Tweet

The homage to 80s science fiction and teen adventure films, Stranger Things, is a major hit with audiences and has grown a substantial cult following since its debut last summer. As expected, many took to the internet to break down various aspects of the series, and there are hundreds of articles attempting to seize on the excitement.

It should come as no surprise that the show’s central monster villain, dubbed the “Demogorgon,” would become the target of analysis and speculation. Dozens of articles include the same basic facts: that the name may have been derived from a misspelling of “Demiurge;” that a character with that name appears in the works of John Milton and Percy Shelley; and that it is a “Prince of Hell” in the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game.

While these are all correct, one detail seems to be neglected: the Demogorgon in Percy Shelley’s “lyrical drama” (a play), Prometheus Unbound, is a force that brings about a revolution of love and harmony.

Many authors in their haste to put out something for fans to devour were able to see that Shelley mentioned the name, but they didn’t bother to dig further. It makes sense, when you think about it, but it is still a shame that denies the audience the ability to discuss some deeper truths about the human condition that the show raises.

A Most Difficult Poem

Prometheus Unbound (1818) is the pinnacle of Shelley’s poetry. It includes some of his best imagery, reveals in stunning clarity his revolutionary longings, and is a fascinating work. It is also one of the most difficult poems to understand in the English language, and I have met many graduate students whose eyes glaze over at an attempt to read it.

From my own experience, it was not until my 4th class dealing with Romantic Poetry during undergraduate years that it began to come together. Not only did I first need to understand Romanticism in general, I found much of it impossible to comprehend until I took classes dealing with Milton’s Paradise Lost, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Greco-Roman myth, Classical epic, and 18th-century philosophy. Finally, it all started to come together when I took a class called “Godwins and the Shelleys” during my senior year, taught by a brilliant professor who specialized in Shelley and the Romantics.

Still, a Master’s in Classics and a year of graduate work in British Literature (specializing in Romanticism) was necessary before I could dig deeper. There are scholarly books that make grand declarations and a few general annotated copies of the play that explain key details, but there are few resources that truly explain what is going on. I had a general understanding, but the poem was too massive to really consolidate it all.

The Wikipedia page in 2008 was absolutely useless. As you can see, there was very little there, but this gave me an opportunity. In the course of a few hours, I poured all of my notes onto the page, quickly expanded it to more or less how it currently stands. It was not complete, but it is enough to offer anyone pursuing the topic to understand that Shelley’s Demogorgon is very different from any other depiction.

Now, there is a thorough summary of each of the play’s four acts. Now, there is a summary of some key themes. A simple search would have produced the page, but even that seems to be asking too much these days.

The Oblivion of Love

The Demogorgon represents the potential for Jupiter, king of the gods, to be brought low. In Greco-Roman myth, each ruling god was deposed by his son, and the cycle repeated through multiple generations. To the original worshipers, Jupiter’s fall would be tragic, so he was given the foresight to prevent his downfall and continue his reign.

Prometheus, for whom the play is named, was the divine entity of foresight, yet he was chained and tortured by Jupiter for giving man the gift of fire (a possible metaphor for technology). The two reconcile when Prometheus gives Jupiter the knowledge to save himself.

However, Shelley saw Jupiter as a tyrannical force that opposed mankind. In his preface to the play, Shelley explains,

But, in truth, I was averse from a catastrophe so feeble as that of reconciling the Champion with the Oppressor of mankind. The moral interest of the fable, which is so powerfully sustained by the sufferings and endurance of Prometheus, would be annihilated if we could conceive of him as unsaying his high language and quailing before his successful and perfidious adversary.

Jupiter stays obstinate towards Prometheus throughout the play, and Prometheus’s allies tell him to call upon the Demogorgon, “the supreme Tyrant” and master of the “shadow realm,” to plead his case and push for revenge. But Prometheus realizes that he must become humble to avoid the vengefulness and stubbornness of the tormentor. He refuses to wish harm upon Jupiter and accepts his punishment.

However, Mercury appears, offering to free Prometheus from his bondage if he reveals how to prevent Jupiter’s fall. Prometheus refuses and suffers further cruelty, becoming a Christ-figure who conquers through submission.

Two of his allies (Asia and Panthea) descent to the realm of the Demogorgon to seek his aid. There, the Demogorgon explains the nature of the universe, proclaiming: “Fate, Time, Occasion, Chance and Change?—To these/ All things are subject but eternal Love.”

From there, the Demogorgon ascends to Mount Olympus and confronts Jupiter, explaining that he is the potential of the child that would overthrow him. Jupiter first tries to plead for mercy, and then he turns to use his might to lay the Demogorgon low. However, the rest of the forces of the universe refuse to aid him due to his tyrannical nature, and he falls from power.

In the final lines of the play, the Demogorgon says,

This is the day, which down the void abysm

At the Earth-born’s spell yawns for Heaven’s despotism,

And Conquest is dragged captive through the deep:

Love, from its awful throne of patient power

In the wise heart, from the last giddy hour

Of dead endurance, from the slippery, steep,

And narrow verge of crag-like agony, springs

And folds over the world its healing wings.

Gentleness, Virtue, Wisdom, and Endurance,

These are the seals of that most firm assurance

Which bars the pit over Destruction’s strength;

And if, with infirm hand, Eternity,

Mother of many acts and hours, should free

The serpent that would clasp her with his length;

These are the spells by which to re-assume

An empire o’er the disentangled doom.

To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite;

To forgive wrongs darker than death or night;

To defy Power, which seems omnipotent;

To love, and bear; to hope till Hope creates

From its own wreck the thing it contemplates;

Neither to change, nor falter, nor repent;

This, like thy glory, Titan, is to be

Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free;

This is alone Life, Joy, Empire, and Victory.

It is Prometheus’s act of love, embodied by self-sacrifice and submission, that allows the Demogorgon to overthrow Jupiter without violence. Prometheus exists as both a “Satanic hero” and a Christ-figure, which is like William Blake’s Orc, a revolutionary force that opposes the tyrannical form of justice of the Old Testament. Oddly enough, Dungeons & Dragons includes both a Demogorgon and an Orcus (derived from the same word as Blake’s Orc) who are at eternal odds with each other.

Like Blake, Shelley reversed a traditional myth to describe how a primordial force of love (described as the force that created the universe similar to the Gospel of John’s declaration that God is Love) will return to establish a new age free of tyranny. The reversal is a complex statement on morality, philosophy, and politics that ultimately places the idea of love above all other concerns.

A Stranger Thing

There are some similarities between Shelley’s Demogorgon and the monster of Stranger Things, including their dwelling in a “shadow realm.” However, the threat of the Demogorgon becomes the salvation to humanity whereas the monster is clearly the bane of human existence.

On a symbolic level, there are some deeper connections. The ideas of love, self-sacrifice, and struggling against a cruel world run by a tyrannical order appear in both works. They also describe a group of friends who are busy trying to save one of their own from destruction.

The Romantic poems, especially those from Shelley, are rich in complex imagery that challenges how the reader perceives the world. Perhaps it is a sign of the times that we are too focused on getting content out to an audience that we won’t take time to look deeper and truly appreciate the artistic merit of our topics.

Shelley’s Demogorgon should be more than just a throw away reference. It is a unique interpretation of mythology that promotes a philosophy of love and sacrifice that will always be important to audiences. We need to become a society that truly cares about art because it will help us truly care about each other.

Stranger Things is not a pastiche of 80’s culture but a complex work that uses references to science fiction classics to both emphasize and contradict important themes. This approach adds multiple layers of interpretation that challenge the audience to dig further and to think deeper. While some answers come readily, many others remain unclear.

We should be able to discuss who are the true monsters in life, what is the nature of the “shadow realm” compared to our own, and what are the driving forces in the universe. It is a grave disservice to treat such allusions in a shallow manner because it hinders our ability to pursue questions that matter.