Throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Shelley makes many allusions to other literary works including poems written by her late husband. There is one literary work however, that I believe can be most accurately compared to the story that Mary Shelley is telling. In the novel, the creature tells Frankenstein how he acquired some books while he was hiding out in the forest, watching the people in the cottage. During this time he came across the book “Paradise Lost.” Due to his lack of knowledge of human history, he mistook this book for a “true history” (Shelley, pg. 116). He was able to relate to the main characters Adam’s situation in certain aspects, he says that like Adam,
“I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect. He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, and prosperous, guarded by the especial care of his Creator” (Shelley, pg. 116)
Similar to Adam, he explains that he dealt with the loneliness of being the only one of his kind. However, upon observing Adam in the book, he realizes that his creator took pride in this creation and did not shun him as Frankenstein has cast him aside.
It becomes clear in this way, that although the creature is similar to Adam in the way that they were created, it also becomes clear that Frankenstein and Adam’s creator, God, in Paradise Lost, are not similar at all. In Frankenstein, Victor is very self-centered, only creating such a creature to be able to say that he could defy the natural processes of life and death. God, on the other hand, creates Adam out of love and does not abandon him once he is created as Victor abandons the creature. I believe that Victor’s intentions when creating the creature caused his downfall and ultimately caused the creature’s unhappiness and hatred for humans.
It is for this reason that I wonder what would have occurred if Victor approached his experiment in a different way. If he approached the experiment as something that would not necessarily just benefit him, but as something that would benefit all of man-kind, perhaps the project would have been more successful. If Victor was not so self-centered would the creation appear differently, maybe even normal? If he had not neglected the monster could the deaths of William and Justine and the endangerment of mankind have been avoided? I believe if Victor had not been so selfish in the creation of the monster much of the guilt and issues he experiences could have been avoided.
