It is evident that Mary Shelly was inspired from John Milton’s Paradise Lost when she wrote Frankenstein. Her novel is like the shattered reflection of Milton’s Adam and Eve story. God creates Adam, takes care of him, treats him like his child, and parents him. He tells Adam not to eat from the forbidden tree, just like many parents tell their children to not go into that tempting cookie jar. Adam obeys, like a good boy, because he embodies goodness and innocence.
In Shelley’s version, Victor Frankenstein decides to play God
and create a perfect being (though not externally, I mean, what could you
expect from something made from corpses?). He is mad with excitement during his days of
creation! Yet the moment his baby is born, he is disgusted by his creation and
leaves him to face a cruel, judgemental world on his own. In his early days, he
is very much like Milton’s Adam: innocent, well-intentioned and full of love.
However, the actions against him lead him to anger which then causes him to
commit the sin: murder. And suddenly, just like Milton’s Satan, he rebels
against his creator! He preys on those Frankenstein holds dear, unless, he is
given a female companion who looks like him (you know, more dead bodies). He
wants his own Eve. When Adam eats the fruit, he does not do it because he wants
the knowledge it provides, but to stay with his love, Eve. On the contrary, the creature sins just to be
given a companion.
In all honesty, Milton’s poem may reflect our stages of
development. We begin virtuous and innocent, like Adam. Once we’re told not to
touch that cookie jar, we become curious. Sometimes we do not even think about
going near that tempting snack and stay true like Adam in order to please our
parents. But usually, we transform into Eve and become tempted. Our conscious becomes
Satan in disguise of the serpent, “one cookie won’t hurt…” And even the story with Lucifer and God is
like a child rebelling against their parents. But Frankenstein is the shattered portrayal of this story. The bad
parenting and horrible childhood just seem to switch the order of events
around. The one thing that I think is eminent is the fact that we are initially
good, we are born as Adam.
Jackie, did you know that in the upcoming movie "I, Frankenstein," the hero is called "Adam Frankenstein"? Unlike in the book, in the movie the hero is Frankenstein's creature.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the movie's Facebook page, "I, FRANKENSTEIN is a contemporary fantasy thriller in which the original monster of Victor Frankenstein stands between the human race and an uprising of supernatural creatures determined to overthrow the world." The villains pursue Adam, hoping to study him and learn the secrets of his creation (shades of HULK)so that they can build an army of "animated corpse demons." As Matt Goldberg, writing for Collider, says, "That’s what was missing from Shelley’s Frankenstein: Corpse demons."
As you say, Mary Shelley had read Paradise Lost very carefully, and used it in many ways in the book. It is one of the three books the creature mentions reading. It's clearly an important "intertext" for "Frankenstein," and I think Shelley uses its echoes very deliberately.
For more on the movie, check out this and this. For the original graphic novel from which the movie is drawn, see Darkstorm Studios here and here .
This is really interesting! I like how modern books and comics use the themes that Mary Shelley illustrated in Frankenstein. I think the title, "I, Frankenstein," makes people feel connected to the character, as if they in some way have been put in the Creature's place. Not to the same degree, obviously, but that they have been judged too. Maybe creation represents how everyone develops, maybe either good or bad, which could be related to Jekyll and Hyde. This movie sounds really good and I want to see it when it comes out!
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