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The meaning of the subtitle “Modern prometheus” and what it implies about the values of romanticism in “Frankenstein” by M. Shelley

Масленникова Анастасия Германовна – студент бакалавриата Московского педагогического государственного университета

Abstract: Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus by M. Shelley is one of the most famous works of Gothic literature. The story is about the scientist who attempts to animate a lifeless corpse and, as a result, is forced to face terrible repercussions of this act. Mary Shelley’s novel has a rich, multi-layered background which is reflected in the subtitle alluding to a Greek myth about Prometheus and showing the writer’s attitude to Romantic poets. There are a number of similarities between Victor Frankenstein and Prometheus. Furthermore, Mary Shelley criticized Promethean poets, being the wife of one of these poets and giving the novel the subtitle conveying the values of Romanticism.

Keywords: Prometheus, parallels, subtitle, meaning, criticism, Romanticism.

Introduction

The period from the end of the 18th century to the middle of the 19^th century saw the rise of Romanticism, a literary movement which focused on individualism and feelings. It acted as a response to the Enlightenment and the Industrial Era where science and rationality were the primary factors. By contrast, Romantic writers aspired to influence people’s minds through stories based on interest in history, an affinity with nature and the importance of characters’ feelings and thoughts rather than their actions. Therefore, epistolary novels were popular among Romanticists as they gave insights into heroes’ minds and relied on subjective perspectives. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a prime example of an epistolary novel with romantic elements. The writer utilized letters as a framing device which presented the story from the perspective of an English traveller named Walton. Advancing towards the North Pole, the man encountered the injured Victor Frankenstein and recorded the dying man's story. Victor confessed that he had the most intense longing to disclose the secrets of nature and animated a lifeless thing, which led to countless unfortunate incidents. Consequently, Frankenstein was subjected to severe consequences for the interference with nature.

Literature review

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is among the most influential Gothic novels from the 19th century. The Greek myth about Prometheus had an impact on the writer and the novel. The character of Frankenstein was inspired by the figure of the mythological hero and the novel's subtitle is corresponding. In the tale, the titan created figures of clay and Athena gave the initial spark for the figures. Man started adoring the name of Prometheus. The same way, Victor discovered the art of animation and decided to create a creature, "a New Adam'' [2, p. 7]. There was tension in the relationships between the father and the child from the beginning. In the end, both were completely destroyed. The second parallel between these men is that both longed to do good deeds [3, p. 71]. The former decided to steal fire from Olympus to help people and started educating them, thereby disobeying Zeus's commands. In turn, Frankenstein discovered "the cause of generation and life”, therefore, breaking immutable natural laws [5, p. 33]. Consequently, both men were severely punished for the rebellion against the superior power. Thus, the subtitle can be considered as “a tool of foreshadowing” because a reader well versed in mythology may realise that the protagonist of the story will suffer the same fate as Prometheus [1, p. 2]. Besides, having amazing privileges is another similarity between Victor and Prometheus as the former was born in an affluent family and received a high-quality education while the latter possessed immortality [1, p. 2]. These factors exacerbated their sufferings as Prometheus was chained to a rock forever while the scientist had a hard time admitting the fact that he had misused his intimate knowledge of natural philosophy and breathed life into the “demoniacal corpse” [5, p. 38]. The monster was the reason for many tragic events and, eventually, Frankenstein’s utter destruction. Therefore, there are some possible similarities between the lives of Prometheus and Victor. However, the similarities described represent only the outer layer of the message conveyed in the subtitle. Its deeper layer is Mary Shelley's criticism of Promethean poets and romantic ideology overall.

Research methods

To begin with, William Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft and Percy Bysshe Shelley were the most influential people in the writer’s life. The first one, her  father, was the founder of philosophical anarchism whereas her mother wrote on feminist topics. Mary Shelley’s husband was a famous poet of Romanticism radical in his views. Another important person in the writer’s life was Lord Byron, one of the leaders of the Romantic movement. The poet had a direct influence on Frankenstein because he  suggested writing Gothic stories in a circle of his companions including Shelley. In general, all these people longed for the significant transformation of human nature with the annihilation of discrimination and violence. Thus, the new world would be purified from any sufferings, corruption and other flaws of society. Apart from these, the very concept of mortality should be eliminated, which would transform people into living gods. In turn, Frankenstein was eager to unlock the secret of life and then enlighten the world [5, p. 35]. Coming into conflict with nature, Victor dedicated himself to animating a lifeless thing hoping to be admired by a new race “as its creator and source” [5, p. 35]. Therefore, Victor’s aim was to endow people with divine abilities and, hence, make them a superior race. As can be seen, the ideas of Romantic poets and Frankenstein were similar, inspiring them to make every effort to realise their goals. To expand on this, Romantic thinkers expressed their ides in the poems and, in particular, alluded to the figure of Prometheus. For instance, in the works of Goethe, this mythological character is the artist who went against the gods' will and discovered his creative capabilities. As for Frankenstein, he had been doggedly pursuing his goal for a long time until he succeeded in creating the monster. However, Victor's grand plan was set to failure from the very beginning as possible disastrous consequences were not taken into account. As a result, the monster was rejected by his creator and both suffered severely until their deaths. Evidently, such tragic consummation of the scientist’s ambitions implies Mary Shelley’s disapproval of implies Mary Shelley’s disapproval of the radical views of Romantic poets, particularly, of Percy Shelley and Lord Byron. The writer indicated the flaws in their ideas about the new society, thereby, probably trying to warn them of possible detrimental effects of their thoughts. Therefore, it is possible to make a conclusion that Mary Shelley’s modern Prometheus, Victor Frankenstein, both has a direct connection with her Romantic acquaintances and conveys the writer’s view on Romanticism and its weaknesses. However, although Mary Shelley criticised Romanticism in her novel, the values of this literary movement are still implied in the subtitle [4, p. 613]. First of all, as has been already mentioned, the Greek myth about Prometheus was sample and an inspiration for the writer and her novel. There are multiple parallels between these stories, which confirms that the focus in the work is on history and identity, one of values of Romanticism. Another important issue which Romantic writers touched upon in their works was the key role of feelings and imagination. Moreover, immediate reactions and impulsive actions of Romantic characters were often a driving force for the plot. This praise of emotions can be also traced in Frankenstein. After disclosing the secret of nature, the scientist was so overwhelmed by this and enthusiastic about his future success that was unable to retain control. Guided by impulses and strong emotions, Victor considered neither the flaws in his plan nor its possible calamitous consequences. Blinded by the acquired power, the man finally realised his terrible mistake when the tragedy was inevitable. Similarly, Prometheus was eager to free the world from the totalitarian regime of Zeus, an omnipotent God, and help people so he did not manage to analyse the consequences and was punished for this. These examples clearly demonstrate that both men acted in a spontaneous way and relied on their feelings rather than reason. Such behaviour was typical of Romantic characters. Apart from these, nature is important in Frankenstein and may even be seen as a separate character in the novel, the antagonist. Exploring new possibilities, Victor transgressed against the immutable laws of nature because only God has a right and ability to generate life. He failed to take responsibility for his destructive actions and was harshly punished. Prometheus’s rivalry with the superior power had similar repercussions as the man was put in a perpetual vicious circle of life and death. Thus, nature is presented as the superior power and defender of its sacred boundaries against humans. Affinity with nature is one of values of Romantic works and the significance of maintaining a good relationship with it is vividly conveyed in the novel. In general, both Victor and Prometheus can be called “Romantic heroes”. Isolated from society, they rejected the established norms coming into conflict with nature and exploring unknown fields. Besides, they were prone to wanderlust in difficult periods of their lives and were engaged in the quest of self-discovery. All these facts make Frankenstein and Prometheus rebellious spirits, or “Romantic heroes”. To sum up, such ideas of the Romantic movement as interest in history and identity, affinity with nature and the key role of feelings are implicitly conveyed by the author in the subtitle of Frankenstein.

Key results and discussion

As can be seen, apart from the outer layer of meaning of the subtitle “Modern Prometheus” of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, there is also a deeper one described in the article. Despite the fact that Mary Shelley remained faithful to the values of Romanticism as the subtitle implies some of them, the writer’s critique of Romantic poets, including her relatives, is the main message of the subtitle. Thus, although it is difficult to precisely define the attitude of Mary Shelley towards Romantic ideology in general, the writer’s voice expressed through the subtitle of the novel vividly shows that M. Shelley did not fully approve of the ideas of Romantic, or “Promethean”, poets.

Conclusion

To conclude, there are two meanings of the subtitle of the novel, explicit and implicit. The former relates to the association of Victor Frankenstein with Prometheus as the intentions, actions and destinies of both men were similar. The hidden message of the subtitle is Mary Shelley’s critique of revolutionary ideas of Romantic writers and her parents. Furthermore, such values of Romanticism as the predominance of feelings, celebration of nature and connection with history are implied in the subtitle together with the representation of Frankenstein and Prometheus as “Romantic heroes”.

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