Frankenstein and Blade Runner

Shelley's Frankenstein  (1818)  has as a secondary title, The Modern Prometheus. This comes from classical Greek mythology ( about 500 B.C) and tells us much about the PURPOSE of the novel.

Prometheus was the god who stole fire from the chief God Zeus and give it to the mortals. Zeus punishes him by sending down an eagle every day to eat his liver. 

What this story symbolises as a myth - where myths are psychological truths - is that to gain knowledge is to take power into one owns hands. It is a responsibility.

Both Frankenstein and Blade Runner present us with the responsibility that scientific knowledge and invention has given us. In Frankenstein, the monster seeks a partner not unlike a human but Dr Frankenstein denies him. In Blade Runner, the replicants, near perfect humanoid robots want more life...but cannot have it. 

Hamlet

Shakespeare's Hamlet does take some effort to understand.

We read plays and novels because we observe human behaviour in these works.

In the HSC you are are asked to comment on the behaviour of the CHARACTERS in the texts you have studied.

You enter the world of the text. When a character keeps doing something....then that is a THEME because the writer has decided to highlight that action.

When faced with the problem of bringing the murderer of his father to justice, how does Hamlet act? What are his thoughts? Was he successful? If not, why not?