Essay #4 Shelley: Frankenstein

Opening Pandora's Jar out of Scientific Curiosity:

Frankenstein's Inter-textual Relationship with Greek Mythology

As literary theorist Julia Kristeva explained, texts construct their narrative not only from the sum of their contents, but also by referencing existing texts, to shape the reader's understanding of the story: “Every text is from the outset under the jurisdiction of other discourses which impose a universe on it.” (Chandler 2011). Shelley makes a direct allusion to the mythology of the titan Prometheus from the onset of Frankenstein, establishing a clear inter-textual relationship between the two texts. In doing this, she utilizes the reader's knowledge of the story of Prometheus as a cipher which will allow the reader to gain additional understanding and resonance from Frankenstein's atavistic themes.

In the Greek legend Shelley parallels; the titan Prometheus crafted the first men out of clay (Theoi Project n.d.). In punishment for the deeds he performed for his creations, Zeus had Pandora, the first woman made; knowing her curiosity would cause her to open the jar she'd been gifted with, and unleash dark forces on the world (Theoi Project n.d.). In his ability to manufacture a living hominid, Frankenstein is compared to Prometheus, but in the unintended consequences of his curiosity, his story is more directly paralleled with that of Pandora. What is discovered out of curiosity may be wondrous or horrifying (as was the case for Pandora). As Victor tells Captain Wolton discovering new knowledge can be “a serpent to sting you”, and remarks that an apt moral can be deduced from his tale.

The purpose of the inter-textual relationship within the narrative is to cause the reader to fear the possibilities of what scientific curiosity may allow us to discover, and what dark forces we may unleash on the world with that knowledge. Frankenstein begins by believing himself a modern Prometheus, only to realise his role is more similar to that of Pandora.

References

Chandler, D. 2011. Semiotics for Beginners: Intertextuality. http://users.aber.ac.uk/dgc/Documents/S4B/sem09.html (accessed February 25, 2013).

Theoi Project. n.d. Pandora. http://www.theoi.com/Heroine/Pandora.html (accessed February 25, 2013).

Theoi Project. n.d. Prometheus. http://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanPrometheus.html (accessed February 25, 2013).