Delivered at I19 Conference 2023: Beginnings, 31st March – 1st April 2023, Virtual Conference.

The importance of an author’s choice to use a subtitle for their novel cannot be understated. Gérard Genette argues that subtitles ‘indicate more literally the theme evoked symbolically or cryptically by the title’, a factor which was especially important in the cases of eponymous literary works such as Pamela and Robinson Crusoe. Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus is a further text which I would argue perfectly correlates to Genette’s views: Shelley’s titular protagonist would have been unknown to the reader, with its mythic subtitle instead indicating the themes which shape the text. Why, then, do vocal opponents such as Elizabeth Bear so fiercely deny any influence of Prometheus on Shelley’s text? Whilst I agree with Paul Cantor’s view that ‘one runs into difficulties’ attempting to exactly correlate Frankenstein’s plot to any particular version of the tale, the novel is so shaped by the themes of defiance and creation Prometheus embodies that Frankenstein can in fact be read as any of the numerous versions of the Greek myth.

This paper will use her personal reading list to select three versions Mary Shelley is known to have read and examine the influence they have over both the plot and the characters of Frankenstein. By having both Victor and the Creature simultaneously embody the differing forms of the myth, Mary Shelley creates a dialogue surrounding the long-lasting consequences of creation which ultimately criticises Victor’s shallow and thoughtless act. As much as the novel may have indeed been shaped by a Promethean hand, however, the themes of birth, creation and responsibility over life which drive the novel were entirely Mary Shelley’s own input. Frankenstein may have indeed been shaped by a Promethean hand, but if the tale has taught the reader anything it is the danger of removing the mother from the creation process.