Frankenstein authorship question Frankenstein authorship question The "Frankenstein" authorship question is a debate over the role and the extent of Percy Bysshe Shelley's contributions in the writing of the novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus", published anonymously in London in 1818. Handwriting analyses have shown that some portions of the original manuscript were written in his handwriting. Arguments on the subject range from arguments that he acted strictly as an editor/reviewer (with actual authorship remaining with Mary Shelley) to claims that he was the sole author. The dispute over authorship began as soon as the novel was published anonymously on January 1, 1818
Prometheus Bound the abyss. The treatment of the myth of Prometheus in "Prometheus Bound" is a radical departure from the earlier accounts found in Hesiod's "Theogony" (511–616) and "Works and Days" (42–105). Hesiod essentially portrays the Titan as a lowly trickster and semi-comic foil to Zeus's authority. Zeus's anger toward Prometheus is in turn responsible for mortal man's having to provide for himself; before, all of man's needs had been provided by the gods. Prometheus' theft of fire also prompts the arrival of the first woman, Pandora, and her jar of evils. Pandora is entirely absent from "Prometheus Bound", and Prometheus becomes