Keats-Shelley Association of America, Inc.

From Filthy Type to Truth: Miltonic Myth in "Frankenstein" Author(s): Leslie Tannenbaum Reviewed work(s): Source: Keats-Shelley Journal, Vol. 26 (1977), pp. 101-113 Published by: Keats-Shelley Association of America, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30212806 . Accessed: 06/04/2012 10:29
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Keats-Shelley Association of America, Inc. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Keats-Shelley Journal.

http://www.jstor.org

FromFilthyType to Truth: Miltonic Myth in Frankenstein

LESLIE TANNENBAUM

"God, in pity, made man beautifuland alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance." -Frankenstein WHEN Frankenstein's Lost, monster, after reading Paradise

between his own and begins to draw parallels contrasts

situationand those describedin Milton's epic, he is merely making explicit a process that has been going on from the beginning of the novel and that continuesuntil the end. In Frankenstein Mary Shelley is engaged in a continual dialogue with Milton, expressedby direct and Lost. The presenceof this dialogue is hardly oblique allusionsto Paradise surprisingand was perhapsinevitable, given the Miltonic associationsof the Villa Diodati, where the novel was conceived; given Shelley'sreading Lost of Paradise aloud andMary'sown readingof the epic duringthe gestation of her novel;1 and, most importantly,given the novel's concernwith Prometheanrebellion and the problem of evil in a world apparentlydevoid of divine agency. For, as Northrop Frye observes,the Miltonic alluserve to "indicatethat the story is a retelling of the sions in Frankenstein

that accountof the originof evil in a worldwherethe only creators we

can locate are human ones."2Here Frye also suggestsa point that has not
Univ. of Oklahoma L. ed. Press, 1. SeeMary Shelley's Journal, Frederick Jones(Norman: of are Rieger 1947),pp. 68-69,73. All citations Frankenstein fromthe 1818text,ed.James Lost of Bobbs-Merrill, 1947).All citations Paradise arefrom (New YorkandIndianapolis: Y. ed. Poems Major and Prose, Merritt Hughes(New York:The Complete JohnMilton: Press, Odyssey 1957).
2.

(New York: Random House, 1968), Northrop Frye, A Studyof EnglishRomanticism

P. 45. 101

102

Keats-Shelley Journal

been sufficientlyexplored: the Miltonic allusionsserve the novel's ironic vision.3 Mary Shelley establishesparallelswith Paradise Lost in order to emphasizeimportant differencesand in order to penetratethe self-delusions that are masked by narrativepoint of view, thereby reinterpreting the Christianmyth of the Fall as a collapseinto subjectivityand revealing the world createdby her modern Prometheusto be a degenerateversion of the universeenvisionedby Milton. The allusive texture of Frankenstein immediately establishedby the is Lost in Shelley's Preface (p. 6) and by the emphatic praise of Paradise taken from Milton's epic (x.743-745): epigraph Did I requestthee, Maker, from my Clay To mould me Man, did I solicit thee From darknessto promote me? An acknowledged cavil in its original context, this quotation becomes a abhorrenceof his creation.In terms of just defenseagainstFrankenstein's Shelley's Preface and Mary's Introductionto the third edition, the epigraph also becomes an ironic commentary on the novel itself. Having entertained the initial proposition of a man's using modern science to imitate God's creative powers, the writer is rebuked by the novel-her own "hideous progeny" (p. 229)-and the readeris forewarnedagainst the possibility of any adversereaction resulting from the pursuit of the novel's theme to its logical conclusion. Within the text of the novel, the first Miltonic allusion appearsin the where Walton entry from Walton's diary that introducesFrankenstein, 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 dangerscompast round" from the invocation to the seventh book of Paradise Lost carriesa richnessof ironic association. The solitude of Walton-whose ambitionsleave him almost literallyrapt
3. ChristopherSmall, in Ariel Like a Harpy: Shelley,Mary and Frankenstein (London: Victor Gollancz,1972), pp. 57-60, 64-67, points out some importantparodicelementsand contrastswith Paradise Lost that the novel contains,but he does not attempt a sustained of analysisof this kind of ironic allusion.JamesRieger'sdiscussion the novel's transposition of Milton's moral geography, in The Mutiny Within:The Heresies PercyByssheShelley of (New York: George Braziller,1967), pp. 81-85, does not extend beyond that particular theme.

Milton Myth in Frankenstein

10o3

above the pole-is contrasted Urania'sgracefulvisitsthatbreakMilton's to solitude. However, Walton's solitude is also about to be broken, since Frankenstein-himself having penetratedthe secretsof creation-will descend upon him as a potential Urania figure, filling Walton's need for inspiring companionship.But this visitation will surroundWalton with greaterdangersthan he is awareof becausehis attractiveguest will behave more like that less gracefullydescendingMiltonic figure, Satan.Frankenstein will tell Walton his tale ostensibly to prevent Walton from exis periencing a "fall erroneous,"yet Frankenstein so self-divided that his actions undercut his intentions. He will tempt Walton's crew to selfdestructionand try to persuadeWalton to kill the monster. While Frankensteinmay appear noble and heroic to Walton, Mary Lost the naivet. Shelley'sallusionsto Paradise underscore young narrator's Walton sees Frankenstein much the same way that Milton intendedhis in audienceto first perceivefallen Satan,as can be seen in Walton's allusions to the Satanof the first two books of Paradise Lost. The young explorer describeshis companion as "being even now in wreck so attractiveand amiable" (p. 22) and "noble and godlike in ruin" (p. 208), echoing Milton's Satanaddressinghis legions, "Majesticthough in ruin" (I.305). "seemsto feel his own worth, Similarly,Walton notes that Frankenstein and the greatnessof his fall" (p. 208), which is reminiscentof Satanat the council scene in hell, "Above his fellows, with Monarchalpride / Conscious of highest worth" (II.428-429). Frankenstein contributes to this

identificationwith a heroic Satanwhen, narratinghis pursuitof the monster to the point at which he reachesthe Arctic Ocean, he exclaims, "Oh! How unlike it was to the blue seas of the south!" (p. 203)-a rhetorical
echo of "O how unlike the place from whence they fell!" (1.75). He also

explicitly identifieshimselfwith the image of Satanas a Prometheanrebel: "'All my speculationsand hopes are as nothing; and, like the archangel
who aspired to omnipotence, I am chained in an eternal hell' " (p. 208).

and Frankenstein seemsto be a representative Walton an advocateof the kind of Satanismthat is popularlyattributedto the Romantics,but this is not the position that Mary Shelley endorsesor expects her readersto endorse.4Walton's failureto see the full implicationsof the Satanicparallels
of 4. Citing Shelley'sinterpretation Milton's Satanin An EssayontheDevil andDevilsand in the Defence ofPoetry,Smallobserves:"ForShelleyit was simple:Satan,thejustifiedrebel

104

Keats-Shelley Journal

in Frankenstein's condition is evinced by one of the young captain'seulooutbursts:"Sucha man hasa double existence:he may suffermisery, gistic and be overwhelmed by disappointments; when he has retired into yet himself, he will be like a celestialspirit,that has a halo aroundhim, within whose circleno grief or folly ventures" (p. 23). This statementis belied by Frankenstein's narrativeand by his explicit mention of the hell that he carrieswithin him (pp. 86, 201). Another unattractiveSatanicparallelis Frankenstein's continual gnashing of his teeth (pp. 20, 83, 87), which makes him resemblethe Satanwho is wounded by Michael, "Gnashing for anguish and despite and shame" (vI.340). When Walton invokes the Miltonic Satanby calling Frankenstein "divine wanderer"(p. 24), he is a an oxymoron that reminds the readerthat wanunconsciously creating carriesthe same negative moral significancethat dering in Frankenstein it does in Paradise Lost, especiallybecause the moral norm of the novel is rooted in domestic affection.5 As in Walton's narrative,the ironic Miltonic parallelsin Frankenstein's tale undercut the narrator'spoint of view, especially because Frankenwith Satan, does not stein, despite his few conscious self-identifications appearto be fully conscious of the moral implicationsof this self-image; nor does he seem to be of a single mind about it. In some passages-even in those in which he likens himself to Satan-Frankenstein insists upon identifying the monsterwith Satanand upon claiming divine sanctionfor
his own desire for revenge (pp. 200oo, 201o, 206,
214).

He warns Walton that

was virtuous, God the tyrantwas evil. But [in Frankenstein] moral ambiguity was rethe

stored Mary"(p. 59).It should noted,however, Smalloversimplifies be that by Shelley's tionexpressed thePreface Prometheus in to Small to Unbound, doesnot callattention or exA of views of Milton'sSatan madeby is plainthis discrepancy. fulleraccount Shelley's of JosephAnthonyWittreich, "The 'Satanism' Blake and ShelleyReconsidered," Jr.,
Studies Philology, (1968), 816-833. For discussions RomanticSatanism its backin of and 65 "Satanism." Even though he later (p. 222) quotes Shelley'sapparentlycontradictory posi-

see "TheSatanist of in ground, CalvinHuckabay, Controversy the Nineteenth Century,"

Studiesin EnglishRenaissance ed. Literature, Waldo F. McNeir, LouisianaState University Humanities No. State Studies, Series, 12 (Baton Rouge:Louisiana Univ. Press, 1962), pp.

197-210;andArthur Barker, '.. . And on His CrestSatHorror': " Eighteenth-Century of affection" explicitly is 5. Thenovel'smoral emphasis upon"theamiableness domestic

of Interpretations Milton's Sublimity and His Satan," The University Toronto of Quarterly, 11 (1941-1942), 421-436. statedin Shelley'sPreface(p. 7). The Miltonic theme of wanderingis discussed IsabelG. in Lost as "Myth"(Cambridge,Mass.: HarvardUniv. Press,1959), pp. MacCaffrey,Paradise
188-202.

Milton Myth in Frankenstein

105

the monster is a potential tempter whose cunning rhetoric must be

who the against(p. 206),yet it is Frankenstein is clearly tempter guarded

in the final segment of the novel. He is the one who, even in his moment of lucidity, " 'induced by reasonand virtue' " enjoins Walton to kill the monster (p. 215). It is Frankenstein whose speechtempts the crew to seek self-destruction-"Even the sailorsfeel the power of his eloquence" (p. As Lost 210o). the accumulatedallusionsto the first two books of Paradise set the context for it, this second temptation is implicitly compared to Satan'saddressto his legions in Book nIof the epic. Here the image of as Frankenstein a powerful and heroic rebel is also most obviously undercut by the crew's decision to ignore Frankenstein's plea. At the end of the Frankenstein's self-delusionrevealshim to be the victim of his own novel, egoism, and thus he becomes more like Milton's Satan than he himself realizes. The disparity between Frankenstein's self-justificationand the moral

of to ensignificance his behavioris emphasized references Satan's by

counter with Sin and Death. As Christopher Small has pointed out, Frankenstein the monster as Milton's Death, whose horriblegrin and sees whose attemptto detainhim are causefor revulsion. Small also notes that an important contrast is establishedby the allusion: unlike Death, the monsterdoes not wish to harmor catchFrankenstein. Rather,he wishes to detainhis creator"As one man will stop anotherfor conversation."6 But as even more importantcontrastis that Satanat least confrontsDeath and flees. In the acknowledgeshim as his own creation,whereasFrankenstein dreamthat the monster'sappearance interrupted-where Frankenstein has kisses Elizabeth,who thereuponturns into his mother's corpse (p. 53)the symbolism suggests the incestuousunion of Satan and Sin that gave birth to Death, reflecting the perversion of true affection that resulted from Frankenstein's ambition. An allusionto the encounterof Satanand Death also occursin the meeting between Frankenstein the monsteron and the Mer de Glace,and here the irony is strongestbecause of the fury of moral indignation. Inveighing against the monster'sfoul Frankenstein's has crimes, Frankenstein not only lost his senseof physicalproportion-he calls the monster a "vile insect"-but his loss of moral proportion is betrayed by his reacting to the monster with the tone of disdainand con6. Small, 160. p.

o106

Keats-Shelley Journal

tempt that Sataninitially applies to his son. The monster is describedas rushingtoward his creator"with superhuman speed" (p. 93), reminiscent of the "horrid strides" (1.676) of Satan'srapidly advancing offspring. Again, the comparisonreminds one that Satanultimately acknowledges, indeed embraces,the corruptionhe has created,whereasFrankenstein will not acknowledge the monsterwhose corruptionis merely a mirrorof his own self-absorbingambition. It is this picture of Satanas an author of pervertedcreationsthat Mary Shelley emphasizes in her comparison of Frankensteinwith Milton's fallen angel, and the corruptnatureof Frankenstein's work is particularly stressed by a Miltonic symbol, the blasted tree. The fifteen-year-old Frankenstein's encounterwith the lightning-destroyedtree is interpreted as a visitation of grace because it detershis thoughts from alchemy and in renewshis interest the natural sciences(p. 35). Yet, as it turnsout, the of naturalscience leads him back to his original arcaneinterests, pursuit and in the end Frankenstein identifieshimself with the tree: "But I am a blastedtree; the bolt has enteredmy soul" (p. 158). The symbol is taken from Paradise Lost,where it is used to describeSatan'slegions (1.612-615) as well as to indicateGod's grace to fallen man through the "slantLightning" that kindles trees and introduces man to fire (x.lo75).7 As the naturalanalogue of the Prometheusmyth, the symbol effectively unites the Prometheanand Sataniccontexts in Frankenstein. Milton, however, In it is only Satan and his legions who actuallybecome identified with the tree itself-thereby implying that Frankenstein'sPrometheanism, like Satan's,becomes sterile and destructivebecause he does not possess the kind of love that can turn destructioninto creation. Like Satan,who can createonly a parody of the divine order, Frankenstein, in his attempt to assume godlike creative powers, becomes a dis-

of tortedversion Milton's God.Whilethispointis already implied the by similarities betweenFrankenstein Milton'sSatan,directallusions and to in the Godof Paradise revealthatFrankenstein, hisrelationship his Lost to is Milton'sGod and is foundwanting. creation, beingmeasured against to that Frankenstein's failure fulfillthe godlikeobligations he hasincurred is emphasizedby the monster'snarrative,which has the most frequentrecourse to Miltonic comparisons.The intercoursebetween Frankenstein
7. See MacCaffrey, 127. p.

Milton Myth in Frankenstein

107

and the monsterin the monster'shut is a gruesomeparodyof the exchange between Adam and Raphael.8Urging Frankenstein hear his tale, the to monster says, " 'The sun is yet high in the heavens;before it descendsto hide itself behind yon snowy precipices, and illuminate another world, you will have heardmy story and 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 finisht half his journey...

(v.558-559)
now hear mee relate My Story, which perhapsthou hast not heard; And Day is yet not spent....
(Vlii.204-206)

Raphaelrepliesto Adam's second attempt to detain him: Nor are thy lips ungraceful,Sire of men, Nor tongue ineloquent; for God on thee Abundantly his gifts hath also pour'd Inward and outward both, his image fair.
(VIII.218-221)

This eager delight of Adam's auditor contrastssharply with Frankenstein's reluctantdecision 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 firstaware of and attractedto the sun, but the first sensations of light are oppressiveto the monster (p. 98). Both Adam and the monster fall asleepon a shady bank, but Adam awakensin the gardenof
Eden (vm.295-314), while the monster awakens to the pain and suffering of naturaldeprivation (p. 98). The monster'svision of himselfin the pool

(p. o109) parodiesEve's attractionto her own reflectedimage (Iv.456-465). Lost These parodicvisions of familiarEdenic scenesfrom Paradise serve to show that Frankenstein unable to justify his ways to his creation,as the is creator! monster'sown indictmentexplicitly states:" 'Unfeeling, heartless you had endowed me with perceptions and passions,and then cast me abroad an object for the scorn and horror of mankind. But on you only
8. This point is suggestedby Small, p. 60.

1o8

Journal Keats-Shelley

had I any claimfor pity and redress...' " (p. 136). Nowhere does Frankenstein offer the monsteran explanationfor his botching and then abandoning his creation. On the contrary, it is the monster who must justify his ways to his creator,an irony which informs the whole of the monster's narrative. Not only exposing Frankenstein's failuresas a creator, the ironic parallelsto Milton in the monster'snarrativealso underscorethe bitternessof the monster'scondition. While Milton's Adam is at a loss to describehis own origins-"for who himself beginning knew?" (vm.251)-the monsteris blessedby his creatorwith thatpiece of privilegedinformation,ashe receives from Frankenstein's journal " 'the whole detail of that series of " circumstances' (p. 126). Describing his moment of greatest disgusting elation, on a spring day among the De Laceys, the monster exclaims, " 'Happy,happyearth!fit habitationfor gods...' " (p. i1i), which echoes Adam's lament at having to leave paradise: Must I thus leave thee Paradise? thus leave Thee Native Soil, these happy Walks and Shades, Fit haunt of Gods?
(xI.269-271)

It is a brillianttouch becauseit foreshadowsthe soon to be relateddisruption of this paradise.When the paradiseof the De Lacey cottage does fall, it happensin termsof implicit contrastwith Paradise Lost,as the monster's interview with De Lacey parallelsSatan'stemptation of Eve--but with Like Satan,the monster seeks to be alone with the important differences. one member of the Edenic community who would be most susceptibleto his advances,and, however unintentionally,he exposes the limits of the De Laceys' virtue and causes them to fall. The important differenceof course is that unlike Satan-and appropriately,like Frankenstein-the monsterhascompletelybenevolentmotives, but the natureof the world in which he is createdcauseshim and the De Laceys to enact the Miltonic pattern. In this world in which the only visible creatorsare human, creation fails becausehumans seem to be incapableof giving or receiving grace. The characters the novel are either destroyedin their innocence or sufin fer a fall-sometimes a seriesof falls-from which thereis no possibilityof

Milton Myth in Frankenstein

10o9

redemption. During the trial ofJustine Moritz, Elizabethattemptsto act as an instrument of mercy by being the only one to defend Justine's character.However, insteadof melting the stony heartsof the jurors, her generosityproducesthe opposite effect, as "publicindignationwas turned with renewed violence, charging [Justine]with the blackestingratitude" (p. 80). The condemnation and execution of Justine cause Elizabeth to fall into deep despair:"'Alas! Victor, when falsehood can so look like I truth, who can assurethemselves of certainhappiness? feel as if I were are walking on the edge of a precipicetowardswhich thousands crowding, and endeavoringto plunge me into the abyss'" (p. 88). The context of these comments is painfully ironic to her auditor, who is responsiblefor her presentvision of the world and for her eventualplunge into the abyss. The irony of the situationis multiplied becausenot only is Frankenstein impotent in the face of Elizabeth'simmediate need of comfort and support, but when Elizabeth-in spite of her own despair-offers comfort to he Frankenstein, is totally unable to accept it. Without grace, he is condemned to live in a tormentedworld in which the mind is its own place, as the constant SatanicallusionsundercutElizabeth'scomforting words: "'We surely shall be happy: quiet in our native country, and not min" gling in the world, what can disturbour tranquility?' (p. 89). The monster'sexperienceof gracedeniedis explicitlyemphasizedin suchcomments as," 'I ought to be thy Adam;but I am ratherthe fallenangel, whom thou drivestfromjoy for no misdeed' " (p. 95). But this deprivationis also implicitly underscoredby the possibilityand the failureof the De Laceysas instrumentsof grace. When De Lacey promisesto help the monster, the
monster says," 'You raise me from the dust by this kindness...'" (p.13o),

an allusionto the God of Paradise who is praisedfor raisingAdam and Lost Eve from the dust (Iv.415-416, v.516). The monster'srejectionby the De Lacey family is the most importantfall for him, as he comparesit with the expulsion of Adam and Eve: "'And now, with the world before me,
whither should I bend my steps?'" (p. 135).

In rejecting the monster, the De Laceys cause their own fall and expulsion, an act which is the moral centerof the novel. Themselvesvictims of ingratitudeand prejudice,the De Laceys should be the human beings most receptiveto the monster'sneeds, and the Edenic associations that the attachesto these cottagers lead us to believe that they are the monster

110

Keats-Shelley Journal

closest that modern man can come to recapturingoriginal innocence. They are certainly,along with Frankenstein's parents,the most morally in exemplarycharacters the novel. However, when testedagainstthe monster'sdeformity, they too fail, revealingthe limits of naturalgoodness. De Lacey'smoral strengthlies 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 sensesdeceive them into thinking that the monster will harm the old man. Since this family cannot find or act upon a love that will transcendthe senses,they too must fall. The significance of this fall as the equivalent of the fall of Adam and Eve is underscoredby a remark of Felix's companion that the monster overhears:" 'Do you considerthat you will..,. lose the produce of your garden?' " (p. 134). Partof this producewould be the friendshipof the monster, their "good spirit" (p. to0) who had performedanonymous acts of kindness.Through their decision to flee, the De Laceys deny themselves and the monster the love upon which their idyllic existence depended. The scene stressesthe novel's continuing emphasis,that man is completely responsiblefor his fallen condition and is doomed to remainfallen as long as he attempts to build a morality upon empirical grounds. Frankenstein's attitude toward his creation, based purely upon inductive observation,is attackedthrough an ironic parallelbetween his limited vision and a transcendent vision in Paradise Lost.When Frankenstein decides to abandon his attempt to create a mate for the monster, he implicitly compareshimself to Adam on the hill of vision (xI.411-414): " ... I now felt as if a film had been taken from before my eyes, and that I, for the first time, saw clearly" (p. 168). While Adam was given a vision ofultimate redemption,Frankenstein falselybelievesthat he can redeemhis past errorsby refusing to accede to the monster'srequestfor a mate. He de-

cidesto commit,in the nameof humanitarian act motives,a further of

denial toward the monster and refusesto do the one act that would most rectify his previous mistakes. Of course, the basis for this decision is his refusalto believe that the monster is capableof giving or receiving love. becauselove is Redemption is denied to the monster and to Frankenstein denied. Frankenstein Milton's God only in terms of the characterisapproaches tic that the Satanist view of Paradise most frequentlyattributes him, Lost to

Milton Myth in Frankenstein

111

his vindictive nature.The monstersuggeststhis view, no doubt becauseof his own experience,when he saysthathe was impressed Milton's" 'picby " ture of an omnipotent God warring with his creatures' (p. 125). The escalationof Frankenstein's belligerenceis markedby a strikingirony that underlieshis descriptionof his recovery from insanity: "I awakened to reason,at the same time awakenedto revenge" (p. 196). Actually, he is no more reasonablethan he was before, and the implicationis that he is well enough to returnto human society becausethe desirefor revenge is a form of madnessthat is socially acceptable.9 revenge becomes his religious His as he deludes himself into believing that divine providence is calling, guiding his pursuit of the monster. He acknowledgeshis vindictive passion to be a vice, but then describeshis mien toward the Genevanmagistrate as "something, I doubt not, of that haughty fierceness,which the martyrsof old are said to have possessed"(p. 198). The comparisoncould not be less apt because Frankenstein's fanatic hatred makes his eventual martyrdom the antithesis of Christlike self-sacrifice.As an apostle of with his creation,fulfillsElizabeth'sfallen vision of hatred, Frankenstein,
humanity in which " 'men appear ... as monsters thirsting for each other's blood' " (p. 88).

This vision and its fulfillment are the logical outcome of the metahas physic that Frankenstein embraced.As the novel details the self-deresultsof a world predicatedexclusively upon empiricalknowlstructive edge, the Miltonic parallelsemphasizeman's inability to preventjustice from becoming vengeance, appearance from becoming reality and creation from becoming destruction.Unlike the homeostatic world of Milton's epic, the world of Frankenstein degenerative,a universe of death is which follows a patternof progressiveloss without any form of compensation. Frankenstein without enlightenment,and the flames that will dies the monsterpromiseneitherpurgationnor illumination.10 Walton, engulf compelled by his crew ratherthan by his own volition, will returnto his sistera sadderbut not necessarilya wiser man. The domestic warmth toward which he sails does not appearto offer compensationfor his lossof
in Within, 84, notesthatin Frankenstein p. "Reason revenge and 9. Rieger, TheMutiny of desire polar and aresides a coin.Fireandice,Promethean to hate,arebothopposed love.
to. See Rieger, The Mutiny Within,p. 87.

112

Keats-Shelley Journal

both an esteemedfriendand his own "hopesof utility and glory" (p. 213); nor is this domestic affection a force capable of redeeming Frankenstein

andtheDe Laceys of clarifying darkness distance whichthe or the and to monsterandthe problemof evil areconsigned. As a transmutation the traditional of Christian myth of the fall from paradiseinto the Romanticmyth of a fall into self-consciousness,11
Frankenstein makes ironic use of Miltonic myth to define the terms in which Miltonic themes have been transposed.The novel reveals the nature of fallen consciousnessby depicting Frankensteinand Walton as Satanistswho readily draw attractivecomparisonsbetween Frankenstein and Milton's Satan, but who are unconscious of the many unattractive points of resemblancethat the Miltonic parallelsreveal. In this manner, the allusionsdefinefallenconsciousness be a fall into solipsism,exposing to Walton's and Frankenstein's lack of awarenessof precisely how far they are really fallen. Frankenstein's Satanicidentificationalso raisesand answers the importantquestion of whom or what this modern Prometheus is rebellingagainst.When the monsterexplicitly states," 'I ought to be thy Adam; but I am ratherthe fallen angel, whom thou drivestfrom joy for no misdeed'"(p. 95), he emphasizes nominalidentificationofFrankenthe stein with Milton's God, but other allusionsin this sceneand elsewhereindicate that Frankenstein Satan and that the monster is identified with is Death. Frankenstein's double identificationwith God and Satanthus describeshis rebellionas self-division,a point which is also reinforcedby the Satanicqualitiesthat Frankenstein shareswith his creation. The complex patternof shifting, mistaken,and half-recognizedmythic identificationsin the novel serve to undercutthe faith in empiricalknowlfall.12Describing a world edge that is the initial cause of Frankenstein's contains no absolutes,no truths beyond the evidence of the senses, that Mary Shelley shows this world to be a Miltonic Hell, a world beyond reof of Romanticism, 17-19,for a discussion thisaspect of pp. 11. SeeFrye,A Study English Romantic mythology. of 12. Theproblem knowledge Frankenstein its Romantic in and context discussed are by L. J. Swingle, "Frankenstein's Monster Its Romantic and Relatives: Problems Knowlof Texas Studies Literature Language, (Spring in and Romanticism," edgein English 15 1973), to with onto51-65.Rieger,in his Introduction Frankenstein xxix), notesthe concern (p. that novelshares Godwin's with Caleb logicalandepistemological questions MaryShelley's Williams St. Leon. and

Milton Myth in Frankenstein

113

demption, eitherby Christianagape or by eros. Whenever the possibility of redemptionis held forth, it is always denied-and the Miltonic parallels are used to emphasizethis denial. The Miltonic allusionsthus reveal that as an anthropodicy, Frankenstein a calculatedfailure, exposing man's is total inabilityto come to termswith the problem of evil. As a filthy type of Paradise Lost-more horrid even from the very resemblance-Frankensteinpoints to the need for the kind of redemptivevision that the world it describesso flagrantlylacks. WrightState University