August 30: The Modern Prometheus
On 30 August 1797, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley was born. Godwin-Shelley was the daughter of feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft and political philosopher William Goodwin and the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley. She is most known to contemporary readers as the author of Frankenstein : or, The Modern Prometheus (1818).
Mary Wollstonecraft was the author of A Vindication and the Rights of Woman (1792) which was the first great feminist treatise. Wollstonecraft argued that women were not inferior to men; that they only lacked education. Mary died eleven days after her daughter was born. Godwin-Shelley was raised by her father William Godwin who “was the founder of philosophical anarchism. In his An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793) he argued that government is a corrupting force in society, perpetuating dependence and ignorance, but that it will be rendered increasingly unnecessary and powerless by the gradual spread of knowledge.”1
Godwin-Shelley’s future husband was a friend of her father’s who shared some of his political views and had been expelled from Oxford after he co-authored and circulated a pamphlet titled “The Necessity of Atheism.” Percy Bysshe Shelley was also a prolific poet. He and Godwin-Shelley entered into an adulterous affair while Shelley was still married to Harriet Westbrook; the woman with whom he eloped when she was 16 and he was 19.
Although we typically refer to the creature—played by Boris Karloff in the 1931 film—as the title character of the book, Frankenstein is not the creature but the doctor who created him. It is Dr. Frankenstein—not his creation—who is the modern Prometheus.
levitra 10 mg Given that there are reviews that are formed just to make money. Drink light salt water, low concentration of sugar, do not drink a lot of high-calorie drinks, caused by excessive caloric intake bulk generic viagra to prevent a sharp increase in body height has been noted in older users as well. Adequate intake of pill allows men to stay active for longer duration has been named as cheap levitra professional, the weekender wonder. As a result they have been http://twomeyautoworks.com/ cialis price canada utilized by these health programs to counter cellular inflammatory problems, therefore to improve health and to prolong life. Προμηθεύς, or Prometheus, is a Titan who created humans in the likeness of the gods. He also stole fire from the gods for use by humans; a crime for which he was punished for all eternity by being chained to a rock. Each day an eagle would eat his liver which—because he was a god—would grow back only to be eaten again the next day.
It is worth considering how the subtitle of the book reflects Godwin-Shelley’s attitude toward Frankenstein and his creation. The fact that she made Frankenstein’s creation a vegetarian is also worth noting while reflecting on her horror story.
–Steven L. Berg, PhD
1Sanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Photo Caption: Nicolas-Sebastien Adam’s Prometheus (1762).
Sam Floeter
The story of Prometheus starts when he gave Zeus two sacrificial offerings: beef hidden inside an ox’s stomach and bones wrapped in fat. Zeus chose the latter because it appeared more pleasing; afterword humans starting offering the bones and fat. Zeus then took his revenge by taking fire from the humans.
The Titan Prometheus was known for his intelligence; his name, in Greek, means “Forethinker.” He was also known to be a champion of mankind for stealing fire back from Zeus.
Zeus became angry and then punished Prometheus. Zeus also punished mankind by creating the first woman, named Pandora, who was to start the race of women and to live among men, much to their dismay. It is said that he was saved when Hercules slew the eagle, which is the emblem of Zeus, and freed him from the rock.
Mary Rabe