... , such as his accursed fate and inability to find his place in the world due to his lack of humanity, his comparison to Lucifer in Paradise Lost and his relationship with his creator and the rest of mankind causes a morally ambiguous situation. The monster's rejection by his creator sets up his ... which displays moral ambiguity due to it seemingly being Victor's fault for the monster's actions. The monster's comparison to Lucifer/Satan from Paradise Lost shows that the his circumstances are worse than even the Devil (who is the most hated entity on Earth) is extremely morally ambiguous...

• Word Count: 706
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography

... includes references to Percy Shelley's poems and other Romantic poems such as the 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Milton's 'Paradise Lost', the references to these show to the reader the Romantic view of the importance of emotions and the imagination, and also the importance of the ... aught to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen Angel whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed."' This is a strong reference to Paradise Lost, as the creature was the first of Frankenstein's creation he should be his Adam, but for no act of evil or moral reason Frankenstein a...

• Word Count: 2951
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... anonymously, and would have been highly controversial. "Frankenstein" posed many questions, probing at the authority of God and religion in general. For example, the novel explores and relates to Milton's "Paradise Lost"-the epic poem whereby Lucifer is depicted as not such a horrific figure, merely taking one step too far and becoming Satan, much like Victor can be seen. Also the fact ... had already shut them out of his life even before then are savagely murdered. The creature can be seen as a heinous being- and may be compared to Lucifer in Milton's "Paradise Lost" due his brutal act...

• Word Count: 1892
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... the misuse of science for personal glory, cautioning how the obsessive pursuit of knowledge can alienate individuals, "I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit." Likened to Satan in John Milton's "Paradise Lost", Victor turns from God and the natural, pursuing an obsessive passion, "my eyes were insensible to the charms of nature ... ". The recurring intertextuality of "Paradise Lost" and recurring darkness motif symbolizes Victor's blind attraction to science. In searching science's "new and almost unlimited powers", Victor creates the monster in isolation, h...

• Word Count: 1145
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Graduate

... is weak in love; he has difficulty expressing his feelings and controlling his impulses, and he is self-centered. Many contrasts can be made between Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Milton's Paradise Lost. Victor's character is paralleled directly with Satan's; both succumb to selfishness when they fall. Much like Satan, Victor is forced to carry his anguish with him constantly; "Frankenstein bore a hell ... within himself which nothing could extinguish" (57). The creature is a portrayal of Eve's role in Paradise Lost. The creature is persuaded by the behavior of others to take his fall ...

• Word Count: 995
• Approx Pages: 4

... , but also the creation of the world. The first few chapters also introduce the "fall" of humanity. We were created along with the rest of the world and were in paradise, until the opportunity to gain knowledge arose. "And the serpent said to the woman, "you shall not be doomed to die. For God knows that on the day you eat ... be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow" (31). The meaning of knowledge and its pursuit is evident throughout the novel. Innocence is lost and experience is gained which leads to an increase in knowledge and the attainment of ...

• Word Count: 1174
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... is weak in love; he has difficulty expressing his feelings and controling his impulses, and he is self-centered. Many contrasts can be made between Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Milton's Paradise Lost. Victor's character is paralleled directly with Satan's; both succumb to selfishness when they fall. Much like Satan, Victor is forced to carry his anguish with him constantly ; " [Frankenstein] bore a hell ... within [himself] which nothing could extinguish" (57). The creature is a portrayal of Eve's role in Paradise Lost. The creature is persuaded by the behavior of others to take his ...

• Word Count: 1001
• Approx Pages: 4

... he would cease to exist, but their opinion is irrelevant to him. His creator disdains him, but the monster learns to cope with his own emotions, supporting himself. By reading a Paradise Lost the monster read this literary work as the true history of the origin of the creation of human beings. He saw aspects of himself in both the characters of Adam ... that he was spurned by his creator, Victor, just as Satan was cast out of heaven by God. The creature related his feelings about his identification with the characters from Paradise Lost in the following passage; "Like Adam, I was appare...

• Word Count: 2479
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... . Inherent in the Christian creation myth is this idea of humanity seeking knowledge that lies beyond its grasp and should perhaps stay there. Adam and Eve were banished from the paradise of Eden for eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge against God's strict commands. During the Enlightenment, Western society as a whole began to "eat of the Tree of Knowledge", as ... religious context, he finds no solace in his understanding. Instead, he becomes resentful towards his creator, as is emphasized in the opening quote of the book, where Shelley quotes from Paradise Lost: "Did I request thee...

• Word Count: 1399
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... grew up not having her real mother around, because she died a short while after giving birth to Mary. Throughout her life she lost many people that were close to her. She lost four children to either death or miscarriage, and she lost her husband, father, and stepsister to different tragedies throughout her life (Shelley 333-34). Mary Shelley ended up learning most of ... in the woods, and how he learned to read because of his intense observation of them (Shelley 79). He also tells him about how he read Victor's lab notes and Paradise Lost. This is the only way that the Monster has any ...

• Word Count: 885
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... himself as "unremitting", "dedicated", "tortured", "resistless", "frantic", and "engaged" (33). He admits that he had become "pale with study", "emaciated with confinement" and that he was so focused that he "lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit" (34). His father writes to him, rebuking him for not corresponding. One might dismiss all of this by saying that it ... and uncontrollable process also suggests the creature sinking closer to hell in his transformation from good to evil; Shelley's use of this imagery once again reflects the literary text of 'Paradise Lost'.cofd f...

• Word Count: 5327
• Approx Pages: 21

... knowledge occurred during his stay in the hovel next the cottage of the Delacey's; it was only after listening to the lessons that Felix gave Safie and after reading Milton's "Paradise Lost " that the creature finally understood his place in society. "When I looked around, I saw and heard of non like me. Was I then a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men ... ...

• Word Count: 1600
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... fit in with every other human being. He was outcasted by society. The people of the town were afraid of his large and grotesque figure. He was reading John Milton's Paradise Lost and Satan is one of the main characters. The monster compared himself to Satan by saying, "Satan has his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am ... ...

• Word Count: 879
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... of a fellow being was morally wrong and that he possessed an intrinsic sense of right and wrong. However, as the Monster continues to pursue knowledge of his identity, he reads "Paradise Lost," by John Milton. And mistaking it for history instead of fiction, the Monster believes the story of the Fall of Man. He relates himself to Adam's uniqueness and novelty as ... ...

• Word Count: 1525
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Werter he learns about "despondency and gloom " and begins to question his creation, from Plutarch's Lives he learns "high thoughts and about the violent tendencies of human civilization, and from Paradise Lost he learns to identify himself with Satan, the master of evil and violence. This incident involving the creature's encounter with mainstream information begins the change in his personality and character ... ...

• Word Count: 1453
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... speak and read by watching his cottagers teach a foreign Arabian girl English, and then he discovers a bundle of books, including Frankenstein's journal. The creature most identifies with Satan in Milton's Paradise Lost, but soon realizes even the devil himself is better off than he. The creature has no one at all to turn to. Satan at least had demons for companionship. The ... ...

• Word Count: 697
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... To mould me Man, did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me? Explanation for Quotation 2 These lines appear on the title page of the novel and come from John Milton's Paradise Lost, when Adam bemoans his fallen condition (Book X, 743-745). The monster conceives of himself as a tragic figure, comparing himself to both Adam and Satan. Like Adam, he is shunned by ... ...

• Word Count: 271
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... , Felix, his wife, Agatha and their children, the family was later joined by another, Safie, a Turk. The monster would collect food for the family and was repaid by them with "Paradise Lost, a volume of Plutarch's Lives, and the Sorrows of Werter". These books gave him "extreme delight". After a while, Frankenstein decides to speak to one of the family while the others are ... ...

• Word Count: 2019
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... well educated people could understand. There were many allusions to works of literature; these allusions meaningless to readers who are not familiar with the works. Some of these works include: Paradise Lost, Plutarch's Lives, and Sorrows of Werther. All of these works reflect the themes of Frankenstein, but would go unnoticed to the general reader. Frankenstein was written for highly educated people ... ...

• Word Count: 1913
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School