Frankenstein Vs Paradise Lost

Frankenstein vs. Paradise Lost

In the books Frankenstein, by Mary Shelly and Paradise lost, by John Milton both have striking similarities. Frankenstein a tale of a man who brings a monster, made of different parts from deceased beings, to life and wreaks havoc on his life. Paradise Lost focused on exposing "the cruelty of Christianity or the Christian God" (Frankenstein) and tells the story of Adam and Eve. Even in Frankenstein, Paradise Lost is mentioned when the monster reads the book and even compares himself to Adam and Satan. Not only does the monster have similarities to characters in Paradise Lost, but as does Viktor. So with this said when analyzed it is actually noticeable that characters from Frankenstein have similar traits as to those in Paradise Lost.

In the beginning of Viktor's obsession with making the monster he did in deed become infatuated with his project, going through charnel houses to find bones and fingers to make his beast. However at the end of all his hard work when his creation finally comes to life he runs in fear of it and eventually abandons it and in his eyes is disgusted by it. In many ways this is similar to God in Paradise Lost. One in being that like God, Viktor himself made a human being but not in the natural way but by unnatural means. Also God created Satan, who was supposed to be one of his loyal angels but to His dismay Satan became very full of pride and to Viktor's dismay he found that his creation was not all he hoped it to be, "the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart." (Shelly) So like God, Viktor saw his creation in disgust and eventually abandoned it. Also when the monster killed William and Clerval leaving Viktor guilt-ridden , Viktor had lost his family and friends. This is strikingly similar to the way God lost all his angels when Satan persuades them to join him, in Satan's "heaven".