The Scientist as God: A Typological Study of a Literary Motif, 1818 to the Present

Ever since the publication of Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’, in which the protagonist desires to pour a torrent of light into our dark world by assuming the role of creator, writers have been fascinated with the motif of the scientist as God - that is, of the scientist who seeks to rival God by engaging in such projects as creating life, resurrecting the dead, and freeing humans from sin. The present study explores the scientist-as-God motif in a wide range of literary texts, spanning different genres (fiction, drama), periods (Romantic to Postmodern), and national literatures (British, American, Canadian). The study takes a predominantly typological approach, distinguishing and examining the principal modes of representing the godlike scientist. These include cautionary tragedies about scientific hubris, feminist comedies of creaturely self-fashioning, and probing allegories of divine failure.