[Miltonic Myth in Frankenstein]

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Keats-Shelley Association of America, Inc.

From Filthy Type to Truth: Miltonic Myth in "Frankenstein"Author(s): Leslie TannenbaumReviewed work(s):Source: Keats-Shelley Journal, Vol. 26 (1977), pp. 101-113Published by: Keats-Shelley Association of America, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30212806 .

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FromFilthyType to Truth:

MiltonicMyth in Frankenstein

LESLIE TANNENBAUM

"God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring,after his own image;

but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very

resemblance."

-Frankenstein

WHEN Frankenstein'smonster, afterreadingParadiseLost,

beginsto drawparallels nd contrasts etweenhis own

situationand those described n Milton'sepic, he is merely

making explicit a processthat has been going on from the beginningofthe novel and that continuesuntil the end. In Frankenstein ary Shelleyis

engaged in a continualdialogue with Milton, expressedby direct and

oblique allusions o ParadiseLost. The presenceof this dialogue is hardly

surprisingand was perhaps nevitable,given the Miltonic associationsof

the VillaDiodati, where the novel was conceived;given Shelley'sreading

of Paradise ostaloud andMary'sown readingof theepicduringthegesta-

tion of hernovel;1and,most importantly,given thenovel's concernwith

Prometheanrebellionand the problemof evil in a world apparentlyde-void of divine agency.For, asNorthropFryeobserves,the Miltonicallu-

sions in Frankensteinerve to "indicatethat the story is a retellingof the

accountof theoriginof evil in a world wheretheonlycreatorshatwe

can locate arehuman ones."2Here Fryealsosuggestsa point thathasnot

1. SeeMary helley'sournal,d. Frederick.Jones Norman: niv.of Oklahomaress,1947),pp.68-69,73.All citationsf Frankensteinre rom he1818 ext,ed.JamesRieger(NewYorkandIndianapolis:obbs-Merrill,947).All citations f Paradiseostare rom

JohnMilton:Completeoems ndMajor rose, d. MerrittY. Hughes(NewYork:TheOdyssey ress, 957).

2. Northrop Frye,A Studyof EnglishRomanticismNew York: RandomHouse, 1968),

P. 45.

101



102 Keats-Shelley Journal

been sufficientlyexplored:the Miltonic allusionsserve the novel's ironic

vision.3Mary Shelley establishesparallelswith ParadiseLost in order to

emphasize mportantdifferencesand in order to penetratethe self-delu-

sions that aremaskedby narrativepoint of view, therebyreinterpreting

the Christianmyth of the Fallasa collapse nto subjectivityandrevealing

the world createdby hermodernPrometheusto be a degenerateversion

of the universe envisionedby Milton.

The allusive texture of Frankensteins immediatelyestablishedby the

emphatic praiseof ParadiseLost in Shelley'sPreface (p. 6) and by the

epigraphtaken from Milton's epic (x.743-745):Did I requestthee, Maker,from my ClayTo mould me Man, did I solicit thee

Fromdarkness o promote me?

An acknowledgedcavil in its originalcontext, this quotationbecomesa

just defenseagainstFrankenstein'sbhorrenceof his creation.In terms of

Shelley'sPreface and Mary's Introductionto the third edition, the epi-

graph also becomes an ironic commentary on the novel itself. Havingentertainedthe initial proposition of a man's using modern science to

imitate God's creativepowers, the writer is rebukedby the novel-her

own "hideousprogeny" (p. 229)-and the reader s forewarnedagainst

the possibilityof any adverse reactionresultingfrom the pursuitof the

novel's theme to its logical conclusion.

Within the text of the novel, the firstMiltonic allusionappears n the

entry from Walton's diary that introducesFrankenstein,where Walton

describeshis icebound ship: "Our situation was somewhat dangerous,especially as we were compassed round by a very thick fog" (p. 17). This

echo of Milton's "with dangerscompastround" from the invocation to

the seventh book of ParadiseLost carriesa richnessof ironic association.

The solitude of Walton-whose ambitions eavehim almostliterally rapt

3. ChristopherSmall, in Ariel Like a Harpy: Shelley, Maryand FrankensteinLondon:Victor Gollancz,1972), pp. 57-60, 64-67, pointsout some importantparodicelementsandcontrastswith ParadiseLostthat the novel contains,but he does not attempta sustained

analysisof thiskind of ironicallusion.JamesRieger'sdiscussion f the novel'stranspositionof Milton'smoralgeography,in TheMutinyWithin:The Heresies f PercyByssheShelley(New York: GeorgeBraziller,1967), pp. 81-85, does not extend beyond that particulartheme.



Milton Myth in Frankenstein 10o3

above thepole-is contrasted o Urania'sgracefulvisits thatbreakMilton's

solitude. However, Walton's solitude is also about to be broken, since

Frankenstein-himselfhaving penetrated he secretsof creation-will de-

scend upon him as a potential Urania figure, filling Walton's need for

inspiringcompanionship.But this visitation will surroundWalton with

greaterdangers han he is awareof becausehisattractiveguestwill behave

more like thatlessgracefullydescendingMiltonicfigure, Satan.Franken-

stein will tell Walton his tale ostensibly to prevent Walton from ex-

periencinga "fallerroneous,"yet Frankensteins so self-dividedthat his

actions undercut his intentions. He will tempt Walton's crew to self-destructionand try to persuadeWalton to kill the monster.

While Frankensteinmay appearnoble and heroic to Walton, Mary

Shelley'sallusions o Paradise ostunderscore heyoung narrator's aivet.

Walton sees Frankensteinn much the sameway that Milton intendedhis

audienceto firstperceivefallenSatan,as can be seenin Walton's allusions

to the Satan of the first two books of ParadiseLost.The young explorer

describeshis companion as "being even now in wreck so attractiveand

amiable" (p. 22) and "noble and godlike in ruin" (p. 208), echoingMilton's Satanaddressinghis legions, "Majestic hough in ruin"

(I.305).Similarly,Walton notes that Frankenstein seems to feel his own worth,

andthe greatnessof his fall" (p. 208), which is reminiscentof Satanat the

council scene in hell, "Above his fellows, with Monarchalpride / Con-

scious of highest worth" (II.428-429). Frankenstein contributes to this

identificationwith a heroicSatanwhen, narratinghispursuitof the mon-

ster to the point at which he reaches he ArcticOcean,he exclaims,"Oh!

How unlike it was to the blue seas of the south!" (p. 203)-a rhetoricalecho of "O how unlike the place from whence they fell!" (1.75). He also

explicitlyidentifieshimselfwith the imageof Satanas aPrometheanrebel:

"'All my speculationsand hopes are as nothing; and, like the archangel

who aspired to omnipotence, I am chained in an eternal hell' " (p. 208).

Frankenstein eemsto be arepresentativendWalton an advocateof the

kind of Satanism hatis popularlyattributed o the Romantics,but this is

not the position that Mary Shelleyendorsesor expectsher readers o en-

dorse.4Walton's failureto seethe full implicationsof the Satanicparallels

4. CitingShelley's nterpretation f Milton'sSatan n AnEssayontheDevil andDevilsandin the Defence fPoetry,Smallobserves:"ForShelley t was simple:Satan, hejustifiedrebel




in Frankenstein's ondition is evincedby one of the young captain'seulo-

gisticoutbursts:"Sucha man has adouble existence:hemaysuffermisery,and be overwhelmed by disappointments;yet when he has retired into

himself,he will be like a celestialspirit,that has a haloaroundhim, within

whose circle no griefor folly ventures"(p. 23). Thisstatement sbeliedby

Frankenstein's arrativeand by his explicit mention of the hell that he

carrieswithin him (pp. 86, 201). Another unattractiveSatanicparallel s

Frankenstein's ontinual gnashing of his teeth (pp. 20, 83, 87), which

makes him resemble the Satanwho is wounded by Michael, "Gnashing

for anguishanddespiteand shame" (vI.340).When Walton invokes theMiltonic Satanby callingFrankenstein "divinewanderer"(p. 24), he is

unconsciously creatingan oxymoron that reminds the reader that wan-

dering in Frankensteinarries the same negative moral significancethat

it does in ParadiseLost,especiallybecause the moral norm of the novelis rooted in domestic affection.5

As in Walton'snarrative, he ironic Miltonicparallelsn Frankenstein's

tale undercut the narrator'spoint of view, especiallybecauseFranken-

stein, despitehis few conscious self-identificationswith Satan,does notappearto be fully conscious of the moral implicationsof this self-image;nor does he seem to beof a single mind aboutit. In some passages-evenin those in which he likens himself to Satan-Frankenstein insistsupon

identifyingthe monsterwith Satanandupon claimingdivinesanction or

his own desire for revenge (pp. 200oo,01o,206, 214). He warns Walton that

was virtuous,God the tyrantwas evil. But [in Frankenstein]he moralambiguitywas re-storedby Mary" p.59).It shouldbenoted,however, hatSmalloversimplifieshelley's

"Satanism."Even though he later (p. 222) quotesShelley'sapparently ontradictoryposi-tionexpressednthePrefaceo Prometheusnbound,malldoesnot callattentiono orex-plainthisdiscrepancy. fulleraccount f Shelley's iews of Milton'sSatan s madebyJosephAnthonyWittreich, r., "The 'Satanism' f Blake and ShelleyReconsidered,"Studies nPhilology, 5 (1968),816-833.For discussions f RomanticSatanism nd its back-

ground, eeCalvinHuckabay,TheSatanist ontroversyf theNineteenthCentury,"nStudies n EnglishRenaissanceiterature,d. Waldo F. McNeir, LouisianaStateUniversityStudies,Humanitieseries,No. 12 (BatonRouge:LouisianatateUniv.Press, 962),pp.197-210;andArthurBarker, '.. . And on His CrestSatHorror':Eighteenth-CenturyInterpretationsf Milton'sSublimityand His Satan,"The University f TorontoQuarterly,11 (1941-1942),421-436.

5.Thenovel'smoral mphasis pon"theamiablenessf domestic ffection"sexplicitlystated n Shelley'sPreface(p. 7). The Miltonic theme of wandering s discussed n IsabelG.

MacCaffrey,Paradise ost as "Myth"(Cambridge,Mass.: HarvardUniv. Press,1959),pp.188-202.



MiltonMyth in Frankenstein 105

the monster is a potential tempter whose cunning rhetoric must be

guarded gainst p. 206),yet it isFrankensteinho isclearly hetempterin the final segmentof the novel. He is the one who, even in his moment

of lucidity, " 'inducedby reasonand virtue'" enjoinsWalton to kill the

monster(p.215). It is Frankensteinwhose speech temptsthe crew to seek

self-destruction-"Even the sailorsfeel the power of his eloquence" (p.

210o).As the accumulatedallusions o the first two books of ParadiseLost

set the context for it, this second temptation is implicitly comparedto

Satan'saddress o his legions in Book nIof the epic. Here the image of

Frankenstein s a powerfulandheroic rebelis also most obviouslyunder-cut by the crew's decisionto ignore Frankenstein'slea.At the end of the

novel, Frankenstein'self-delusionrevealshim to be the victim of hisown

egoism, and thus he becomes more like Milton's Satan than he himself

realizes.

The disparitybetween Frankenstein'self-justificationand the moral

significancef his behavior s emphasizedy referenceso Satan's n-

counter with Sin and Death. As ChristopherSmall has pointed out,

Frankenstein ees the monster asMilton'sDeath,whose horriblegrinandwhose attemptto detain him arecausefor revulsion.Small alsonotes that

an important contrast is establishedby the allusion: unlike Death, the

monsterdoes not wish to harm orcatch Frankenstein.Rather,he wishes to

detainhis creator"As one man will stop anotherfor conversation."6But

as even more importantcontrast s that Satanat least confrontsDeath and

acknowledgeshim as his own creation,whereas Frankensteinlees. In the

dreamthat the monster'sappearance asinterrupted-where Frankenstein

kissesElizabeth,who thereuponturns into his mother'scorpse (p. 53)-the symbolism suggeststhe incestuousunion of Satan and Sin that gavebirth to Death, reflectingthe perversionof true affection that resultedfrom Frankenstein's mbition.An allusion to the encounterof Satanand

Death alsooccurs n themeetingbetween Frankenstein ndthemonsteron

the Mer de Glace,and here the irony is strongestbecause of the fury of

Frankenstein'smoral indignation. Inveighing againstthe monster's foul

crimes,Frankenstein asnot only lost his senseof physicalproportion-he

callsthe monstera "vile insect"-but his loss of moral proportionis be-

trayed by his reactingto the monsterwith the tone of disdain and con-

6. Small,p. 160.



o106 Keats-Shelleyournal

tempt that Sataninitially appliesto his son. The monster is describedas

rushingtoward hiscreator"with superhuman peed" (p. 93), reminiscent

of the "horrid strides" (1.676) of Satan'srapidly advancing offspring.

Again, the comparisonreminds one that Satanultimatelyacknowledges,

indeedembraces, hecorruptionhe hascreated,whereasFrankensteinwill

not acknowledge the monster whose corruption s merelya mirror of his

own self-absorbingambition.

It is thispictureof Satanas an authorof pervertedcreations hatMary

Shelley emphasizesin her comparison of Frankensteinwith Milton's

fallenangel, andthe corruptnatureof Frankenstein's ork is particularlystressedby a Miltonic symbol, the blasted tree. The fifteen-year-old

Frankenstein's ncounterwith the lightning-destroyed ree is interpreted

as a visitationof gracebecauseit detershis thoughts from alchemyand

renewshisinterestn thenaturalciencesp.35). Yet,asit turnsout,the

pursuitof naturalscienceleadshim back to his original arcane nterests,and in the end Frankensteindentifieshimselfwith the tree: "But I am a

blastedtree;the bolt hasenteredmy soul" (p. 158). The symbol is taken

from Paradise ost,where it is usedto describeSatan's egions (1.612-615)aswell as to indicate God'sgraceto fallen man throughthe "slantLight-

ning" that kindles trees and introduces man to fire (x.lo75).7 As the

naturalanalogueof the Prometheusmyth, the symbol effectivelyunites

the Prometheanand Sataniccontexts in Frankenstein.nMilton, however,

it is only Satan and hislegions who actuallybecome identifiedwith the

tree itself-thereby implying that Frankenstein'sPrometheanism, like

Satan's,becomes sterile and destructivebecause he does not possessthe

kind of love that can turn destruction nto creation.Like Satan,who can createonly a parodyof the divineorder,Franken-

stein, in his attemptto assumegodlike creativepowers, becomes a dis-

tortedversion f Milton'sGod.Whilethispoint salreadympliedby thesimilarities etweenFrankensteinnd Milton'sSatan,directallusions o

the God of Paradiseost eveal hatFrankenstein,nhisrelationshipo his

creation,s beingmeasured gainstMilton'sGod andis foundwanting.Frankenstein'sailureo fulfill hegodlikeobligationshathehas ncurred

is emphasizedby the monster'snarrative,which has the most frequentre-course to Miltonic comparisons.The intercoursebetween Frankenstein

7. See MacCaffrey,p. 127.



Milton Myth in Frankenstein 107

and the monster n the monster'shut is agruesomeparodyof theexchange

between Adam and Raphael.8Urging Frankenstein o hear his tale, the

monstersays," 'The sun is yet high in the heavens;before it descends o

hide itself behind yon snowy precipices,and illuminateanotherworld,

you will have heardmy storyand can decide'" (p. 96). So Adam detains

Raphaelto hear about Satan'srevolt and to tell his own story:

And we have yet large day, for scarcethe Sun

Hath finishthalf hisjourney...

(v.558-559)

now hearmee relate

My Story, which perhaps hou hastnot heard;

And Day is yet not spent....

(Vlii.204-206)

Raphaelrepliesto Adam'ssecondattemptto detainhim:

Nor arethy lips ungraceful,Sireof men,

Nor tongue ineloquent;for God on thee

Abundantlyhis gifts hath alsopour'dInward and outwardboth, his image fair.

(VIII.218-221)

This eager delight of Adam's auditor contrastssharplywith Franken-

stein'sreluctantdecision to listen to the tale of his "odious companion"

(p. 97). In his account of his first moments, the monster, like Adam

(vm.254-258), is first aware of and attracted o the sun,but the first sensa-

tions of light areoppressiveto the monster (p. 98). Both Adam and themonster fall asleepon a shadybank,but Adam awakens n the gardenof

Eden (vm.295-314), while the monster awakens to the pain and suffering

of naturaldeprivation (p. 98). The monster'svision of himselfin thepool

(p. o109)arodiesEve'sattraction o herown reflected mage (Iv.456-465).

Theseparodicvisions of familiarEdenicscenes rom Paradise ostserveto

show that Frankensteins unableto justify hisways to his creation,asthe

monster'sown indictmentexplicitlystates:" 'Unfeeling,heartless reator!

you had endowed me with perceptionsand passions,and then cast meabroad an objectfor the scorn andhorror of mankind.But on you only

8. This point is suggestedby Small,p. 60.



1o8 Keats-Shelleyournal

hadIanyclaim forpity and redress...' " (p. 136).Nowhere does Franken-

stein offer the monsteranexplanation or hisbotchingand thenabandon-

ing his creation.On the contrary,it is the monsterwho mustjustify his

ways to his creator,an irony which informs the whole of the monster's

narrative.

Not only exposing Frankenstein'sailuresas a creator,the ironic par-allels to Milton in the monster'snarrativealsounderscore he bitternessof

the monster'scondition. While Milton's Adam is at a loss to describehis

own origins-"for who himselfbeginning knew?" (vm.251)-the mon-

ster sblessedby hiscreatorwith thatpieceof privileged nformation,ashereceives from Frankenstein'sournal " 'the whole detail of that seriesof

disgustingcircumstances' (p. 126). Describinghis moment of greatest

elation, on a spring day among the De Laceys, the monster exclaims,

" 'Happy, happyearth! it habitation orgods...' " (p. i1i), which echoes

Adam's lament at having to leaveparadise:

Must I thus leave thee Paradise? husleave

Thee Native Soil, thesehappyWalks and Shades,

Fit haunt of Gods?

(xI.269-271)

It is a brilliant ouch because t foreshadows he soon to be relateddisrup-tion of thisparadise.When the paradiseof the De Lacey cottagedoes fall,

it happens n terms of implicitcontrastwith Paradise ost,as the monster's

interview with De LaceyparallelsSatan'stemptationof Eve--but with

importantdifferences.Like Satan,the monster seeks to be alone with the

one memberof the Edeniccommunity who would be most susceptible ohis advances, and, however unintentionally,he exposesthe limits of the

De Laceys'virtue and causes them to fall. The important differenceof

course is that unlike Satan-and appropriately, ike Frankenstein-the

monsterhascompletelybenevolentmotives,but thenatureof theworld in

which he is createdcauseshim and the De Laceysto enact the Miltonic

pattern.

In this world in which the only visible creatorsare human, creation

fails becausehumansseem to be incapableof giving or receivinggrace.The charactersn the novel are eitherdestroyed n theirinnocenceor suf-

fer a fall-sometimes a seriesof falls-from which there s no possibilityof



MiltonMyth in Frankenstein 10o9

redemption. During the trialofJustine Moritz, Elizabethattemptsto act

as an instrumentof mercy by being the only one to defendJustine's

character.However, insteadof melting the stony heartsof thejurors,her

generosityproducesthe oppositeeffect,as"public ndignationwas turned

with renewedviolence, charging [Justine]with the blackest ngratitude"

(p. 80). The condemnation and execution of Justinecause Elizabeth to

fall into deep despair:"'Alas! Victor, when falsehood can so look like

truth, who can assure hemselvesof certainhappiness? feel as if I were

walking on theedgeof aprecipice owardswhichthousands recrowding,

and endeavoringto plunge me into the abyss'" (p. 88). The context ofthesecomments is painfullyironic to her auditor,who is responsible or

herpresentvision of the world and for her eventualplunge into the abyss.

The irony of the situationis multipliedbecausenot only is Frankenstein

impotent in the face of Elizabeth's mmediate need of comfort and sup-

port, but when Elizabeth-in spiteof herown despair-offers comfortto

Frankenstein, e is totally unableto acceptit. Without grace,he is con-

demnedto live in a tormentedworld in which the mind is its own place,

as the constant Satanicallusionsundercut Elizabeth'scomforting words:"'We surelyshall be happy: quiet in our native country, and not min-

gling in theworld, what can disturbourtranquility?'" (p. 89). The mon-

ster'sexperienceof gracedenied sexplicitly emphasizedn suchcomments

as," 'Iought to be thy Adam;butIamrather he fallenangel,whom thou

drivestfromjoy for no misdeed'" (p. 95). But thisdeprivations also im-

plicitly underscoredby the possibilityandthe failure of the De Laceysas

instrumentsof grace.When De Laceypromisesto help the monster,the

monster says," 'You raise me from the dust by this kindness...'" (p.13o),an allusion o theGod of Paradise ostwho ispraised orraisingAdam and

Eve from the dust (Iv.415-416, v.516). The monster'srejectionby the De

Lacey familyis the most important all forhim, ashe compares t with the

expulsion of Adam and Eve: "'And now, with the world before me,

whither should I bend my steps?'" (p. 135).

In rejectingthe monster, the De Laceyscause their own fall and ex-

pulsion, anactwhich is themoralcenterof the novel. Themselvesvictims

of ingratitudeandprejudice,the De Laceysshould be the humanbeingsmost receptiveto the monster'sneeds,and the Edenic associations hat the

monster attaches to these cottagerslead us to believe that they are the



110 Keats-Shelley ournal

closest that modern man can come to recapturing original innocence.

They are certainly,along with Frankenstein's arents,the most morally

exemplarycharactersn the novel. However, when testedagainst he mon-

ster'sdeformity,they too fail,revealingthe limits of naturalgoodness.De

Lacey'smoral strength ies in his blindness,which protectshim from the

lust of the eyes but rendershim impotent as a moral agent; he depends

upon Felix, Agatha, and Safie,whose senses deceive them into thinking

that the monster will harm the old man. Since thisfamily cannot find or

act upon a love that will transcend he senses, hey too must fall. The sig-

nificance of this fall as the equivalent of the fall of Adam and Eve isunderscoredby a remark of Felix's companion that the monster over-

hears:" 'Do you considerthatyou will..,. lose theproduceof your gar-

den?'" (p. 134). Partof thisproducewould be the friendshipof the mon-

ster, their"good spirit" (p. to0) who hadperformed anonymousacts of

kindness.Through their decision to flee, the De Laceysdeny themselves

and the monster the love upon which theiridyllic existencedepended.

The scene stresses he novel's continuing emphasis,that man is com-

pletely responsible or his fallen condition and is doomed to remain fallenas long as he attempts to build a morality upon empirical grounds.

Frankenstein's ttitude toward his creation,basedpurely upon inductive

observation, s attacked hroughan ironicparallelbetween his limited vi-

sion and a transcendent ision in Paradise ost.When Frankenstein ecides

to abandonhis attempt to createa mate for the monster, he implicitly

compareshimselfto Adam on the hill of vision (xI.411-414): " ... I now

felt as if a film had been takenfrom before my eyes, and that I, for the

firsttime, saw clearly" (p. 168). While Adam was given a vision ofulti-materedemption,Frankensteinalselybelieves that he can redeemhispast

errorsby refusingto accede to the monster'srequestfor a mate. He de-

cides to commit, n the name of humanitarian otives,a further ct of

denial toward the monster and refuses o do the one act that would most

rectify his previous mistakes.Of course, the basis for this decisionis his

refusalto believe that the monster is capableof giving or receivinglove.

Redemption is deniedto the monster and to Frankenstein ecause ove is

denied.Frankenstein pproachesMilton's God only in terms of the characteris-

tic that the Satanist iew of Paradise ostmost frequentlyattributes o him,




his vindictive nature.The monstersuggests hisview, no doubtbecauseof

hisown experience,when hesaysthathe wasimpressedby Milton's" 'pic-

ture of an omnipotent God warringwith his creatures'" (p. 125). The

escalationof Frankenstein'selligerence smarkedby a striking rony that

underlieshis descriptionof his recovery from insanity:"I awakened to

reason,at the same time awakened o revenge"(p. 196). Actually,he is no

more reasonable hanhe was before,and the implication s that he is well

enough to return o humansocietybecause he desire orrevengeis aform

of madnessthat is sociallyacceptable.9His revengebecomes his religious

calling, as he deludes himself into believing that divine providence isguiding his pursuitof the monster. He acknowledgeshis vindictive pas-

sion to be a vice, but then describeshismien towardthe Genevanmagis-

trate as "something, I doubt not, of that haughty fierceness,which the

martyrsof old aresaid to havepossessed" p. 198). The comparisoncould

not be less apt becauseFrankenstein'sanatic hatredmakes his eventual

martyrdom the antithesisof Christlikeself-sacrifice.As an apostle of

hatred, Frankenstein,with his creation,fulfillsElizabeth's allenvision of

humanity in which " 'men appear ... as monsters thirsting for each other'sblood' " (p. 88).

This vision and its fulfillment are the logical outcome of the meta-

physic that Frankensteinhas embraced.As the novel detailsthe self-de-

structiveresultsof a world predicatedexclusivelyupon empiricalknowl-

edge, the Miltonic parallelsemphasizeman's inabilityto prevent justicefrom becoming vengeance, appearance rom becoming realityand crea-

tion from becoming destruction.Unlike the homeostaticworld of Mil-

ton's epic, the world of Frankensteins degenerative,a universe of deathwhich follows a patternof progressive oss without any form of compen-sation. Frankenstein ieswithout enlightenment,and the flamesthat will

engulfthemonsterpromiseneitherpurgationnor illumination.10Walton,

compelledby his crew ratherthanby his own volition, will returnto his

sistera sadderbut not necessarilya wiser man. The domestic warmth to-

ward which he sails does not appear o offercompensation or his lossof

9. Rieger,n TheMutinyWithin, . 84, notes hat n FrankensteinReason ndrevengeare ides f a coin.Fireandce,Prometheanesire ndpolarhate,arebothopposedo love.

to. See Rieger, TheMutinyWithin,p. 87.




both anesteemed riendand hisown "hopesof utilityandglory" (p. 213);

nor is this domestic affection a force capableof redeemingFrankenstein

andthe De Laceys r of clarifyinghe darknessnddistanceo whichthe

monsterandtheproblemof evil areconsigned.As a transmutationf the traditionalChristianmythof the fallfrom

paradisento the Romanticmyth of a fall into self-consciousness,11Frankensteinmakes ironic use of Miltonic myth to define the terms in

which Miltonic themeshave been transposed.The novel reveals the na-

ture of fallen consciousnessby depicting Frankensteinand Walton as

Satanistswho readilydraw attractivecomparisonsbetween Frankensteinand Milton's Satan,but who are unconscious of the many unattractive

points of resemblance hat the Miltonic parallelsreveal. In this manner,

the allusionsdefinefallenconsciousness o be a fallinto solipsism,exposing

Walton's and Frankenstein'sack of awarenessof preciselyhow far theyare really fallen. Frankenstein's atanicidentificationalso raisesand an-

swersthe importantquestionof whom or what thismodernPrometheus

isrebellingagainst.When the monsterexplicitlystates," 'Iought to be thy

Adam; but I am ratherthe fallenangel, whom thou drivest fromjoy forno misdeed'"(p. 95), heemphasizeshe nominal dentificationofFranken-

stein with Milton'sGod, but other allusions n this scene andelsewhere n-

dicate that Frankenstein s Satan and that the monster is identified with

Death. Frankenstein's ouble identificationwith God and Satanthus de-

scribeshis rebellionasself-division,apoint which is alsoreinforcedby the

Satanicqualitiesthat Frankensteinhareswith his creation.

The complex patternof shifting,mistaken,andhalf-recognizedmythic

identifications n the novel serve to undercut he faith in empiricalknowl-edge that is the initial cause of Frankenstein'sall.12Describinga world

that contains no absolutes,no truthsbeyond the evidence of the senses,

Mary Shelleyshows this world to be a Miltonic Hell, a world beyond re-

11.SeeFrye,A Study f English omanticism,p.17-19, or a discussionf thisaspect fRomanticmythology.

12. Theproblem fknowledgen Frankensteinnd ts Romantic ontext rediscussedyL.J.Swingle,"Frankenstein'sonster nd Its RomanticRelatives: roblems f Knowl-

edge nEnglishRomanticism,"exas tudiesn LiteraturendLanguage,5 (Spring 973),51-65.Rieger,n his Introductiono Frankensteinp.xxix),notes heconcernwithonto-logicalandepistemologicaluestionshatMaryShelley'sovelshares ithGodwin'sCalebWilliamsndSt. Leon.




demption, eitherby Christianagapeor by eros. Whenever thepossibility

of redemption sheldforth,it is alwaysdenied-and the Miltonicparallels

are used to emphasize his denial.The Miltonic allusionsthus reveal that

as an anthropodicy,Frankensteins a calculatedfailure,exposing man's

total inabilityto come to termswith the problemof evil. As a filthy type

of Paradise ost-more horrid even from thevery resemblance-Franken-

steinpointsto the need for thekind of redemptivevision that the world it

describes o flagrantly acks.

WrightStateUniversity

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[Miltonic Myth in Frankenstein]