Mythological and formalist approach in Frankenstien

ASSIGNMENT

PAPER No. 1

The Romantic Literature

• Dabhi Rita A.
• M. A Sem :- 2
• Roll no. :- 20
• Topic :- mythological and formalist approach in Frankenstein.
• email : dabhirita1198@gmail.com
• Enrollment no. :- 2069108420200007
• Submitted :-Department of English                             Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar                       University

💠Beginning :-

                In the present time myths are very important for us to read because they tell of the morals and traditions of those societies. And also many great and modern writers referred to these myths in their writing particularly once originating from Greek and Roman mythology as well as the Bible, the tele the Shelley talks is an old one rife with the profundities and far reaching implication of antiquity.

                          Frankenstein, or the modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. The novel might have been written as a horror story, but the ideas and themes prevalent in the novel are ones men have grappled with  for ages, from ancient Greek myth to the Bible. In Shelley's novel, the allusions to the myth of prometheus and the biblical story of creation provide parallel characters for Frankenstein and his creation.

💠 About Author :-

          Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus  by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851). She was a well known English author . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the romantic poet and philosopher P. B. Shelley. And her father was the political philosopher William Godwin. Her mother was also philosopher and feminist. Mainly Shelley was known for her efforts to publish her husband's works and her novel Frankenstein. The novel Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Frankenstein is infused with elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement. In this novel we find that Mary Shelley used many myths like Prometheus, Paradise Lost etc. Mary Shelley's works often argue that cooperation and sympathy, particularly as practised by women in the family, were the ways  the reform civil society. Apart from this she wrote many other notable works like,

• "History of a six weeks' Tour"

• "Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus (1818)

• " The last Man" (1826)

• " Perkin Warbeck" (1830)

• " Lodore" (1835)

• "Historical novels Valperga" (1823)

• " Faulkner" (1837) etc

💠 Mythological approach in Frankenstein :-

                 

                   Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein  has become one of the greatest novels of the Romantic period. Its allusion to the classical epic Paradise Lost, by John Milton, combined with the archetypical figure of Prometheus composes the novel’s mythological heritage. Myths are crucial elements when analyzing Frankenstein. First, they are the hypotexts of the novel. Second, Frankenstein has become a myth, a cultural icon.

                      In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses the myth of Prometheus and Paradise Lost in an ambivalent mode; they maintain their original meaning, but, at the same time, they acquire a specific feature that suits the novel better. For instance, the archetypical figure of Prometheus is represented by a mortal man, which changes significantly the outcome of the story. Besides, the figure of a divine creator, Prometheus in the Greek mythology or God in Milton’s epic, is transformed into a fallible mortal man in the novel.

"To us it seems that Hermes' speech is to the point.

What he commands to you is to relax from your

self-will and seek the wisdom that's in good advice.

Do as he says, since wrong is shameful in the wise."

--The Chorus, Prometheus Bound

   

                  In Ancient Greek mythology, Prometheus was said to be the wisest of all the Titans. In the form of fire Prometheus is credited with bringing mankind knowledge and enlightenment. He stole fire from the Gods of Mount Olympus. For acting against the decree of the Gods, who wanted to keep the power of fire to themselves, Prometheus was harshly punished. He was chained to a rock to have his liver eaten out every day by an eagle. Every night his liver would grow back. This was to be his punishment for all of eternity.

           The title of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein; Or The Modern Prometheus itself suggests that Mary Shelley was influenced by this tale.Prometheus, the pagan version of man’s creator, was one of the favorite archetypes of the Romantics. Aside from the title, Shelley borrows from the tale of Prometheus a sense of consequence resulting from seeking enlightenment and power. Victor is her modern incarnation of Prometheus. He, as Prometheus was, is fascinated by the power of electricity (lightning). We can recall from the narrative the moment when he becomes captivated by its fantastical power. Frankenstein is not a mere copy of this mythological story; it has new plot, themes and settings.

                  Another important hypotext of Frankenstein is Milton’s Paradise Lost for it represents the Christian version of the creation of man. In the novel we find that monster who read Paradise Lost . And also here we find that creature can be related to Adam, Eve and Satan. And Victor Frankenstein maybe compared mainly to God, Adam and Satan. Mary Shelley borrows Milton’s concept of Paradise Within and, paradoxically, has her characters experience a Hell Within. For instance, in Paradise Lost, Satan declares that “the mind is its own place, and itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven'', which emphasizes the idea that living in a paradise, or a hell, depends on each one’s mind; it’s a matter of choice.In Frankenstein, the Creature puts himself on the same level as Satan when he chooses to hunt Victor down and make him suffer. In the novel when a creature feels loneliness, which seems his greatest fear. He meets De Lacey's family, he thinks that he was accepted by De Lacey's family but as he is rejected, and then he goes to his creator to request a companion " as deformed and horrible as" him. First Victor agrees to help the monster, but at the end he destroys the other creature before he finishes it. Thus, the monster is condemned to loneliness again, and, after Frankenstein’s death, the Creature doesn’t see any reason to continue living and condemns himself to experience a real hellish ending. Even his final moment of life alludes to Satan and his eternal lost condition. In Mary Shelley’s novel, Paradise Lost’s archetypes are invoked to establish a contrast between her characters’ experiences and the ideal paradise.

💠 Formalist approach in Frankenstein :-

                    The formalist method of literary criticism is primarily focused on the text itself, rather than external topics such as history and background, the author's biographical information, or the social contexts which surround a piece of work. In this aspect, the element of form is considerably more abstract than the obvious box-within-a-box structure alluded to above. Here we find that two opposing concepts, with related word and phrase patterns, give not a visual shape or from the novel but a contrast that forms a major theme of the novel, even as the contrast provides an aesthetic appreciation of the novel. In the novel two quests of Walton and Frankenstein : they dream of great scientific successes that would win them enduring respect from their fellow human beings. This pattern of dreams and disasters is clearly manifested in Frankenstein, particularly in recurrent words and phrases, the words hope and despair being the dominant ones.

                     In the beginning of the novel Walton's first letter to his sister we already see his desire to discover the "power" of "the needle" and he has "ardent curiosity" to pursue his study of what the magic of the compass may be.Walton's second letter introduces the idea of loss and loneliness. The latter IV introduces the theme hope, where Walton quotes Frankenstein as saying,

"You have hope, and the world before you, and have no cause for despair. But I--I have lost everything, and cannot begin life anew".

       In Chapter 9, the last of Volume TWo, Frankenstein agrees to the request, upon which the monster departs. The word hope does not occur here, but clearly it is a moment of hope for him. For Frankenstein, however, it is another low ebb and " the gentle affection of my beloved Elizabeth was inadequate to draw me from the depth of my despair." So, the chapter and volume end with that motive of something between hope and despair.

💠 To sum up :-

                     So, when Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, she appropriated the means of Prometheus and paradise lost and adopted them to a new context. The fact that Frankenstein, as the myth of Prometheus, may be re-viewed reinforces the idea that it has become a myth as important to our society as Prometheus was to the Romantics. If we analyze the novel Frankenstein through the formalist perspective at the time we find that the form of the novel is largely shaped by the contrast between hubristic hope and human despair. The word hope and despair are clear exponents of this theme. we occasionally have a box-within-a-box effect, which in turn introduces a possibility of a shifting point of view.

💠 Work cited :-

• Guerine, Wilfred L. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. Oxford University Press, 2005.

• Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. London: Hughes,Harding,Mavor and Jones, 1818.