Similarities Between Paradise Lost And Frankenstein

Frankenstein in Comparison to Other Works of Romantic Literature “Invisible threads are the strongest ties” (Friedrich Nietzsche) And can only be drawn by connections. Memories, feelings, actions, abstract things that are still as real, or even more, as tangible goods. When explored in detail, Mary Shelley’s characters seem to have been taken from other influential pieces of literature and combined to create the characters of Frankenstein. Mary Shelley 's characters can be compared to other memorable characters from stories such as Prometheus, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Paradise lost. These connections can demonstrate the possible influence that some romanticist writers had on other romanticists and emphasise on the major focuses …show more content…
Strong, compassionate, egotistical with god-like power but still has a sense of responsibility with his creation and in the end loses something to it, sounds an awful lot like Prometheus from Prometheus. Prometheus created the human race, and despite Zeus’ disagreement, felt a need to protect and aid his creation. Much like Victor Frankenstein felt for the creature, even after the creature kills his brother and a dear family friend he still feels for the creature and sees that there is “some justice in his argument….And did I not as his maker owe him all the portion of happiness,” (135). Not only do the two characters share a similarity in how they care for their creations, but they also both get punished for something their creation did. After Victor 's father passed away from his broken heart, Frankenstein dedicated himself to finding the creature and “Quit Geneva forever….which, when I was happy and beloved, was dear to me, now.., became hateful.” (193). He not only lost his family, his friend and his life but now he lost his country, which inspired much healing and great happiness for him in the first parts of the story. In parallel, much like how Victor lost the rest of his foreseeable future to hunting the creature, Prometheus lost his foreseeable future after Zeus found out that he showed humans what fire was. Zeus punished Prometheus to be chained to a rock for the rest of eternity, and every day an eagle would come and peck out prometheus 's liver, only to have it grow back and repeat every day. But, Prometheus had the power of forethought, and knew that after many centuries of having his liver devoured daily he would be saved by one greater than Zeus. Armed with this knowledge, he willingly accepted his punishment and endured it for years to come. Yet another comparable similarity to Victor Frankenstein. For, after Victor has lost everything he accepts the challenge To hunt down the creature