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UNDERSTANDING PROMETHEANISM
PROMETHEUS: A Titan god who was entrusted with the task of molding
mankind out of clay. As mankind’s creator, he desired to better the lives of
his creation by giving them fire. However, Zeus believed fire should
remain with the gods only. So, Prometheus disobeyed Zeus, stole fire
from the gods, and delivered it to mankind. For Prometheus’ crime, both
he and mankind were punished. For man’s punishment, Zeus ordered the
creation of Pandora (the first woman) as a means to deliver misfortune
into the house of man (Pandora’s Box). Prometheus, meanwhile, was
arrested and bound to a stake on a mountain where an eagle was set to
feed every day upon his ever-regenerating liver.
“Promethean” means having a tendency to follow Prometheus, the “thief
of fire.” Fire is a symbol for the pursuit of forbidden knowledge, but it can
also represent power, glory, riches, fame, etc.
Promethean Traits
Prometheans are impatient with limitations. They believe that the universe, nature, or
God is withholding from them something that they deserve, and the only way to “get
fire” is to steal it. They will also defy authority to achieve their goals.
Prometheans will become completely intoxicated by their quest, and will stop at nothing
to attain it. They are willing to risk their own death or destruction in pursuit of the
desired “fire.”
Prometheans will misuse imagination and creativity in their pursuit, and are often
dangerously out of touch with reality. They think that by sheer will power they can
conquer ignorance and perform tasks beyond their competence.
Prometheans are elitists and express great bravado about what they can do. They also
may feel a need to share their ideas and be applauded for them.
The ideal is everything to a Promethean. The imagination of what can be or what may
be drives them, but often the reality brings something quite different. And, when the
reality does not match the vision, they will often avoid their own responsibility and
culpability.
Prometheans will attribute their pursuit to “fate,” “destiny,” or some unknown working
within them.
Prometheans become so obsessed with whether or not they “can,” that they often don’t
stop to ask whether or not they “should.” This irresponsible obsession with the quest
often leads to unintended, disastrous consequences.
Evidence and Example Analysis of Promethean Traits in Robert Walton:
Frankenstein, Letter I
Textual Evidence
Example Analysis in Support of
Prometheanism
“Inspirited by this wind of promise, my day dreams become
more fervent and vivid. I try in vain to be persuaded that the
pole is the seat of frost and desolation; it ever presents itself
to my imagination as the region of beauty and delight.”
Walton is out of touch with reality. Although logic dictates
that the the North Pole will be cold and harsh, his dream of
discovery causes him to ignore the realities and believe only in
his fantasy of discovering something wondrous, where “snow
and frost are banished.”
“I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of
the world never before visited, and may tread a land never
before imprinted by the foot of man.” “. . . discovering a
passage near the pole to those countries . . . ascertaining the
secret of the magnet . . . can only be effected by an
undertaking such as mine.”
Walton believes the universe is withholding a secret, and he is
impatient with the limitations of the knowledge man has
about the North Pole. His elitist attitude drives him to believe
that it is his right to be the first to discover the land, and he
further believes that only someone like him can succeed in
such a quest.
“Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a
steady purpose – a point on which the soul may fix its
intellectual eye.” “Six years have passed since I resolved on
my present undertaking. I can even now, remember the hour
from which I dedicated myself to this great enterprise.”
Walton is completely intoxicated with his quest for knowledge.
For six years he has thought of nothing but this purpose, and
his obsession has guided each day of his life. He has worked
tirelessly to achieve his goal, and he is willing to stop at
nothing to see it through to fruition.
“My courage and my resolution is firm.”
“If I fail, you will see me again soon, or never.”
Walton is willing to risk death or destruction in pursuit of his
quest. He believes that accomplishing his goal is more
important than his life or his safety, and he will stop at nothing
to achieve his purpose.
Evidence from Letter I of “Promethean” Traits
Analysis discussing how/why evidence supports Prometheanism.
Evidence from Letter I of “Promethean” Traits
Analysis discussing how/why evidence supports Prometheanism.
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Analyzing Evidence of Promethean Traits: Frankenstein, Letters II & III
DIRECTIONS:
Using your handout of Promethean traits and the sample analysis as a guide, in your groups, discuss
and analyze HOW and WHY the given evidence proves that Robert Walton is a Promethean.
Do not simply repeat the evidence or give book summary.
Textual Evidence
“I have one want which I have never yet been able
to satisfy; and the absence of the object of which
I now feel as a most severe evil. I have no friend.”
“I desire the company of a man who could
sympathise with me; whose eyes would reply to
mine. . . . I have no one near me, gentle yet
courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as of
a capacious mind, whose tastes are like my own.”
“Yet do not suppose, because I complain a little, or
because I can conceive a consolation for my toils
which I may never know, that I am wavering in my
resolutions. Those are as fixed as fate.”
“There is something at work in my soul, which I do
not understand. I am practically industrious –
painstaking; a workman to execute with
perseverance and labour: - but besides this, there
is a love for the marvelous, a belief in the
marvelous, intertwined in all my projects, which
hurries me out of the common pathways of men,
even to the wild sea and unvisited regions I am
about the explore.”
“Remember me with affection, should you never
hear from me again.”
“Why not still proceed over the untamed yet
obedient element? What can stop the determined
heart and resolved will of man?”
Signs Letter III: “R.W.”
Analysis in Support of Prometheanism
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Finding and Analyzing Evidence of Promethean Traits
Frankenstein, Letter IV
DIRECTIONS:
Using your handout of Promethean traits as a guide, carefully read Letter IV, and record a
minimum of four (4) pieces of textual evidence that can be used to support Promethean traits in
Robert Walton and / or “the stranger.” Then, provide a discussion and analysis of HOW and WHY
the given evidence proves Prometheanism in the characters. Do not simply repeat the evidence or
give book summary.
Textual Evidence
Analysis in Support of Prometheanism