The Myth of Prometheus continued
Walton and Victor: ideal humans?
The function of the epistolary narrative frame
and Shelley’s purpose
-Both
characters are overreachers, highly
ambitious men who are consumed by
their goal
-- Their quest involves a challenge, they
both seek to assert their control over the
natural order
-- Both feel, like Prometheus, that their
quest will benefit future generations
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Do you share my madness?
Have you drunk also of the
same intoxicating draught?
Chapter 4- volume 1,
“Learn from me, if not by
my precepts, at least by
my example, how
dangerous is the
acquirement of knowledge
and how much happier
that man is who believes
his native town to be the
world, than he who
aspires to become greater
than his nature will
allow.” p54
Victor
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I shall satiate my ardent curiosity
with sight of a part of a world
never before visited, and may
tread a land never before
imprinted by the foot of man.
“...you cannot contest the
inestimable benefit which I shall
confer on mankind to the last
generation”
His father’s dying injunction was
for his uncle to forbid Walton to
lead a seafaring life
One man’s life or death were but a
small price to pay for the
acquirement of knowledge which I
sought for the dominion I should
acquire and transmit over the
elemental foes of our race.
Walton
Why did she allude to it?
 Shelley lived in a time that had recently
undergone a profound shift in the way that
humans saw themselves and their world.
 Enlightenment thinkers were humanists, they
had faith in the power of humanity to change the
world for the better
 First and foremost, they believed in progress.
They believed wholeheartedly that this could be
achieved through human endeavour.
 Sparked by the French Revolution, intellectuals
believed in “divine creative activity”
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Establishes similarity between Walton and Victor. What are these
similarities?
Both on a quest for knowledge
Both seek dominion/ control
Alone in their endeavours (typical of Romantic heroes)
Passionate, goal oriented, ambitious
They set themselves apart from the “common man” “hurries him
out of the common pathways of men”
Willing to sacrifice everything to achieve their dreams
Both self educated (as is the monster)
Do they epitomise her society’s view of ideal humanity? Walton is
certainly very enamoured of Victor and his praise shows us how
men like Victor were considered. His tale, however, throws this
version of ideal humanity into question.
The Walton narrative helps Shelley achieve her
purpose. This is a cautionary tale (a morality
tale). Victor tells his story to Walton to warn him
of the dangers of the pursuit of knowledge.
“Hear me- let me reveal my tale, and you will
dash the cup from your lips”
 Walton alludes to Coleridge’s “The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner” and Shelley’s story borrows
from this epic poem and morality tale. The
Mariner, who has killed an innocent albatross is
condemned to tell his tale to others to purge his
guilt and the message (interestingly) is to bless
and love God’s creatures!
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 The
letters establish the story within a story
structure of the novel. It is this shifting
perspective that gives us a rich
understanding of the characters as we see
them from different perspectives. We see
Victor from Walton’s perspective, Victor from
the creature’s perspective and the creature
from Victor’s perspective.
Enlightenment values:
 a deep commitment to reason,
 a trust in the emerging modern sciences to solve problems
and provide control over nature,
 a commitment to the idea of progress in material wealth
and in human civility,
 a belief in the essential goodness of human nature,
 an emphasis upon the individual as master of his fate and
fortune, and
 an engagement with the public sphere of discussion and
action.
 In short, the Enlightenment thinkers believed in the
powers of humankind and saw themselves as part of a
revolutionary development in history that would replace
superstition and tired rituals and corrupt traditions with
reason and productive energy.
 Read
Walton’s tale about the mariner on
board his ship (letter 2, page 20)
 What is the purpose of this tale?
 How do you think this relates to the
creature?
 The theory behind this is Rousseau’s The
Noble Savage.
 Find out about Rousseau’s theory and then
see if you can find evidence of it in the
monster’s narrative.