Civilization
Liberalism introduced a very appealing idealistic perspective of the world, wishing for universal freedom and equality. Historical events, such as the French revolution or the industrial revolution seemed to change the world in this exact direction, but the truth is that liberalism failed to keep its promise regarding progress.
Society did undergo fundamental changes. Absolutist regimes were brought down. The industrial advancements allowed for the creation of a new social order with the middle class acquiring a better living standard and easier access to knowledge. However, all these positive changes had their own price that was paid dearly.
Modernism had the purpose of renewing all the important aspects of society (social, political, cultural, etc.) under the circumstances in which the entirely industrialized world served as a proof to demonstrate that the power is in man's hands while it is our actions which create the future and not the will of an omnipotent god.
Nevertheless, instead of constructing a future that would resemble the ideal society people had been imagining ever since the days of the Enlightenment, man created a world characterized by political tensions, continuous class struggle, inequality and global war.
This tragic development of the situation is reflected in the literary and scientific work of various authors. Some of the works which are worth being taken into consideration are represented by Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," Stefan Zweig's "The world of yesterday" and Perry Rogers' "Aspects of western civilisation."
Mary Shelley published her work in a period in which a lot of changes were going on at political and social level, but also in the scientific areas. Her book, "Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus" was inspired by these changes. It may be argued that the book mirrors the worries that the newly born society was facing.
The plot of the book concerns a young man called Victor Frankenstein. He has difficulty dealing with the death of his mother, caused by a contagious disease and his ambitions focus on managing to bring the dead back to life. He studies and he experiments and in the end he succeeds in fulfilling his purpose. He uses pieces of dead corpses in order to create a new man, the force of whom is overwhelming.
However, this man is cruel and causes a reaction of terror in his creator. Frankenstein abandons the nameless creature which will start killing all the people who are dear to him. The monster eventually asks him to create a fellow for him and Victor attempts to do so, but destroys it before bringing it to life. The creature chases him and the book ends with him dead and the monster acknowledging that what he did was wrong.
In a certain way, the plot of the book is a metaphor for the changes that society and man were undergoing. The importance of the book's subtitle becomes more obvious under these circumstances. According to a Greek mythological legend, Prometheus stole the fire from the gods and gave it to men. This allowed men to develop their own society, expanding themselves and conquering nature. Zeus however condemned him to have an eagle eat his liver up every day (the liver would regenerate every time allowing for the agony to continue).
It is obvious that Victor is a modern Prometheus. He is modern because he uses the scientific advancements as a tool for his endeavour and Prometheus because he wishes to perform an act which is against god and nature. In a certain way Prometheus is a symbol of absolute force.
The industrial revolution which increased the extent to which man dominated nature, bringing about advantages such as more work, more earnings, a better living, easier access to knowledge as a result of the development of society as a whole may have given man the illusion that he can do whatever he chooses. The desire of power and its acquisition could have positive consequences, but only to a certain limited extent.
Prometheus ended up having one of his organs devoured by an eagle. From a metaphorical perspective this can be considered as the victory of nature over man, even if man has super powers. Victor Frankenstein was in possession of a super power since he managed to give life to a sort of doll sewed up from dead pieces. His victory against god and nature seems to be absolute. The fall of the absolutist regime in France and the expansion of the industrial revolution gave people the illusion that their victory was absolute as well.
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