the title page of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein contains the subtitle the modern Prometheus as well as an epigraph taken from John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost Milton's Paradise Lost tells the story of the creation of Adam and Eve the fall from the Garden of Eden and the fall of Satan from heaven and his role in man's original sin the epigraph quoting Adam reads did I request the maker from my clay to mould me man did I solicit thee from darkness to promote me the preface also gives an account of the vacation to the Swiss Alps and
the friendly storytelling contest that led to Shelley's writing Frankenstein the 1831 Edition has a more extensive introduction written by Mary Shelley in which she declares her authorship and gives a fuller account of the writing of the book she describes the rainy weather that forced her Percy Shelley Lord Byron and John Polidori to stay inside and read ghost stories to one another this pastime led to the idea of each of them writing a similar story showing explains that she saw the tale is only a short story at first but that her husband Percy encouraged her to
expand the story she closes the introduction by explaining that while Percy encouraged her in many ways the novel in its execution are hers and hers alone and she owes nothing to him in detail the profit or a matter of Frankenstein provides insight into the text and its themes the subtitle introduces the perspective of the Creator referring to the Greek god Prometheus who created humanity the epigraph introduces the perspective of the created with a plaintive call pointing out that the created life has no choice in coming into existence John Milton's Paradise Lost describes Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden the temptation by Satan and their expulsion because Prometheus Adam and Satan were all punished for their actions these elements also introduce the ideas of sin guilt through the epigraph from Paradise Lost Victor regrets being created because it set him on the path to his sin of creating the monster and unleashing evil the dedication connects the novel to the ideas of William Godwin Mary Shelley's father a major liberal thinker and writer who was considered dangerous by conservatives who dominated the cultural scene while the preface was presented anonymously became known that Percy
had written it contributing to the idea that he had been the novel itself though the manuscript survives in Mary Shelley's own hand you
