Atonement Amongst Shadows: An Analysis of the Hero’s Journeys of Frankenstein and His Creature and Their Incompatibilities Within the Narrative Structure of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

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Literary Studies (MA)

Melis, Richard (2023)

Atonement Amongst Shadows: An Analysis of the Hero’s Journeys of Frankenstein and His Creature and Their Incompatibilities Within the Narrative Structure of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

Master thesis | Literary Studies (MA)

The main effort of this thesis is a detailed mapping of the hero’s journeys of Victor Frankenstein and his Monster, through Joseph Campbell’s monomyth model, in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Subsequently, a comparative analysis of their hero’s journeys reveals great similarities throughout the novel, mirroring their intertwined existences. Most notably, their shared failing of the Atonement with the Father stage of the monomyth model is what causes their journeys to end and causes them to become failed heroes. There are two narrative elements in Frankenstein that essentially doomed the heroes to this outcome by uniquely hampering the heroes’ agency within the monomyth model: dual protagonists and Gothic doubles. The combined presence of these elements in the same novel makes it nigh unimaginable for heroes to successfully face the Atonement with the Father, due to the hero’s agency being compromised and the default antagonism of Gothic doubles.

The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Atonement with the Father

hero's journey