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 works that they will also end up with tragedy of their own. For example, in the mythological tale of Prometheus, Prometheus creates the mortal man. Prometheus grows attached to his creation and begins caring for them. He steals fire from Zeus and therefore Zeus imprisons Prometheus and he is tortured daily. The reason that this novel happens to be also called The Modern Prometheus is because Victor Frankenstein believes that he can do better in creating man than God. Victors attempt at creating a new species is very similar to Prometheus stealing Zeus’ fire. Unlike Prometheus who loves his creation, Victor despises his new species. Like Prometheus, Victor’s demise comes from trying to overachieve and is punished constantly like his counterpart. Both of the overachievers endure torture in Prometheus’ case he is imprisoned and Victor sees everyone he loves die and eventually he dies as well. Although the monster feels remorse for killing everyone Frankenstein loved and cared for, Frankenstein dies knowing he could have avoided it all by not trying to be like Prometheus and overachieving. This allusion of Prometheus assists the reader in being able to see that Victor Frankenstein is just trying to achieve a goal that is too far beyond him. He wants to create the new species but doesn’t quite comprehend the consequences if anything goes wrong. Just like Prometheus, there are consequences for everything and they received their punishment for trying to be more than what they are. These two were both intrigued by the concept of power that they kept pushing their limits and they didn’t know when to stop. Both of the protagonists were ultimately punished for their crimes but Victor Frankenstein watched everyone he cared for die and in the end he himself perishes. He died knowing the whole situation could have been avoided which is a very tragic tale. These Prometheus allusions establish that this story of Frankenstein and the monster is a tragic story of a person trying to desperately do something innovative. Another piece of literature that is regularly alluded to is a poem by Samuel Taylor Coolridge which is called Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In this poem, a sailor is plagued by horrifying sights after he kills an albatross that has traveled with him and his fellow sailors for a while. After overcoming his ordeal and being the only survivor, he feels compelled to tell his story to a guest at a wedding. In the beginning Robert Walton a seafaring explorer, sends a letter to his sister who is concerned of his well-being, she shouldn’t worry for he” …shall kill no albatross”(Shelly 7) and he will come back “…as worn and woeful as the ‘Ancient Mariner’.”(Shelly 7) When Robert Walton rescues Victor Frankenstein in the arctic, Frankenstein tells Walton his whole story and how he wound up where he is. This is very similar to Rime in that the Ancient Mariner feels compelled to tell the young wedding guest about his endeavors but in this case, Frankenstein tells Walton his tale of tragedy. Victor Frankenstein is cursed similarly to the Ancient Mariner because everyone who is close to him dies. He feels “Like one who, on a lonely road, doth walk in fear and dread, and, having once turned round, walks on, and turns no more his head; because he knows a frightful fiend doth close behind him tread.”(Shelly 45) The Mariner and Frankenstein are suffering due to mistakes that they both commit without assuming a tremendous consequence that might occur due to their actions. The allusions of Rime of the Ancient Mariner in Mary Shelly’s novel accentuate a common factor in her novel. Loneliness is a very common factor in both of these literary works. In fact, all the main characters in Mary Shelly’s novel experience the feeling of desolation at some point in her novel. For example, the monster created by Frankenstein is abandoned and must wander out by himself with no concepts or morals for being alive in that time period. He learns the concept of companionship by reading and teaching himself. After that he tracks down Frankenstein and asks for a mate so he can be at peace with Frankenstein and himself. Even Robert Walton experiences loneliness even when he is surrounded by many sailors. He feels this way up until he rescues Frankenstein. Walton feels that a connection between the two emerges while Frankenstein tells him his story and that he is a friend. Unfortunately, Frankenstein dies and Walton is deeply saddened by this but not as much as the monster for it knows that he will never connect with any being ever. The most prominent allusions come from a poem written by John Milton which is called Paradise Lost and in this poem, it tells the story of Lucifer’s treachery and how he gets revenge on God and his fellow angels with his scheming plot. After losing the war with God, Lucifer is banished to Pandemonium where he plans to corrupt God’s creation Adam and Eve. After Lucifer successfully tricks the couple, God banishes the two from Eden their home, and even though they beg for forgiveness, God does not pay them any mind. In the novel, the monster compares himself to Adam after reading the poem and tries to use this to convince Frankenstein to feel sympathy for him. The monster tells Frankenstein that he is “…thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel"(Shelly 87), trying to make him feel bad for not caring for him and just abandoning him. He is also implying that if he only loved him like God loved Adam the many tragedies that have occurred in both their lives could have been avoided. Later the monster prefaces a request to soothe his loneliness with a mate because “no Eve soothed my sorrows nor shared my thoughts.”(Shelly 119) Although it seems that Frankenstein is God and the monster is Adam, these roles are later switched when Frankenstein is getting excited for his wedding with his beloved Elizabeth but remembers the threat the monster swore to keep. After refusing to make the monster a mate to subside his loneliness, Frankenstein is threatened by the monster that he will “be with you on your wedding-night.”(Shelly 156) Frankenstein accepts the situation at hand and believes that “the apple was already eaten”(Shelly 176) and there is no turning back. Like God, the monster vows revenge for being betrayed and now set on to make the traitors lives as miserable as possible. The Paradise Lost allusion provides an insight on the hatred of the characters in the novel. Victor Frankenstein created the creature without any foresight to what to do with it if anything went wrong after creation. Frankenstein abandons and lets the creature figure out human concepts for himself. After reading Paradise Lost, the creature understands the concept of abandonment. The similarities between Satan and the creature are strikingly similar. Satan was abandoned by God after he started to focus on Adam and only paying attention to him. Satan let hate cloud his actions and judgments which leads to him causing a war against heaven with his fellow angels. This led to him wanting to endlessly sabotage God’s plans. Frankenstein’s creature has hatred for his creator and has a plan to diminish it with a request and promise. When Frankenstein breaks his part of the promise, like Satan, the creature is filled with anger and vows revenge on him and everyone he cares for. The creature and Satan are abandoned beings who are forced to discover feelings that they have never experienced before like hate. In conclusion, the allusions used by Mary Shelly in her novel assist the reader in interpreting the archetypes of the characters in Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus. Shelly uses many literary works as allusions to make a correlation between the characters in her novel and the characters in the alluded stories. The connections between Prometheus, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Paradise Lost, and Frankenstein are all based on main characters and how they are very similar to each other and how their actions are viewed and how they are reacted upon being acted. This novel is a tragic story of abandonment and hatred and this is evident and profound through Mary Shelly’s use of allusions.