Frankenstein and Prometheus, Knowledge and Wisdom

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Chen 1 Shanye Chen Dr. Melinda Luisa de Jesús SSHIS 200-03: The Monsters We Make October 24th. 2013 Frankenstein and Prometheus, Knowledge and Wisdom Frankenstein,a novel written by Mary Shelley in the nineteenth century, is about Victor Frankenstein, a scientist, who creates a humanlike creature and abandons the creature immediately. The creature studies by himself and tries to find his identity, but he is not accepted by society because he’s ugly and horrible looking. Then the creature kills all the people, who Victor loves, for revenge. Frankenstein was the first science fiction and Gothic novel, a remarkable work showing a profoundness and criticism of science, which still has influence today. The Modern Prometheus is the subtitle of Frankenstein, and this obviously shows the strong connection between Victor Frankenstein and the Greek god Prometheus. Both of them act as creators of life, but they have very different qualities. The time periods, when their stories were created, people had different attitudes about nature, so the themes of the stories reflect the time in which they were written. Frankenstein and Prometheus both act as a god or a creator. They create life with unnatural processes. Prometheus creates human from clay and water, and Frankenstein combines different human parts and animal organs to create a new human being. They give their creatures the most important elements for life; Prometheus brings the fire to humans, and Chen 2 Frankenstein uses lightning to animate the creature. Both elements are unpredictable and dangerous. Fire helps humans see in the dark, cook, and keep warm. On the other hand, fire can cause disaster, and can be used to create weapons. Lightning gives the creature life, and the creature is danger itself. Prometheus and Frankenstein both get punished for their own creatures.
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