Department of English,
M. K. Bhavnagar University
Name :- Mansi Upadhyay
Roll No :- 18
Email Id :- mansiupadhyay06@gmail.com
Department :-M. A.English department
Submitted to :- Dr. Prof. Dilip Barad
(Head of English Dept. M.K. Bhavanagar University)
Semester :- 2
Paper No :- 5 ( The Romantic Literature)
Assignment Topic :- Frankenstein With Mythological Approach.
• Introduction of Author Mary Shelley’s
Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), was the daughter of the radical philosopher William Godwin, who described her as ‘singularly bold, somewhat imperious, and active of mind’. Her mother, who died days after her birth, was the famous defender of women’s rights, Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary grew up with five semi-related siblings in Godwin’s unconventional but intellectually electric household.
At the age of 16, Mary eloped to Italy with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who praised ‘the irresistible wildness & sublimity of her feelings’. Each encouraged the other’s writing, and they married in 1816 after the suicide of Shelley’s wife. They had several children, of whom only one survived.
A ghost-writing contest on a stormy June night in 1816 inspired Frankenstein, often called the first true work of science-fiction. Superficially a Gothic novel, and influenced by the experiments of Luigi Galvani, it was concerned with the destructive nature of power when allied to wealth. It was an instant wonder, and spawned a mythology all its own that endures to this day.
After Percy Shelley’s death in 1822, she returned to London and pursued a very successful writing career as a novelist, biographer and travel writer. She also edited and promoted her husband’s poems and other writings.
Mary Shelley's most famous novel, Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus, was released anonymously when she was only 21 years old. Only from its second edition, five years later, was her name to appear as the author. It was initially thought that the author was her husband Percy, as the book was dedicated to William Godwin, his political hero. The work came out of a competition proposed by Lord Byron in the summer of 1816 so as who could write the best horror story. The central idea came to Shelly in a dream where she saw a student putting together parts of a man's body and working through a big engine to animate it. She first wrote a short story but Percy encouraged her to expand it into a novel. The novel had at the center of its plot a failed attempt at artificial life, by the scientist Frankenstein, which produced a monster. The work is considered to be a mixture of science fiction, gothic novel, and having elements from the Romantic Movement.
Let’s clear the definition of myth and mythology before elaborating the mythological approach in Frankenstein in detail.
Myth is the word, which came to existence in the mid 19th century. Because earlier it was known as Mythos. It is a Greek word. Myth means story or word.
Myth critics concerned to find out those mysterious elements that inform certain literary works and that elicit, with almost uncanny force, dramatic & universal human reactions. Study of myth reveals about the mind and character of people. Myths are symbolic projections of people’s hopes, values, fears and aspirations. There are many misconceptions about myth in reality myth reflects more profound reality.
Traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the worldview of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon. Myths relate the events, conditions, and deeds of gods or superhuman beings that are outside ordinary human life and yet basic to it. These events are set in a time altogether different from historical time, often at the beginning of creation or at an early stage of prehistory. A culture's myths are usually closely related to its religious beliefs and rituals. The modern study of myth arose with early 19th-century.
• 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 being 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.
• Myth of Prometheus
In Ancient Greek mythology, Prometheus was said to be the wisest of all the Titans. In the form of fire Prometheus is credited with bringing mankind knowledge and enlightenment. He stole fire from the Gods of Mount Olympus. For acting against the decree of the Gods, who wanted to keep the power of fire to themselves, Prometheus was harshly punished. He was chained to a rock to have his liver eaten out every day by an eagle. Every night his liver would grow back. This was to be his punishment for all of eternity.
The full title of Mary Shelley's novel is Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Mary Shelley was influenced by this tale. Her husband Percy Shelley even began composing his own tale of Prometheus in the form of a poem entitled, Prometheus Unbound. He began composing this work right around the same time that Mary was publishing Frankenstein.
Aside from the title, Shelley borrows from the tale of Prometheus a sense of consequence resulting from seeking enlightenment and power. Victor is her modern incarnation of Prometheus. He as Prometheus was, is fascinated by the power of electricity (lightning). We can recall from the narrative the moment when he becomes captivated by its fantastical power.
It is from this power, that he has equipped himself with, that the inner torture he will suffer from the use of it stems. Immediately following the creation if the creature, Victor is ill with disgust for what he has done. His torture mirrors that of Prometheus'; undying and eternal. From the beginning of the novel, when Victor warns Walton of the consequences of his quest, to the conclusion when Victor again reiterates the misfortunes he has suffered as a result of his curiosity, Mary Shelley mimics the Prometheus tale. Perhaps, this is why she saw it as a fitting subtitle.
Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein as a modern day version of the legend of Prometheus. Prometheus created men out of clay and taught them the "arts of civilisation" (Webster's World Encyclopedia CD-ROM 1999). Zeus, the chief god of the Titans, wanted to destroy Prometheus' creation but Prometheus stole fire from heaven to help mankind. Zeus punished Prometheus by chaining him to a rock where an eagle would feed on his liver during the day and each night the liver would grow back. Prometheus was able to bargain for his release because he knew a secret which concerned Zeus' future. Heracles shot the eagle and so Prometheus gained release. Victor Frankenstein is Shelley's modern Prometheus in that he, too, created man. The themes that relate to the myth of Prometheus in the novel are Frankenstein's torment, the monster's education, and the absolute determination of the individual spirit and how this determination can rival that of God. Shelley uses these themes to show that the human spirit is capable of many things - of noble pursuits that rival God himself, but also of the darkest of actions that draw comparisons with the acts of Satan. Victor Frankenstein is in the first part of the book described as a very noble person, with human curiosities while not common to most people are nevertheless normal. Our sympathy is entirely with him. His desire for knowledge and his eagerness to achieve high goals and to bring the human race further in its effort to erase the pains and sufferings of mortality only make him seem more admirable. He seems to devote his whole life to the benefit of humanity.
Prometheus was also a myth told in Latin but was a very different story. In this version Prometheus makes man from clay and water, again a very relevant theme to Frankenstein, as Victor rebels against the laws of nature (how life is naturally made) and as a result is punished by his creation. Prometheus, a Greek Titan who sculpted man from clay and then stole the light of fire from the gods to give to man, these acts can be attributed to the enabling of civilization and the gift of knowledge man acquired from him. Zeus punished Prometheus; bound to stone while an eagle each day would eat away Prometheus's liver. Suffering this agonizing torment Prometheus would face his punishment for eternity. “Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving, particularly the quest for scientific knowledge, and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy.
• Myth of Narcissus
The myth of Narcissus in which the legend is there. A tale told by Roman poet Ovid.Eacho, a young girl who falls in love with Narcissus. In Greek mythology, the myth of Narcissus can be noticed. It tells that Narcissus was a hunter from the territory of Thespiae in Boeotia who was renowned for his beauty. He was the son of a river god named Cephisus and a nymph named Lyriope. He was exceptionally proud of what he did to those who loved him. Nemesis noticed and attracted Narcissus to a pool, wherein he saw his reflection and fell in love with it, not realizing it was merely an image. Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection, Narcissus died. Narcissus is the origin of the term narcissism, after this story this term came into existence.
The myth of Narcissus is one of the most known Greek Myths, due to its uniqueness and moral tale; Narcissus, was the son of River God Cephisus and nymph Lyriope. He was known for his beauty and he was loved by God Apollo due to his extraordinary physique. The myth of Narcissus comes in two different versions, the Greek and the Greco-Roman version, as both Conon the Greek and Ovid, the Roman poet, wrote the story of Narcissus, enhancing it with different elements.
According to Conon, Aminias, a young man fell in love with Narcissus, who had already spurned his male suitors. Aminias was also spurned by Narcissus who gave the unfortunate young man a sword. Aminias killed himself at Narcissus’ doorstep praying to the Gods to give Narcissus a lesson for all the pain he had provoked. Narcissus was once walking by a lake or river and decided to drink some water; he saw his reflection in the water and was surprised by the beauty he saw; he became entranced by the reflection of himself. He could not obtain the object of his desire though, and he died at the banks of the river or lake from his sorrow. According to the myth Narcissus is still admiring himself in the Underworld, looking at the waters of the Styx.
The myth presented by Ovid the poet is slightly altered. According to this myth, Narcissus’ parents were worried because of the extraordinary beauty of the child and asked prophet Teiresias what to do, regarding their son’s future.Teiresias tell them that the boy would grow old only if “he didn’t get to know himself”. When Narcissus was sixteen he was walking in the woods and Nymph Echo saw him and felt madly in love with him. She started following him and Narcissus asked “who’s there”, feeling someone after him. Echo responded “who’s there” and that went on for some time until Echo decided to show herself. She tried to embrace the boy who stepped away from Echo, telling her to leave him alone. Echo was left heartbroken and spent the rest of her life in glens; until nothing but an echo sound remained of her. Nemesis, though, the Goddess of Revenge, heard the story and decided to punish Narcissus. From this point the stories are similar; Narcissus sees himself in the pond and he is amazed by the beauty of the reflection. Once he figured out that his love could not be addressed, he killed himself.
Mary Shelley has given another title to this novel is "Modern Prometheus", but she could also have referred to it as the Modern Narcissus. Victor presents, in fact, all the important characteristics of the narcissistic personality disorder as defined in the myth of Narcissus. Who has having sense of self-importance, preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success; exhibitionism; cool indifference or feelings, and interpersonal disturbances, including exploitativeness, alternation between over idealization and devaluation, and lack of empathy. Moreover, 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. In addition to, we may say that Victor pursues fantasies of unlimited power and glory with monomaniacal intensity. He experiences the profound depression often accompanying a narcissistic disorder, dejection, loss of interest in the external world, inability to love, and a lowering 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.
Thank you
M. K. Bhavnagar University
Name :- Mansi Upadhyay
Roll No :- 18
Email Id :- mansiupadhyay06@gmail.com
Department :-M. A.English department
Submitted to :- Dr. Prof. Dilip Barad
(Head of English Dept. M.K. Bhavanagar University)
Semester :- 2
Paper No :- 5 ( The Romantic Literature)
Assignment Topic :- Frankenstein With Mythological Approach.
• Introduction of Author Mary Shelley’s
Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), was the daughter of the radical philosopher William Godwin, who described her as ‘singularly bold, somewhat imperious, and active of mind’. Her mother, who died days after her birth, was the famous defender of women’s rights, Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary grew up with five semi-related siblings in Godwin’s unconventional but intellectually electric household.
At the age of 16, Mary eloped to Italy with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who praised ‘the irresistible wildness & sublimity of her feelings’. Each encouraged the other’s writing, and they married in 1816 after the suicide of Shelley’s wife. They had several children, of whom only one survived.
A ghost-writing contest on a stormy June night in 1816 inspired Frankenstein, often called the first true work of science-fiction. Superficially a Gothic novel, and influenced by the experiments of Luigi Galvani, it was concerned with the destructive nature of power when allied to wealth. It was an instant wonder, and spawned a mythology all its own that endures to this day.
After Percy Shelley’s death in 1822, she returned to London and pursued a very successful writing career as a novelist, biographer and travel writer. She also edited and promoted her husband’s poems and other writings.
Mary Shelley's most famous novel, Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus, was released anonymously when she was only 21 years old. Only from its second edition, five years later, was her name to appear as the author. It was initially thought that the author was her husband Percy, as the book was dedicated to William Godwin, his political hero. The work came out of a competition proposed by Lord Byron in the summer of 1816 so as who could write the best horror story. The central idea came to Shelly in a dream where she saw a student putting together parts of a man's body and working through a big engine to animate it. She first wrote a short story but Percy encouraged her to expand it into a novel. The novel had at the center of its plot a failed attempt at artificial life, by the scientist Frankenstein, which produced a monster. The work is considered to be a mixture of science fiction, gothic novel, and having elements from the Romantic Movement.
Let’s clear the definition of myth and mythology before elaborating the mythological approach in Frankenstein in detail.
Myth is the word, which came to existence in the mid 19th century. Because earlier it was known as Mythos. It is a Greek word. Myth means story or word.
Myth critics concerned to find out those mysterious elements that inform certain literary works and that elicit, with almost uncanny force, dramatic & universal human reactions. Study of myth reveals about the mind and character of people. Myths are symbolic projections of people’s hopes, values, fears and aspirations. There are many misconceptions about myth in reality myth reflects more profound reality.
Traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the worldview of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon. Myths relate the events, conditions, and deeds of gods or superhuman beings that are outside ordinary human life and yet basic to it. These events are set in a time altogether different from historical time, often at the beginning of creation or at an early stage of prehistory. A culture's myths are usually closely related to its religious beliefs and rituals. The modern study of myth arose with early 19th-century.
• 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 being 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.
• Myth of Prometheus
In Ancient Greek mythology, Prometheus was said to be the wisest of all the Titans. In the form of fire Prometheus is credited with bringing mankind knowledge and enlightenment. He stole fire from the Gods of Mount Olympus. For acting against the decree of the Gods, who wanted to keep the power of fire to themselves, Prometheus was harshly punished. He was chained to a rock to have his liver eaten out every day by an eagle. Every night his liver would grow back. This was to be his punishment for all of eternity.
The full title of Mary Shelley's novel is Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Mary Shelley was influenced by this tale. Her husband Percy Shelley even began composing his own tale of Prometheus in the form of a poem entitled, Prometheus Unbound. He began composing this work right around the same time that Mary was publishing Frankenstein.
Aside from the title, Shelley borrows from the tale of Prometheus a sense of consequence resulting from seeking enlightenment and power. Victor is her modern incarnation of Prometheus. He as Prometheus was, is fascinated by the power of electricity (lightning). We can recall from the narrative the moment when he becomes captivated by its fantastical power.
It is from this power, that he has equipped himself with, that the inner torture he will suffer from the use of it stems. Immediately following the creation if the creature, Victor is ill with disgust for what he has done. His torture mirrors that of Prometheus'; undying and eternal. From the beginning of the novel, when Victor warns Walton of the consequences of his quest, to the conclusion when Victor again reiterates the misfortunes he has suffered as a result of his curiosity, Mary Shelley mimics the Prometheus tale. Perhaps, this is why she saw it as a fitting subtitle.
Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein as a modern day version of the legend of Prometheus. Prometheus created men out of clay and taught them the "arts of civilisation" (Webster's World Encyclopedia CD-ROM 1999). Zeus, the chief god of the Titans, wanted to destroy Prometheus' creation but Prometheus stole fire from heaven to help mankind. Zeus punished Prometheus by chaining him to a rock where an eagle would feed on his liver during the day and each night the liver would grow back. Prometheus was able to bargain for his release because he knew a secret which concerned Zeus' future. Heracles shot the eagle and so Prometheus gained release. Victor Frankenstein is Shelley's modern Prometheus in that he, too, created man. The themes that relate to the myth of Prometheus in the novel are Frankenstein's torment, the monster's education, and the absolute determination of the individual spirit and how this determination can rival that of God. Shelley uses these themes to show that the human spirit is capable of many things - of noble pursuits that rival God himself, but also of the darkest of actions that draw comparisons with the acts of Satan. Victor Frankenstein is in the first part of the book described as a very noble person, with human curiosities while not common to most people are nevertheless normal. Our sympathy is entirely with him. His desire for knowledge and his eagerness to achieve high goals and to bring the human race further in its effort to erase the pains and sufferings of mortality only make him seem more admirable. He seems to devote his whole life to the benefit of humanity.
Prometheus was also a myth told in Latin but was a very different story. In this version Prometheus makes man from clay and water, again a very relevant theme to Frankenstein, as Victor rebels against the laws of nature (how life is naturally made) and as a result is punished by his creation. Prometheus, a Greek Titan who sculpted man from clay and then stole the light of fire from the gods to give to man, these acts can be attributed to the enabling of civilization and the gift of knowledge man acquired from him. Zeus punished Prometheus; bound to stone while an eagle each day would eat away Prometheus's liver. Suffering this agonizing torment Prometheus would face his punishment for eternity. “Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving, particularly the quest for scientific knowledge, and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy.
• Myth of Narcissus
The myth of Narcissus in which the legend is there. A tale told by Roman poet Ovid.Eacho, a young girl who falls in love with Narcissus. In Greek mythology, the myth of Narcissus can be noticed. It tells that Narcissus was a hunter from the territory of Thespiae in Boeotia who was renowned for his beauty. He was the son of a river god named Cephisus and a nymph named Lyriope. He was exceptionally proud of what he did to those who loved him. Nemesis noticed and attracted Narcissus to a pool, wherein he saw his reflection and fell in love with it, not realizing it was merely an image. Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection, Narcissus died. Narcissus is the origin of the term narcissism, after this story this term came into existence.
The myth of Narcissus is one of the most known Greek Myths, due to its uniqueness and moral tale; Narcissus, was the son of River God Cephisus and nymph Lyriope. He was known for his beauty and he was loved by God Apollo due to his extraordinary physique. The myth of Narcissus comes in two different versions, the Greek and the Greco-Roman version, as both Conon the Greek and Ovid, the Roman poet, wrote the story of Narcissus, enhancing it with different elements.
According to Conon, Aminias, a young man fell in love with Narcissus, who had already spurned his male suitors. Aminias was also spurned by Narcissus who gave the unfortunate young man a sword. Aminias killed himself at Narcissus’ doorstep praying to the Gods to give Narcissus a lesson for all the pain he had provoked. Narcissus was once walking by a lake or river and decided to drink some water; he saw his reflection in the water and was surprised by the beauty he saw; he became entranced by the reflection of himself. He could not obtain the object of his desire though, and he died at the banks of the river or lake from his sorrow. According to the myth Narcissus is still admiring himself in the Underworld, looking at the waters of the Styx.
The myth presented by Ovid the poet is slightly altered. According to this myth, Narcissus’ parents were worried because of the extraordinary beauty of the child and asked prophet Teiresias what to do, regarding their son’s future.Teiresias tell them that the boy would grow old only if “he didn’t get to know himself”. When Narcissus was sixteen he was walking in the woods and Nymph Echo saw him and felt madly in love with him. She started following him and Narcissus asked “who’s there”, feeling someone after him. Echo responded “who’s there” and that went on for some time until Echo decided to show herself. She tried to embrace the boy who stepped away from Echo, telling her to leave him alone. Echo was left heartbroken and spent the rest of her life in glens; until nothing but an echo sound remained of her. Nemesis, though, the Goddess of Revenge, heard the story and decided to punish Narcissus. From this point the stories are similar; Narcissus sees himself in the pond and he is amazed by the beauty of the reflection. Once he figured out that his love could not be addressed, he killed himself.
Mary Shelley has given another title to this novel is "Modern Prometheus", but she could also have referred to it as the Modern Narcissus. Victor presents, in fact, all the important characteristics of the narcissistic personality disorder as defined in the myth of Narcissus. Who has having sense of self-importance, preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success; exhibitionism; cool indifference or feelings, and interpersonal disturbances, including exploitativeness, alternation between over idealization and devaluation, and lack of empathy. Moreover, 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. In addition to, we may say that Victor pursues fantasies of unlimited power and glory with monomaniacal intensity. He experiences the profound depression often accompanying a narcissistic disorder, dejection, loss of interest in the external world, inability to love, and a lowering 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.
Thank you
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