Allusions And Analogies
Frankenstein contains allusions to and analogies with many important works from the
time some of which have gone down in literary history as classic literature. The most
noteable of these are the seminal Paradise Lost by John Milton and Coleridge's The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Throughout the novel these books are the most alluded
to. These books obviously had a very profound effect on Shelley; it is said that she read
them on her mother's grave (see Shelley's
life). Although Shelley uses many quotations and analogies to other book this is not
(HA!) due to a lack of imagination on her part (although it clearly is) instead
she the other books which contain similar themes.
Allusions to...
First page
"Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould Me man? Did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me?"
Chapter 10
"Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather
the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed."
Chapter 11
"...and it presented to me then as exquisite and divine a retreat as
Pandemonium appeared to the demons of hell after their sufferings in the lake of
fire."
Chapter 15
"Fortunately the books were written in the language, the elements of which
I had acquired at the cottage; they consisted of Paradise Lost,
a volume of Plutarch's Lives and the Sorrows of
Werter."
"It moved every feeling of wonder and awe that the picture of an omnipotent
God warring with his creature was capable of exciting. I often referred the
situations, as their similarity struck me, to my own. Like Adam, I was
apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was
far different from mine in every other respect. He had come forth from the hands
of God a perfect creature, happy, and prosperous, guarded by the especial care
of his Creator; he was allowed to converse with and acquire knowledge from
beings of a superior nature. but I was wretched, helpless, and alone. Many times I considered Satan as the
fitter emblem of my condition, for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my
protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me."
"...to ramble in the fields of Paradise, and dared to fancy amiable and lovely
creatures sympathizing with my feelings and cheering my gloom; their angelic countenances
breathed smiles of consolation. But it was all a dream; no Eve soothed my sorrows nor
shared my thoughts; I was alone. I remembered Adam's supplication to his Creator. But
where was mine? He had abandoned me, and in the bitterness of my heart I cursed him."
Chapter 17
"I will revenge my injuries; if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear, and
chiefly towards you my arch-enemy, because my creator, do I swear inextinguishable hatred.
Have a care; I will work at your destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart, so
that you shall curse the hour of your birth."
Allusions to The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner:
Letter II
"I am going to unexplored regions, to "the land of mist and
snow." but I shall kill no albatross; therefore do not be alarmed for my
safety or if I should come back to you as worn and woeful as the "Ancient
Mariner.""
Chapter 5
"Like one who, on a lonely road,
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And, having once turned round, walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread."
Chapter 7
"I could not be mistaken. A flash of lightning illuminated the object and
discovered its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the deformity of
its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly armed me that it
was the wretch, the filthy dæmon to whom I had given life. What did he there?
Could he be (I shuddered at the conception) the murderer of my brother? No
sooner did that idea cross my imagination than I became convinced of its truth;
my teeth chattered, and I was forced to lean against a tree for support. The
figure passed me quickly, and I lost it in the gloom."
Chapter 18
"Could I enter into a festival with this deadly weight yet hanging round my
neck and bowing me to the ground?"
Allusions to Prometheus:
Chapter 4
"Remember, I am not recording the vision of a madman. The sun does not more
certainly shine in the heavens than that which I now affirm is true. Some miracle might
have produced it, yet the stages of the discovery were distinct and probable. After days
and nights of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of
generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon
lifeless matter."
"...lifeless clay..."
Chapter 16
"Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not
extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair
had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge. I could
with pleasure have destroyed the cottage and its inhabitants and have glutted myself with
their shrieks and misery."
"I had saved a human being from destruction, and as a recompense I now writhed
under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone."
Allusions to Shelley's life:
