Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is subtitled "The Modern Prometheus", and rightfully so. After a first glance read over Frankenstein, the relationship may not be obvious. Prometheus is an ancient Greek charater, and in his legend he created man, then gave man fire. Frankenstein too created life, and gave to man. One of the largest similarities between the two, is the theme of poor-actions, followed by tragic consequences.
Prometheus and Frankenstein parallel to each other through the creation of man and monster. Ironically, Prometheus's name mean forethought, and in his legend he is so wise, he was even wiser than the gods. In Mary Shelley's novel, Frankesntien think of himself as a God. He talks about learning the secrets of heaven, and the world, then being able to be powerful. "It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn... my enquiries were directed to the metaphysical... secrets of the world" (shelley 39).
Both Dr. Frankenstein and Prometheus are ambitious, pursing their goals of creating life. Frankenstein said, "I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that pay at my feet" (Shelley 56). If one were to read the legend of Prometheus, it says "Promethues first transmuted Atoms culled for human clay" (legend of Prometheus). In both quotations, each character believed that by just having the proper skill, power, and tools, they could create life at will.
After both men had created life, they noticed something was wrong. Their creations did not reach the great standard that the weeds expected to. Frankenstein said, "How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch who with such infinite pains and care I endeavored to form?" (Shelley 56). He then continued to describe the the monsters ugly features. He is so overwhelmed in horror that he runs away. In the legend of Prometheus, he feels dismay when he "observed man and longed to bestow upon him some great power, unshared by any other creature of earth, which would raise him far above all other living beings, and bring him nearer to the perfection of the immortal gods" (legend of Prometheus). Here he notices that he needs to give man something great because they have not met his standards of greatness. So, he gives man fire In both stories, rules are broken to give man each immoral thing. In Frankenstein, the rules of nature and broken to give life to the monster.
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