Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus in the Postcolony

Prometheus, a Titan and a demigod of Greek mythology, is a hybrid figure: god-like by birth, he is also human-like for his compassionate disposition, which led him to side with the humans. Although divine, his pity inspired him to disobey Zeus, stealing fire from Olympus and giving it to humankind—a challenge to authority that ultimately forced him to endure Zeus’s revenge and eternal punishment. Hence, Prometheus is also a figure of resistance and renewal and re-signification He is a metaphor for rebellion against hegemonic power, for complicity with the victims of tyrannical control, and for the endless struggle between generations, between parents and their children, masters and their subalterns, in pursuit of freedom and self-determination, inexorably driven toward development and change in history. Prometheus’s actions attest to the resolution and coherence of his struggle against the hierarchy of power: even if, by his godly gift, he can foresee the outcome of his actions, he nevertheless takes on this responsibility rather than relinquishing its burden.