Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

Frankenstein’s frame story closely parallels its main narrative, with Walton’s expedition symbolizing The Dangers of Knowledge. Like Frankenstein, Walton is driven by dual desires to benefit humanity and win personal fame. After a childhood spent reading about Arctic exploration, he aspires to advance the study of magnetics and discover the fabled land rumored to exist at the North Pole—or at least to chart the Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. However, once his ship reaches the Arctic, the hubris of these desires becomes clear: The ship becomes trapped in ice that nearly crushes it; several crewmembers die from exposure to the extreme cold; and Walton returns to Europe still “ignorant” of the knowledge he sought.

Recognizing the similarities between their two stories, Frankenstein urges Walton not to grieve this “failure” too deeply. Like the main narrative, the frame story suggests that some knowledge is not merely dangerous but forbidden. The novel persistently associates the Arctic with the divine. The continent that Walton hopes to find, the so-called Hyperborea, was conventionally depicted as not only mild in climate but also as a kind of paradise. Walton’s description of it echoes this notion: “There […] snow and frost are banished; and, sailing over a calm sea, we may be wafted to a land surpassing in wonders and in beauty every region hitherto discovered on the habitable globe” (1). At the very least, the Arctic is a place of “eternal light”—two words that both evoke the Christian conception of God. The expedition even stops in the Russian city of “Archangel” (i.e., Archangelsk). The implication is that Walton’s expedition represents an attempt to usurp God’s place, and this transgression associates it not only with Frankenstein’s downfall but also with those of Adam, Eve, and Lucifer.

In Frankenstein, fire and light are compared to knowledge; like it, they are useful, even necessary, but dangerous if handled too closely. The most obvious example of this metaphor is when the creature burns his hand after feeling “delight at the warmth” a fire offers and attempting to touch the flames (89). He muses how “the same cause should produce such opposite effects” (89). Similarly, Frankenstein’s story showcases how people can bring their own destruction by attempting to acquire knowledge not intended for human minds.

Frankenstein tells Walton that to find knowledge, he descended into darkness. He was inspired by M. Waldman, who told him that scientists must “penetrate into the recesses of nature and show how she works in her hiding-places” (33). Frankenstein sunk into these dark recesses to discover the secrets of life. He describes how he studied “the natural decay and corruption of the human body” but says that this “[d]arkness had no effect upon [his] fancy” (36). When he finally discovered how to create life, he felt as though “a sudden light broke in upon [him]” (37). In creating his being, he strives to “pour a torrent of light into our dark world” (39). While nature’s secrets hide in darkness, scientists seek to cast them in light.

However, humans can go too far in seeking knowledge. In his first letter to his sister, Walton writes of his desire to discover lands “never before visited” (2), believing the knowledge he will acquire can “benefit […] all mankind” (4). This yearning is reflected in his excitement to go where “the sun is forever visible,” to “a country of eternal light” (1). Frankenstein, worried over Walton’s willingness to sacrifice his “fortune” and “existence” to acquire knowledge, tells his own story in the hopes of tempering Walton’s enthusiasm. While Walton seeks eternal light, Frankenstein knows well that the light of knowledge can lead to destruction.

When the creature burns down the cottagers’ house after they reject him, it symbolizes the pain that knowledge caused him. After months of yearning, the creature attempts to engage with the family but is attacked and then abandoned again. With his last hope for human contact relinquished, the creature contemplates the “strange nature” of knowledge and wishes that he “had forever remained in [his] native wood” (105). By burning the cottagers’ house, he shows the destructive nature of knowledge.

The creature also chooses to die by suicide by burning to death; he tells Walton he will “exult in the agony of the torturing flames” (205). By ending his life—itself the product of transgressive knowledge—amid painful flames, the creature will provide the final demonstration of how an excess of knowledge leads to destruction.

The full title of the novel—Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus—is the clearest indication of the connection between fire and knowledge. According to Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from the gods; as punishment, Zeus sentenced him to eternal torment. The moral is that while knowledge can benefit humankind, it comes at a price. Whoever dares to overstep the boundaries to acquire it takes on great risk.