Frankenstein vs. Paradise Lost - How characters are similar
Uploaded by bigshaggy on Sep 17, 2001
Striking similarities between a duo of novels are not unusual. The novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelly, deals with a scientist named Victor Frankenstein who embodies a creature, who eventually wreaks havoc on his life. The novel Lost Paradise, by John Milton, exposes the cruelty of Christianity or the Christian God within the characters God, Satan, Adam, and Eve. Victor Frankenstein and God have many similarities, as they are both creators of incarnations. Victor’s creature known as the monster shows striking similarities with Satan and Adam. Characters from different novels have similar personalities.
As creators of another creature, God and Victor Frankenstein are very similar, in that they both lose part of their “family,” and they let the war between them and their creations go on too long. Victor says, “ I collected bones from charnel houses; and disturbed, with profane fingers, the tremendous secrets of the human frame.” This shows that he creates the monster out of corpses, just as God creates Satan. Furthermore, Victor is disgusted with his own creation, “the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” Victor rejects the monster, similar to God’s disgust with Satan’s pride. The monster wreaks havoc on the Victor’s life, “; I called myself the murderer of William, of Justine, and of Clerval,” leaving him with a burden of guilt, just as God loses his angels to Satan, Victor loses his family and friends to the monster. Victor at some point feels even more guilt because he didn’t destroy the monster earlier. If God could so easily order the fallen angels to be pushed out of Heaven, why did he let the war go on for three days? This truly is remarkable, two novels of different time periods, with characters of startling resemblance.
God and Frankenstein’s creations stunningly resemble each other. The monster relates to Satan, Adam, and Eve. Victor quotes, “You may render me the most miserable of men, but you shall never make me base in my own eyes,” this is when the monster asks for a companion, Victor refuses. The monster also shows that he will go to any extent to be happy and complete vengeance when he goes on a murder spree. Adam quotes “ for with thee/ Certain my resolution is to die; /How can I live without thee?” Resembling the monster, hence he wants a companion, Eve. Moreover, the monster...