mother figures, Shelley’s interpretation of the maternal archetype in her seminal work is unique in its focus. The theme of the maternal finds itself in a paradox wherein its absence becomes evidence for its ubiquity; it is everywhere in that it is nowhere. One can therefore conclude that the concept of motherhood in Frankenstein does not require a mother, but only demands the notion that there was once a maternal presence where there is now none. By promptly abandoning his role as his monster’s creator, Victor seems to have perfectly complied with Shelley’s aforementioned definition of the maternal archetype. Still, some argue that the fact of Victor’s sex precludes him from ever fulfilling the theme of motherhood in Frankenstein. Victor is a man; the evident conclusion would be to declare Victor a paternal force in his creation’s...
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