Frankenstein

• Genesis (Bible)

  Creation, Adam, Eve
• Poem by Jon Mines- paradise lost 


  • Based on the Genesis story
• Satan questions God's actions as the monster questions victors actions
• Frankenstein is like Adam and Eve, he models with forbidden knowledge and suffers misery as a result

  Like Adam and Eve, he models with forbidden knowledge and suffers misery as a result like Adam and Eve, he models with forbidden knowledge and suffers misery as a result
• There are many references throughout Frankenstein to the Creature comparing himself to Satan
• After he reads Paradise Lost


  The Creature compares himself to Satan because they're both outcasts
• The Creature is upset that even Satan had "Companions, which he is lacking"
• Prometheus character in Greek and Roman mythology


  • Mankind is forbidden to have fire, he steals it and teaches how to use it
  • Romans added that Prometheus created man using clay and water
  • Prometheus gets eternally punished
• Frankenstein is a modern Prometheus


  Because he also creates a man and wants to benefit mankind with forbidden knowledge, but his actions bring him pain and misery
• Prometheus has often been portrayed as a rebellious hero, challenging the gods and the laws of creation
• The Creature compares himself to Prometheus in a similar way
• Rousseau


  • Influential 18th century philosopher born in Geneva
  • Argued that mankind would be happier in a natural state where organised society doesn't exist and everyone is free and equal
  • Believed that society corrupts humans and creates inequality and jealousy
  • Argued that someone abandoned at birth, with no companionship or instruction, would be distorted by society's prejudices
• The Creature (early in his life)


  • A 'natural' being, separate from society
  • Says he was "benevolent and good"
  • Later, when he learns of society, he says "misery made [him] a fiend"
• Clerval


  • Nature has a particularly powerful effect on him
  • As he travels down the Rhine, he feels "a happiness seldom tainted by man"
• Nature is a powerful force that can inspire and restore people
• There are many romantic settings in the novel, such as the Alps