Frankenstein Allusions
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Rime of the Ancient Mariner
o Mary heard the poem as a child
o Walton undergoes a moral transformation like the Wedding Guest
o Walton must listen to the story like the Wedding Guest
o Walton is a sailor like the Mariner
o Frozen wasteland
o Victor must tell the story like the Mariner
o Victor puts himself above God like the Mariner
Prometheus
o Father read story to Mary
o Risks all to bring fire to man = Victor
o Destroyed by drive
Paradise Lost
o Victor creates = God
o Creature = damned = Satan (was supposed to be ideal, Adam)
o Garden of Eden: taste of knowledge brings woe
o Satan/Adam and Even expulsion from heaven and Garden of Eden respectively
Sorrows of Young Werther
o Outsider, tormented by love, commits suicide
Plutarch’s Lives
o Virtues and vices of Greek and Roman leaders
Volney’s Ruins of Empires
o History, laws, government…man is virtuous and vicious at the same time