Frankenstein as the “Modern Prometheus”

Mary Shelley was born in the late 18th century, and was a famous writer of the 19th century, during the romanticism period. When she wrote her book, Frankenstein, she gave it the subtitle, “or, the Modern Prometheus,” because, in a way, the book was a more modern version of the Greek myth about Prometheus. Though there are many similarities to Frankenstein and Prometheus, they are also quite different. Prometheus was a Titan in Greek Mythology. He was one of the wisest of his race, and created the human race, by shaping clay into figures that resembled the gods (Mazur). Prometheus stole fire from the sun, and gave it to the humans. It is often said that the “fire of life” that was used to bring his clay humans to life (Hamberg).
Even though creating a human being is the job of God, Frankenstein created a monster out of body parts from other dead humans and put them all together. He then used electricity to give life to his creature. By making the monster, he was taking the place of God, or according to the myth, the god Prometheus, and became the creator instead of just the created.
“Prometheus knows the good consequences that his acts and his pride will have to mankind, but Frankenstein acts without stopping to think what could happen after” (Pastelero). Although Frankenstein does become a creator by creating the monster, he does not care for his creation in the way Prometheus cared for his humans he created. Frankenstein was not a good creator, he was actually trying desperately to kill his monster he made. Frankenstein said, “I devote myself, either in my life or death, to his destruction” (Shelley 191). In a movie version of this story, the monster asks, “Did you ever consider the consequences of your actions? You made me, and you left me to die” (Frankenstein). Here the creature shows his feelings about his creator. Although Frankenstein assumes