‘the modern prometheus’

As I sat down to read Frankenstein for the ‘nth’ time (this is not the first time I’ve read it, nor is it the first time I’ve studied it at Mason either), I thought about it in a different lens as I normally would have otherwise: from a science fiction point of view. One of the most fascinating aspects of Frankenstein is that it can be viewed in so many different angles. Thus as I thought about it relating to Darko Suvin’s article, “On the Poetics of the Science Fiction Genre,” I couldn’t help but go back to the title of the novel itself: Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. What exactly did Mary Shelley mean when she subtitled it “The Modern Prometheus?” Where was she going with this?

As you read the novel, whether for the first time or the thousandth time, you soon realize exactly what this is referring to, namely Victor Frankenstein’s creation of another living being, the monster that we are all familiar with. But what better of a way to view Suvin’s definition of science fiction as “the literature of cognitive estrangement” than by looking at the title itself. Greek mythology describes Prometheus as a Titan who was granted by the great god Zeus to create mankind. This notion of a human creator has been around since the beginning of human history, going back even to biblical times when the idea of God as creator was not only prevalent but essential to believe in.

Humans have always wrestled with or at least have been familiar with this idea, and it is at this point where Shelley bases her novel: to summarize, it is indeed a “cognitive” starting point. Yet she uses this very familiar idea and takes it to a new and unfamiliar place: the idea of a man, Frankenstein, creating another man through science, the “estrangement” of Suvin’s definition. This idea is not only explained by Frankenstein in the early parts of the novel, but captivates him into an obsessive nature, where the idea, “the dream,” is in control. And thus it is only after he finishes his work where Frankenstein realizes the gravity of this idea. He sees “the beauty of the dream vanished” (39). Thus as we progress through the novel we find this very familiar idea of creation taken to a new and unfamiliar level, where the creation is not “the dream” which Frankenstein envisioned, but in fact a terror. Thus reading this through the lens of science fiction I found that the novel thus far, and specifically its title, truly describe the essence of what science fiction writers attempt to grasp: a journey from something familiar into the unknown.