Both the character of Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein” and Goethe’s eponymous hero in the play “Faust – Der Tragödie, erster Teil” are very similar to the mythical character of Prometheus. Prometheus’ story, which originates in Greek legend, it is the tale of a titan who steals fire from the gods. Like both Faust and Frankenstein, Prometheus is a man who attempts to elevate his own status to that of a god by trying to gain knowledge that is exclusively available to the gods. Although both Faust and Frankenstein exist in a Christian world, their crime is considered as great as the crime of Prometheus, as both men act in an impious manner. Faust selling his soul to Mephistopheles, Frankenstein attempting to “bestow animation on lifeless matter”. Each character is also punished extensively for his behaviour, as Prometheus was, being eternally chained to a rock at the top of the Caucasus mountains, and destined to have his liver torn out by a vulture whereupon it would re-grow each day and the punishment revisited.
Shelley’s “modern Prometheus” bears similarities not only to the character Prometheus, but also to Pandora, the first woman according to Greek mythology. For Shelley, Frankenstein’s “titanic overreaching” is a character flaw rather than a purposeful attempt to emulate God. Like Pandora, who could not suppress her natural curiosity and unleashed evil upon the world, Frankenstein cannot suppress his desire to overcome death and mortality. In his quest to animate dead matter, Frankenstein unleashes a monster upon society. However, the creation of this monster is not instantly condemned, it is Frankenstein’s neglect of the creature which causes it to become evil. Shelley’s Frankenstein is a character who continuously errs in the name of humankind. His goal is to remove suffering and death from the world and his creation is a misguided attempt to achieve this. Goethe’s Faust however, is a completely different character. Faust is a man who cannot bear to be grounded by human limitations. He wants to transcend life and experience everything. Faust is a man who believes he has gained all earthly knowledge and has become bored. He wishes to achieve universal knowledge.
The Essay on Frankenstein Character Empathy Reader Shelley Monster
Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, is a novel, which explores many of the characteristics of gothic romanticism. Dreary gothic settings, a focus on the supernatural, love, and nature, are all key elements of this novel. It also delves into the topic of the human emotion, bringing the reader to a closer understanding of each character. Shelley often relates the depression or burdens of the characters ...
Faust’s downfall perhaps occurs because, like Frankenstein, he does not consider the consequences of his actions, he does not however, act on behalf of mankind. He embodies the spirit of modernity – a man who always desires more knowledge, the spirit of experimentation and exploration. Faust’s aspirations for knowledge are not what cause his tragedy – in fact they are celebrated. Faust, unlike his student, Wagner, wants to gain knowledge through true experience, not simply through reading books. Unlike Frankenstein, Faust seems to have no choice in his decisions – he cannot stop striving for knowledge because this would be another sort of damnation for him. Therefore he must accept Mephistopheles’ ‘bet’ – since he does not seem to believe in hell this is the only course of action that will cause him any happiness or sense of fulfilment.
Neither Faust not Frankenstein are conventionally evil characters. Der Herr in “Faust” says “Solang er auf der Erde lebt, so lange sei dir’s nicht verboten. Es irrt der Mensch, solang er strebt.” This statement in many ways qualifies Faust’s quest for knowledge – he does make mistakes, but these seem already to have been forgiven in the eyes of God. Frankenstein on the other hand cannot be forgiven – his search for knowledge results in the death of the innocent. Although in “Faust” Gretchen is destroyed by Faust’s actions, she is ultimately redeemed – she gains salvation by being able to recognise Mephistopheles as the devil. No such salvation is available for the innocent killed by Frankenstein and his monster. But as in Faust, it is not Frankenstein’s thirst for knowledge which ultimately leads to his fate – although it is a factor. It is his inability to cope with the monster and his negligent behaviour towards it which causes it to become evil. Frankenstein’s rejection of what is natural becomes apparent when he moves from reading scientists such as Agrippa, Parcelus and Albertus Magnus who believed in science being able to coexist with religion to more modern scientists.
The Essay on City Of Ladies Women Christine God
Christine de Pizan An unlikely candidate to dispute the unfair, misogynistic treatment of women by men and society, Christine de Pizan successfully challenged the accepted negative views that were being expressed about women by the all-male literary world of her era. Part of Christines uniqueness stems from the time in which she lived, the middle to late 1300 s. The lack of a positive female role ...
Albertus Magnus wrote “in studying nature we have not to inquire how God the creator may, as He freely wills, use His creatures to work miracles and thereby show forth His power, we have rather to inquire what nature with its immanent causes can naturally bring to pass.” This is exactly what Frankenstein is working against in his experiment to animate lifeless matter. It seems that scientific advances are seen by Shelley as something regressive rather than progressive. The old is more favourable than the new. This is somewhat different to what Goethe seems to assert with “Faust”. Striving for advancement is a good thing. Faust overreaches by trying to bargain with the devil – something that only God can do successfully.
Both novels seem to have different views on the role women. In the myth of Prometheus, woman (Pandora) was the creature who unleashed sin into the world. The same can be said of the story of creation in Christianity – again it is woman who corrupts the male. In both “Faust” and “Frankenstein” it is man who destroys woman. One of Victor Frankenstein’s most unforgivable acts is to allow the death of his servant, Justine, to occur. This is an example of excessive knowledge destroying the innocent. Justine has done nothing, her death is utterly unjust and could have been prevented by Frankenstein. He cannot, however, admit his own part in the death of his brother. Faust also corrupts an innocent woman. This woman does commit terrible crimes, although they are in Faust’s name. Gretchen is an incredibly naïve character who becomes totally besotted with her lover (Faust) and will commit any sin for him. She seems a sort of parallel with Frankenstein – he becomes obsessed with his project and will do anything to achieve his goal.
The Essay on Is Frankenstein the Modern Day Prometheus?
Dr. Frankenstein and Prometheus both create a male human being, they both sought glory from their creations, and they were both very intelligent beings. In view of these attributes Mary Shelly used to create character Dr. Victor Frankenstein it is obvious to see why she would subtitle her novel “The modern Prometheus. ” Dr. Frankenstein and Prometheus create man Philo Farnsworth creates the ...
Gretchen, though, commits her crimes in the name of her love for Faust. Although Frankenstein believes he will “pour a torrent of light into our dark world” (52) he is in truth working for his own gratification rather than that of humankind – “A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me” (52).
This truly indicates his aspirations to become a sort of god and his downfall becomes inevitable. However, “Frankenstein” also deals with the idea of birth without woman. Frankenstein’s creation is never cared for – Frankenstein himself is unable to care for his “Adam” and the monster has no mother to rely on. Woman are never strong characters in Frankenstein because it is a novel without women. Women are perhaps elevated to the status of gods – in “Frankenstein” Prometheus is not attempting to steal fire from the gods, but the ability to procreate from the woman. The female becomes not only the god, but in a way also a type of Prometheus. Woman’s creation (through birth) – man – has stolen the ability to create life and as punishment evil is unleashed upon society.
Female characters in “Faust” have rather different functions. Gretchen is compared to Helen of Troy – a woman who brought about the fall of her own country and a ten year war. However, it is the weakness of Faust himself that causes Gretchen to become a corrupt woman – Helen could be seen in a similar way. It was Paris’s weakness that forced her to elope with him, thereby deeply insulting her husband, Menelaos. Gretchen, although pure and innocent at first, is never strong. Much like the witch in the “Hexenküche” who lives under the mastery of Mephistopheles – “O Herr, verzieht den rohen Gruss! Sehe ich doch keinen Pferdefuss. Wo sind denn Eure beiden Raben?”. Women seem to be characters who are easily influenced. Gretchen is only granted salvation because she still recognises evil, even though she has sinned. She, unlike Faust, is presented as a truly tragic figure. Her love for Faust forces her to commit evil, yet she finally repents and sees her mistakes.
The Essay on Faust Gretchen God Mephisto
This Book has many shady characters, only Gretchen is the one character you can feel sorry for, that is what makes this tragedy so horrifying yet gratifying. Her and Faust running around makes you happy, but you anticipate them to fall desperately into love with one another and finish their lives indulging with Mephisto. But this pure untainted soul is tricked into leaving behind the innocence of ...
The legend of Prometheus is used in both Frankenstein and Faust, yet each author lends a different religious and political slant to the legend. In each case we are presented with a figure who wants to achieve more than is humanly possible and in each case this figure must sacrifice something in order to gain this enlightenment, similarly to Prometheus, who recognised that he would be punished for stealing the gods’ fire, these sacrifices are perhaps not entirely thought out by the protagonists of each story, yet each leads to a different fate.
