Everywhere the creature went he was beaten and treated like a monster because of his ugly physical appearance. Unlike Adam, the creature was made by Victor, a scientist, who combined various body parts from dead persons and used science to reanimate them. Victor’s creation did not have the fortunate benefit of being beautiful and malevolent that Adam did. In Paradise Lost, Adam was the creation of God and Adam was made in God’s image making him a perfect creature. In addition, the creature was completely left abandoned in a world unknown to him and in an existence that the creature never asked to be a part of. I interpret this as a possible punishment for thinking that he could take on the role of creator of another being. Victor completely consumed himself in trying to create life but once he finally succeeded, he looked at what he had done and found it evil and wretched. Throughout the whole book there seems to be a question of whether Victor had the right to give life to another creature with emotions and that acts like another human. It reads, “Did I request the, Maker, from my clay to mould me man? Did I solicit thee from darkness to promote me”? This quote starts the story off in a very dramatic way bringing in the idea of creation and creator before the first chapter starts. The most important time Paradise Lost is included is in an epigraph on the title page. In using various texts like Paradise Lost, Shelley complicates and expands the interpretation and significance of her own novel. This relationship is made unique because of the hatred the creature feels toward Victor in response to the disgust and neglect Victor expresses toward the creature. Paradise Lost emphasizes the unique creator/creation relationship that the creature has with Victor. By including Paradise Lost, Shelley introduces another story of creation that readers can compare the creation to which Victor gives life, to God and Adam. Paradise Lost appears multiple times throughout Frankenstein in the epigraph at the very beginning, in the creature’s education, and in the creature’s misery of being completely alone in the world.

One of the pieces that Shelley includes which is significant to the book is John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Shelley uses these intertextual references to add to her story and emphasize certain events and themes in the book. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, is a book riddled with other literary works throughout.

Paradise lost frankenstein