Themes in Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus Anonymous 12th Grade

Good intentions with horrible consequences is a thread which ties the classical story of Prometheus, the Greek Titan, to Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, a 19th century Romantic novel by Mary Shelley. The ancient story of Prometheus goes as follows, Prometheus saw human suffering on the cold and barren earth and, pitying them, stole fire from the Greek God of Gods, Zeus, to help them. Zeus, furious at Prometheus for helping the humans, punished both Prometheus and the humans. He created Pandora, the first woman, to unleash evils upon the world and disrupt mankind. Prometheus was chained to a rock by Zeus’ servants, Force and Violence. In literature, fire and light often symbolizes knowledge, which it does in both the cases of Prometheus and Frankenstein. Prometheus may have physically given the humans a spark, but with that came knowledge. They gained knowledge of how to build houses, harvest crops, and survive. This knowledge proved detrimental to them as it often does. The idiom, “ignorance is bliss,” means that without knowledge everything will be peaceful. Knowledge corrupts. Excess knowledge destroys. This holds true for Frankenstein as well. With his knowledge he created the Creature. He created the Creature with...