What Books Influenced Frankenstein?
Author: Martin Munyao Muinde
Email: ephantusmartin@gmail.com
Introduction
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) is one of the most influential works in Gothic and Romantic literature, often celebrated as the progenitor of modern science fiction. While the novel is deeply rooted in Shelley’s personal experiences and the intellectual climate of the early nineteenth century, its literary genealogy is equally significant. The novel did not emerge in isolation but rather drew from a vast literary canon, from classical mythology and Enlightenment philosophy to Gothic horror and Romantic poetry. Understanding the literary influences behind Frankenstein provides deeper insight into Shelley’s creative vision, her thematic concerns, and her intertextual dialogues with prior texts. The books that shaped Frankenstein provided Shelley with thematic frameworks for exploring ambition, transgression, identity, and morality. They also helped her formulate the dual tension between Enlightenment rationalism and Romantic emotionalism that defines the narrative. This essay explores the books that influenced Frankenstein and analyzes how Shelley transformed these sources into her groundbreaking novel.
The Influence of John Milton’s Paradise Lost
Among the most important books that influenced Frankenstein is John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667). Shelley not only references this epic directly in her text but also uses it to frame the creature’s identity crisis. Victor Frankenstein’s creation reads Milton’s work and identifies with both Adam and Satan, feeling simultaneously like a forsaken child of his creator and a rebellious outcast. This dual identification underscores the existential tragedy of the creature. Unlike Adam, he is denied companionship and divine love, and like Satan, he is condemned to eternal alienation. Shelley’s use of Paradise Lost dramatizes the theme of creation and fall, highlighting the dangers of usurping divine powers. The creature himself states, “I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel” (Shelley, 1818/2003, p. 87), underscoring his literary and theological self-consciousness.
Beyond shaping the creature’s psychology, Paradise Lost also influenced Shelley’s narrative structure and moral vision. Milton’s epic questions divine justice and human free will, themes Shelley echoes in her exploration of scientific ambition. Just as Satan’s desire for power leads to cosmic chaos, Victor’s ambition to “play God” results in devastating consequences. By integrating Miltonic themes, Shelley situates her novel within a long tradition of theological and philosophical inquiry, presenting Frankenstein not only as a Gothic tale but also as a modern myth about human overreach. Scholars have consistently argued that Paradise Lost provides the most direct intertextual framework for Frankenstein, elevating it beyond mere horror to a philosophical reflection on responsibility, creation, and rebellion (Bloom, 1996).
The Impact of Classical Greek and Roman Literature
Classical mythology also profoundly shaped Frankenstein. The myth of Prometheus is explicitly referenced in the novel’s subtitle, The Modern Prometheus. In Greek mythology, Prometheus defies the gods by stealing fire and giving it to humanity, an act that symbolizes both enlightenment and transgression. Similarly, Victor Frankenstein seizes forbidden knowledge, harnessing the power of science to create life. Like Prometheus, he is punished for his audacity, suffering isolation and eventual destruction. The Promethean framework situates Frankenstein within a tradition of cautionary tales about the boundaries of human ambition and the consequences of defying natural or divine laws.
Roman literature also influenced Shelley’s thematic landscape. The works of Ovid, particularly Metamorphoses, are echoed in the novel’s exploration of transformation, identity, and unnatural creation. Ovid’s tales of gods and mortals undergoing radical physical changes resonate with Victor’s scientific manipulation of the human form. The grotesque assembly of the creature from dismembered body parts recalls Ovid’s fascination with the fluidity of form and the unsettling consequences of metamorphosis. Furthermore, the tragic hubris of figures from classical epics, such as Icarus or Phaethon, mirror Victor’s overreaching ambition. By engaging with Greek and Roman texts, Shelley elevated her novel from a Gothic tale of terror to a philosophical meditation on universal myths of creation, power, and downfall (Hogle, 2002).
The Role of Enlightenment Philosophy and Science
The Enlightenment tradition of rational inquiry and scientific progress played a pivotal role in shaping Frankenstein. The writings of philosophers such as John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau offered Shelley intellectual tools for exploring the creature’s development and moral sensibilities. Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) proposed the idea of the human mind as a “tabula rasa,” or blank slate, shaped by experience. Shelley applies this concept to her depiction of the creature, who begins as an innocent being, gradually acquiring knowledge and moral awareness through interaction with his environment. His descent into violence is not innate but rather a result of rejection and social conditioning. This Lockean framework underscores the novel’s critique of social injustice and the responsibility of nurture.
Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality (1755) and Emile (1762) also influenced Shelley’s portrayal of the creature’s alienation. Rousseau emphasized the corrupting influence of society on natural goodness, a theme Shelley dramatizes through the creature’s experiences with humanity. The creature is initially benevolent, rescuing children and admiring the De Lacey family, but becomes monstrous when subjected to cruelty and exclusion. In this sense, Shelley employs Enlightenment philosophy to interrogate questions of morality, education, and the social construction of identity. Additionally, the works of natural philosophers like Erasmus Darwin and Humphry Davy provided scientific inspiration for Victor’s experiments. Darwin’s speculations on spontaneous generation and Davy’s writings on chemistry shaped Shelley’s imaginative vision of scientific possibility. Thus, Enlightenment thought provided both thematic depth and scientific plausibility to Frankenstein.
The Influence of Gothic Literature
Gothic literature was an essential foundation for Frankenstein, providing Shelley with narrative techniques and atmospheric elements that define the novel’s tone. Authors such as Ann Radcliffe and Matthew Lewis created a literary tradition of haunted landscapes, psychological terror, and moral ambiguity, which Shelley adapted to her narrative. Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) and Lewis’s The Monk (1796) exemplify the Gothic fascination with fear, the supernatural, and the darker sides of human passion. Shelley incorporated these elements but redirected them into the realm of science. Instead of supernatural ghosts, she presented a scientifically created monster, making Gothic terror more plausible for a modern audience.
Moreover, Gothic novels often depicted transgressive figures who challenged moral and social norms, a tradition Shelley extended through Victor Frankenstein. Like the monk Ambrosio in Lewis’s work, Victor succumbs to dangerous desires and pays the price for his transgression. Shelley also utilized Gothic motifs of isolation, sublime landscapes, and forbidden knowledge to heighten the novel’s sense of dread. The Arctic setting, desolate mountains, and stormy nights echo Radcliffe’s atmospheric descriptions but serve as metaphors for psychological and existential despair. In this way, Gothic literature provided Shelley not only with narrative conventions but also with a mode for interrogating the darker aspects of human ambition and responsibility (Botting, 1996).
The Influence of Romantic Poetry
Shelley’s engagement with Romantic poetry, particularly the works of her contemporaries, significantly shaped the language and themes of Frankenstein. William Wordsworth’s emphasis on nature as a source of solace and moral truth resonates throughout the novel. Victor seeks comfort in the sublime landscapes of the Alps and the natural beauty of the world, but his inner torment prevents him from achieving harmony. This tension between human ambition and the restorative power of nature reflects Romantic preoccupations with the limits of reason and the necessity of emotional connection.
The poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge also influenced Frankenstein. His poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) is directly alluded to in Shelley’s novel, particularly in Walton’s voyage and Victor’s pursuit of his creation across the Arctic. Both narratives explore isolation, guilt, and the burden of transgression. Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary’s husband, also left a significant imprint on the novel, particularly in its lyrical passages and philosophical undertones. His emphasis on imagination, radical thought, and human perfectibility shaped Mary Shelley’s intellectual environment. Thus, Romantic poetry not only influenced the stylistic beauty of Frankenstein but also provided thematic frameworks for understanding humanity’s struggle between ambition, morality, and reconciliation with nature (Curran, 1990).
Conclusion
The question of what books influenced Frankenstein reveals the richness of Mary Shelley’s intertextual imagination. Her novel is a tapestry woven from multiple literary traditions: the theological and epic framework of Milton’s Paradise Lost, the mythological resonance of Greek and Roman classics, the philosophical inquiries of Enlightenment thinkers, the atmospheric depth of Gothic novels, and the emotional intensity of Romantic poetry. Shelley transformed these influences into a narrative that interrogates the dangers of unchecked ambition, the fragility of human identity, and the consequences of rejecting responsibility for one’s creations. By engaging with such diverse sources, Shelley ensured that Frankenstein would not only endure as a Gothic horror novel but also as a philosophical and literary masterpiece. Understanding the books that shaped Frankenstein deepens our appreciation of its complexity and reaffirms its position as a cornerstone of world literature.
References
Bloom, H. (1996). Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Chelsea House.
Botting, F. (1996). Gothic. Routledge.
Curran, S. (1990). The Cambridge Companion to Mary Shelley. Cambridge University Press.
Hogle, J. E. (2002). The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction. Cambridge University Press.
Shelley, M. (2003). Frankenstein (1831 ed.). Oxford University Press.