Tumpey 1

Megan Tumpey
Ms. Prothers
OCC ENGL 152
22 January 2015
Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Genesis
Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may
rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,
and over all the creatures that move along the ground (Genesis 1:26, NIV). Thus, from dust and
a breath of life, mankind was created. Adam and Eve, the first two human beings, lived in a
beautiful garden and in complete harmony with God and creation. God gave them one rule: they
were not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. However, the temptation was too
great, and the couple ate an apple from the tree. They were banished from the Garden of Eden,
and sin was introduced to the world. In her novel Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus,
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley incorporates the story of Genesis into the life of Victor
Frankenstein from his childhood, to his education, to his creation of the monster and to his death.
Shelley first parallels Frankenstein's life with the story of Adam and Eve, then emphasizes the
stark contrast between Frankensteins relationship with his monster versus Gods relationship
with humanity to demonstrate why the unrestrained pursuit of knowledge and power ultimately
leads to destruction.
Victor Frankenstein is a normal human beingdesigned by God, conceived and born
from two loving parents. His childhood was happy, surrounded by a nurturing family that taught
him virtue and encouraged him to learn and explore. Frankenstein admired his beautiful home
country of Switzerland and reveled in natures beauty. Shelley uses this Edenic upbringing as an
allusion to the perfect environment Adam and Eve lived in before their fall caused them to be
thrown from the Garden of Eden and separated from God. Shelley even provides Frankenstein
with a good and godly presence in his life: the angelic Elizabeth, whose name means child of

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God (Brackett, Frankenstein). However, he rejects her and his beautiful life, choosing to
pursue his desire for power filled with temptation, darkness and suffering.
Adam and Eve were good, honest people until Satan tempted them and they fell from the
grace in which they were created. Frankenstein begins his studies innocently, [but] his quest for
forbidden knowledge makes him, too, experience a fall from grace, creating an undeniable
parallel between Frankenstein and the first human beings (Moeck). Frankenstein began his
studies of the nature of humans with a simple question: Whencedid the principle of life
proceed?" (Shelley 36). However, his question quickly becomes dangerous when he believes that
he can understand God and that he can possess the same omniscience and ability to create life.
Frankensteins "terminal ignorance regarding the ways of God and man" and desire for
knowledge aligns perfectly with the temptation Adam and Eve faced with the Tree of Knowledge
(Brackett, Frankenstein). The man and woman were ignorant of the hierarchy God had created
that He would always be more powerful than manbut they ignored Gods rules and instead
allowed Satan to convince them to eat the apple, hoping to gain divine knowledge.
Frankensteins, Adams and Eves shared desire for power causes all of their downfalls and
changes their lives forever.
Frankensteins fall from grace occurs when he succeeds in creating the monster, and from
that moment on his sin follows him everywhere. The danger in following through with his
experiment was the power over nature that Frankenstein believed he now possessed, for he
states: "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" (Shelley 37). Knowledge in itself is not sinful; Virginia Brackett clarifies that
Shelleycautions against the desire [for knowledge] for the destructive power that it breeds
(Bracket, Paradise Lost). Power can be dangerous because with great power comes great

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responsibility. God knew that, though men are created in His image, they cannot shoulder the
burden or the responsibility of omniscience. Mankind, already sinful in nature, is not merciful
nor loving enough to continually pour grace into a race that sins against its creator as generously
as God blesses and forgives man. Therefore, Frankensteins apple is eaten when he rejects
God's original design for man and believes he has a right to become equal to or more powerful
than God.
Now that Frankenstein has the knowledge he desired, he is also plagued by the guilt and
the torture of his sinful aspirations. After he experiences the breathless horror and disgust of
his success, Frankenstein flees Ingolstadt and his home, just as Adam and Eve were evicted from
the Garden of Eden after they trespassed against God (Shelley 42). Adam and Eve immediately
regretted their decision as Frankenstein did, but the damage was already done. Through Adam
and Eve, sin entered the world; through Frankenstein, a sinful being enters the world and wreaks
havoc on innocent people. Though Frankenstein now knows how dangerous is the acquirement
of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his naive town to be the world,
than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow," there is nothing he can do to
reverse his actions (Shelley 38). Frankensteins temptation and fall from grace mirror Adam and
Eves; his horror and remorse prove that a human being is not capable of handling the
knowledge, power and responsibility that Frankenstein worked so hard to acquire.
The creation of the monster is a distorted version of Genesis in the Bible for the same
reason that his figure is a distorted version of a human being: his maker is not God. God created
mankind in his own image and saw all that he had made, and it was very good (Genesis 1:27,
31, NIV). Frankensteins creation, however, holds up a mirror to the biblical story, revealing in
a reverse image the shortcomings of man's vision as compared to that of God (Brackett,
Paradise Lost). From his earliest days, the monster realizes that God, in pity, made man

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beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours
[Frankensteins], more horrid even from the very resemblance (Shelley 115). The monster did
not receive any version of blessing or grace that Adam and Eve received, because Frankenstein
does not love or accept fatherly responsibility to the monster. Instead, Frankenstein realizes he
"has so miserably given life" to a demoniacal corpse and immediately abandons the monster
without getting to know him (Shelley 43). The monsters creation is an alternate version of the
story of Genesis: it is perhaps what would have happened to humans if God had not been
merciful or responsible enough to see beyond the ugliness of mankinds sin and redeem the
human race.
The monsters fall from grace was not any fault of his; contrary to the story of Adam and
Eve, his downfall occurred because of his creator. Frankenstein abandoned the monster because
even he, as the monsters maker and father-figure, could not bear the sight of him and refused to
take responsibility for the consequences of his actions. The loss of any worldly connection
pained and isolated the monster, who laments, "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 aspect...I
was wretched, helpless, and alone" (Shelley 114). The monster had to learn to survive and
discern morals and values alone, which in part lead to his downfall. As he begins to understand
how hideous and alone he is, agonizing thoughts plague the monster. He cries to Frankenstein, "I
tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge. Oh, that I had forever remained
in my native wood, nor known nor felt beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst, and heat!"
(Shelley 105). The monster suffers even more knowing he must endure his life alone when
Frankenstein refuses to create an Eve for him, even when he claims that Victor owes him a
certain amount of happiness (Frankenstein). Just as Frankenstein regretted seeking and
gaining new knowledge, so the monsters knowledge comes with agony. If Frankenstein had

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assumed the role of father and creator to the monster, he would have prepared the monster for
how the rest of humanity would view him and would have pitied the monster enough to create an
Eve for him. Therefore, Frankenstein is also responsible for the sin that follows the monsters
loneliness.
The monster seeks revenge for being created so hideous, explaining, "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" (Shelley 116). Virginia Brackett explains the monsters
motives further: Rejection by his creator, the one who was supposed to love and accept him,
turns the monster's desire for love and acceptance into a desire for vengeance (Frankenstein).
Frankenstein is also responsible for the monsters moral switch from good to evil because
Frankenstein neglects to teach the monster virtues. For example, in the Bible Jesus commands,
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your
Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:44-45, NIV). Frankenstein failed to practice or teach this
commandment, and as a result the monster justifies his murderous desires, saying, Shall I not
then hate them who abhor me?" (Shelley 85). Frankenstein failed as a god in every respect,
making the monsters existence an anti-Genesis, perpendicular to the story of Adam and Eve
because of Frankensteins imperfection and incompetency.
Throughout Frankenstein, Mary Shelley parallels Victor Frankensteins life with the story
of Adam and Eve: all were born or created in a beautiful and blessed environment, but threw it
away for the pursuit of dangerous knowledge and power. The results of their pursuits caused
them to gain only remorse and sin. Shelley used this parallel to reveal how much worse off
Frankensteins monster was, because he had no merciful creator to teach him right from wrong,
to love him unconditionally, or to forgive him for the sins he had committed. By contrasting the
monsters wretched existence with the story of Genesis and Frankensteins natural life, Mary

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Shelley proves why power and knowledge are so dangerous: humans are incapable of wielding
the enormous, God-like responsibility over another conscious, intelligent being.

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Works Cited
Brackett, Virginia. "Frankenstein." Critical Companion to Mary Shelley: A Literary Reference to
Her Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2012. Bloom's
Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 23 Dec. 2014.
Brackett, Virginia. "Paradise Lost and the works of Mary Shelley." Critical Companion to Mary
Shelley: A Literary Reference to Her Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York:
Facts On File, Inc., 2012. Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.
"Frankenstein." Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 180-202.
Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.
Moeck, Wm. "The Monster Reads Milton: Paradise Lost." Biblion. New York Public Library,
n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2015.
NIV True Images: The Bible for Teen Girls. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2012. 2-5.
Print.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Allen W. Grove. Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus.
New York, NY: Sterling, 2012. Print.