O influxo mitológico em frankenstein de mary shelley : a criação do narciso invertido

Abstract

Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus (1818), by the English writer Mary Shelley, has been largely studied and analyzed for its evident relationship with the myth of Prometheus. However, other sources were deeply inspiring for writing this book, among them, the myth of Narcissus, by Publius Ovidius (AD 8). Starting from this premise, this monographic work aims to analyze how the Ovidian myth influenced the creation of one of the most revolutionary literary productions of the 18th century. Even though a significant temporal gap separates the two productions, the myth, due to its timeless nature, has become a source and inspiration for literature in different times, and as we will demonstrate, Shelley's work confirms this close relationship. Throughout our study, we analyzed the dissimilarities between the characters Narcissus and the unnamed Creature, aiming to demonstrate how, in their differences and some similarities, an inverted Narcissus or an anti-narcissus is created. During the analytical study of the corpus, we observed that Narcissus is revisited and reinterpreted by Shelley, particularly concerning the myth of beauty. Whilst remodeling the myth, the novel inspires the creation of a modern character whose essence embodies contemporaneity. Moreover, it is through the story of Cephisus's son that the horror of Victor Frankenstein's creation is magnified, emphasizing the social experiment of beauty becoming the center of the individual. Thus, the mirrors present in both works reflect more than an image: they trigger the deepest emotions of the human being. We face the modern myth. The theoretical and critical framework is based on the studies of Gordon (2020), Alegrete (2010), Hitchcock (2010), Florescu (1998), Shelley (2017), Ovídio (2017),Vernant (1992), (2006), Monfardini (2005), Carpeaux (1959), Eliade (1978), Werner (2001) and others.