Frankenstein

Frankenstein:The Modern Prometheus

About the novel:• Frame narrative• Epistolary form • Correspondence between Captain Walton and

his sister.• The captain is on his sea voyage to explore the

North Pole.• Over-ambitiousness in the captain and Victor

• Shelley referred to the creature as Adam, the first man of the Garden of Eden.

“Did I request thee, Maker, from my clayTo mould Me man? Did I solicit thee

From darkness to promote me?-Paradise Lost

• The creature has often been mistakenly called “Frankenstein”.

• Victor was a pen name of P. B. Shelley. He wrote Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire with his sister Elizabeth.

• The Modern Prometheus: Subtitle of the novel• Greek mythology• Prometheus created man and taught

everything. Zeus kept fire from mankind. • Being the creator Prometheus help mankind

was given eternal punishment.• Prometheus became an archetypal image who

represented human striving and the quest of scientific knowledge to improve human existence which results in tragedy.

Morality Without God

• Throughout Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, knowledge of the existence of a creator has a crippling effect on the creature as he struggles to reconcile his own perception of himself with his maddening desire for divine approval and acceptance. It is impossible to ignore the author’s place within her text as Shelly, an avowed atheist, makes a comparison of human development through the contrary means of both religious and secular/humanistic relationships.

• In the end, through Frankenstein, Shelley concludes that moral and spiritual development can best be attained through the shedding of dogmatic belief structures, resulting in the elimination of God towards the attainment of self-realization.

• Frankenstein’s creature is a testament to this theory as his education and growth follow several divergent paths throughout his short existence, resulting at the last in the freedom of the creature through the death of his creator.

• Frankenstein contains a great deal of biblical symbolism, particularly the theme of the outcast and the story of creation. “The creature is bitter and dejected after being turned away from human civilization, much the same way that Adam in “Paradise Lost” was turned out of the Garden of Eden.

• In the biblical story, Adam causes his own fate by sinning. Here the creator, Victor, however, causes the creature’s hideous existence, and it is this grotesqueness that leads to the creature’s being spurned. Only after he is repeatedly rejected does the creature become violent and decide to seek revenge” (Mellor 106).

• This creation allegory is made clear from the beginning with the epigraph from John Milton’s Paradise  Lost (1667), which begins the novel.

• Despite the lack of cultivation and learning in the morals and ethics of Christianity, the monster in Frankenstein is able to form his own code of behavior based on example and the behavior he views from others.

• It should be noted that his instinctive sense of morality comes without knowledge of God or a creator and while this may seem to be an atheistic or at least secular way of thinking about how morality is “inborn” it is impossible to ignore the way the bible and religious learning influence even this aspect of the story.

• Consider the moment when, much like the prodigal son in the bible, the monster in Frankenstein is reduced to sleep with the pigs and live like an animal.

• Although both the prodigal son and the monster are on the verge of starvation, they choose not to kill and eat the pigs that keep them company. The prodigal son will not eat them for religious reasons. The monster will not eat them for moral reasons.

• “‘My food is not that of man; I do not destroy the lamb and the kid to glut my appetite; acorns and berries afford me sufficient nourishment’” (157)

• In Frankenstein  the creature’s desire to be accepted and assimilated is apparent when he speaks further of his feelings towards the cottagers. “The more I saw of them, the greater became my desire to claim their protection and kindness; my heart yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creatures; to see their sweet looks directed towards me with affection was the utmost limit of my ambition”(128).

• The creature reflects in these words a sense of simplistic desire, uncorrupted as yet by the malevolent and reactionary forces that will later come to shape his existence. His desire to be a part of the cottagers’ lives, to have them accept him and even love him, illustrates a tangible connection felt between the creature and the rest of humanity.

• The creature goes on to say: “I required kindness and sympathy; but I did not believe myself utterly unworthy of it”(128).

• “I read of men concerned in public affairs, governing or massacring their species. I felt the greatest ardor for virtue rise within me, and abhorrence for vice, as far as I understood the signification of those terms, relative as they were, as I applied them, to pleasure and pain alone”(125)

• The creature develops his own sense of morality without the influence of religion or the creator mythology.

• Senses of “pleasure and pain”• ideas of right and wrong, good and evil

• “Such was the history of my beloved cottagers. It impressed me deeply. I learned, from the views of social life which it developed, to admire their virtues and to deprecate the vices of mankind”(124).

• It is evident from these examples from Frankenstein that the creature is capable of learning moral and virtuous behavior without the influence of spiritual or divine proclamation. The presence of a bible or other religious scripture is conspicuously absent from his education, yet he is capable of developing a thoroughly structured sense of morality and ethics.

• “Shelley’s monster is not evil by inherent constitution.

• He is born unformed.• It is human interaction (and the lack there of) that

ultimately drives the creature beyond his limits, not evil borne of the absence of God or knowledge of his existence.

• Considering the fact that the creature lives outside the bounds of civilized society, and thus lacks the enculturation that contributes to a sense of community to help ease the “awesome” thought and perceived conception of God, it becomes clear that Shelley may be trying to relate the idea that only through society and interaction with others (or better put, civilization) can a human being grapple with the enormity of God.

Frankenstein; or, the Modern Narcissus

• The myth of Narcissus• A tale told by Roman poet Ovid• Echo, a young girl falls in love with Narcissus• He was the son of a woman that the river god had encircled

with the windings of his streams, thus trapping and seducing her.

• Worried for her son’s welfare, she consulted a prophet regarding his future.

• The prophet reports: Narcissus "will live to a ripe old age, as long as he never knows himself."

• The narcissistic implications• "Modern Narcissus.“• Victor exhibits all the characteristics of the narcissistic

personality disorder

• One day when Narcissus was out hunting, Echo follows the handsome youth through the woods, longing to address him but unable to speak first.

• When Narcissus finally heard her footsteps he shouted "Who goes there?" Echo answered "...goes there? ...goes there?" And so it went, until finally Echo showed herself and rushed to embrace Narcissus.

• He pulled away and vainly told her to leave him alone. Narcissus left Echo heartbroken and she spent the rest of her life lonely and pining away for the love she never knew. Only her voice remained.

• Eventually Narcissus became thirsty and went to drink from a stream. As he saw his reflection, he fell in love with it, not knowing that it was him.

• As he bent down to kiss it, it seemed to "run away" and he was heartbroken.

• He grew thirstier but he wouldn't touch the water for fear of damaging his reflection, so he eventually died of thirst and staring at his own reflection.

• The narcissus flower is closely identified with the boy and was said to spring from the ground around the pool where Narcissus died. In the roman version it is suggested that Narcissus is transformed into the flower.

• Its deeper meaning: Narcissus is the product of a seduction and a woman engulfed by her emotions. He is trapped from the beginning

• His life is tolerable but, only if he never learns the truth of his history. This is his curse.

• A single attempt to accept (kiss) what he sees…makes it disappear.Each attempt to touch this illusive image of the self…disappears in the touching. Narcissus is heartbroken and alone…not realizing that it is his own divinity and self-acceptance that he longs for. As life would have it, the desire for connection, understanding, and proximity to the other becomes so great…that the longing kills Narcissus.

• Narcissism is a pattern of traits and behaviors which signify infatuation and obsession with one's self to the exclusion of all others and the egotistic and ruthless pursuit of one's gratification, dominance and ambition. As a character disorder, the prognosis for change is poor. However, as an element of the culture and human condition knowing the myth offers hope.

• As defined by the Diagnostic  and  Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a pervasive disorder characterized by symptoms that include grandiosity, an exaggerated sense of self-importance and a lack of empathy for others.

• Narcissistic personality disorder involve a longer term pattern of behaviors and thoughts that cause problems in multiple life areas including work, family and friendships.

• narcissistic personality disorder - illness• The concept of excessive self-admiration• A state of extreme arrogance and haughtiness

that often involves being out of touch with reality.

• Sense of self-importance; preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success; exhibitionism; cool indifference or feelings of rage in response to criticism; and interpersonal disturbances, including exploitativeness, alternation between over idealization and devaluation, and lack of empathy. (Victor)

• Victor demonstrates the paradoxical nature of narcissism, where self-love exists with self-hate, and fragile self-esteem results in a sense of entitlement, the expectation of receiving special favors from others without assuming reciprocal responsibilities

• He experiences the profound depression often accompanying a narcissistic disorder: dejection, loss of interest in the external world, inability to love, and a lowering of self-esteem, culminating in an expectation of punishment. It is as if he has internalized a poisonous object, the Creature, who is now consuming his heart.

• "Treat a person ill and he will become wicked," Percy Bysshe Shelley observes in his Introduction to Frankenstein.

• "Requite affection with scorn; let one being be selected for whatever cause as the refuse of his kind -- divide him, a social being, from society, and you impose upon him the irresistible obligations -- malevolence and selfishness.“

• Like Narcissus, Victor coldly spurns an individual who asks for love; like Echo, the Creature remains hopelessly devoted to a man who callously rejects him. Both Echo and the Creature make futile efforts to validate themselves through another's approval. Distance becomes problematic: the Creature can neither live with Victor nor live without him. Unrequited love culminates in shattered self-esteem, crippling dependency, and uncontrollable rage.

Mythological approach:

• Myth critic concerned to seek out those mysterious elements that inform certain literary works and that elicit, with almost uncanny force, dramatic and universal human reactions.

• Archetypal patterns and the tensed structural wires of the masterpiece and that vibrate in such a way that a sympathetic resonance is set off deep within the reader.

• Study of myths reveals about the mind and character of people.

• Myths are symbolic projections of people’s hopes, values, fears, and aspirations.

• Misconceptions about myths.• In reality myths reflect more profound reality. • William Blake: The Politics of Vision: “Myth is

fundamental, the dramatic representation of our deepest instinctual life, or primary awareness of man in the universe, capable of many configuration, upon which all particular opinions and attitudes depend.”

• Alan W. Watts, “Myth is to be defined as a complex of stories-some no doubt fact, and some fantasy-which , for various reasons, human beings regards as demonstrations of the inner meaning of the universe and of human life.”

• Theory of shadow, anima and persona• Social mark of a God-fearing, prayerful, self-righteous• Spiritual immaturity• Clash between ego and the external world • Anima (if it can be considered as inner world) fails.• Anima is usually projected on mother. Victor’s anima

is presented through Elizabeth.

• Separation, loss of harmony and no peace of mind.• Faith- unfaithful faith and unholy quest.• Instead of admitting to his error and working

maturely for a reconciliation Victor continues with mistakes.

• Failure of personality integration or of individuation• Unable to confront his own psyche or assimilate his

own consciousness. • The world becomes a shadow or a gloom.• Selfish and immature ego and the monster is the

result of this devilish mind.

Psychological complexity:• Frankenstein's fractured psyche• The monster is a creation of Frankenstein's "fundamentally

narcissistic" nature• Frankenstein credits his knowledge as a scientist by claiming

that although "so much has been done […] more, far more, will I achieve" (Shelley 33).

• This enlarged ego only serves to aid in the downfall of Mary Shelley's title character.

• Unable to find a balance between ego and id, Frankenstein soon seems "to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit".

• Frankenstein, driven by the power of ego, loses himself by allowing "passion [and] transitory desire to disturb [his] tranquility“.

• This enlarged ego leads to an isolation of his character.• Frankenstein finds himself farther and farther removed from

the boundaries of society as he falls deeper and deeper into his passionate consumption - a man obsessed by his own success

• Instead of relishing in the letters and company of his family and friends, Frankenstein finds himself a mere slave to the power of his ego - or as Freud would say - his sexual drive. This sexual drive leads Frankenstein to the creation of a hideous monstrosity.

• Frankenstein’s a vision of "breathless horror and disgust" • He is violently ripped away from the idealistic views of his ego -

and thrust into a hellish reality. Within this reality - "the beauty of the dream vanished“.

• These "dreams that had been [his] food and pleasant rest for so long a space were now become a hell“

• Frankenstein's level of infantilism