Essay On Victor As The Victim In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

In this essay I will be discussing who really is portrayed as the monster in her gothic horror novel, Frankenstein or “The Modern Prometheus”. Frankenstein was written in 1816, (thought by many to be the first real science fiction novel) during the age of Romanticism and it tells the story of a selfish man, Victor Frankenstein, whose ambition conducts him to seek for supernatural powers and leads him to death. He is a young scientist, eager to discover something new, the key to life, help to make scientific advances and let other scientists get a better idea of how the body works and who after studying chemical processes and the decay of living beings, gains an insight into the creation of like, leading him to create a monster that becomes

At first glance, the monster in Frankenstein is a symbol of evil, whose only desire is to ruin lives. He has been called "A creature that wreaks havoc by destroying innocent lives often without remorse. He can be viewed as the antagonist, the element Victor must overcome to restore balance and tranquility to the world." But after the novel is looked at on different levels, one becomes aware that the creature wasn't responsible for his actions, and was just a victim of circumstance. The real villain of Frankenstein isn't the creature, but rather his creator, Victor.

1817 after a trip to Switzerland in the summer of 1816 with a group of

Victor and the monster hate each other and eventually seek revenge on one another (60). In the beginning, Victor was passionate about his creation of life, he thought it was a brilliant idea (79). However, he was unable to “endure the aspect of the being [he] had created” (84) after the completion of the creature. The monster appeared to be friendly as “a grin wrinkled his cheeks” (84) and tried to communicate with Victor (84). However, Victor tried to avoid him and did not want to associate himself with the monster at all (84). The monster was furious and “[swore] eternal revenge” (154) when his creator rejected him because of his appearance. Therefore, when the monster knew that William was related to Victor, he became enraged and killed him (154). As the monster continued to kill Victor’s family, Victor pledged that he will get revenge on the creature (60). The exchanges between these two individuals were an indication of Victor’s vengeful

In some novels, the main character often possesses a negative trait which ultimately becomes his/her biggest flaw. The manner of how the protagonist responds to his/her troubles impacts the development of the flaw. One character in particular encompasses a trait that even with his self-awareness, is unaware of the selfishness in his veins. In the novel Frankenstein, the protagonist Victor Frankenstein is this particular individual whose conscience consists of much responsibility but no discipline to show for it. Although he feels responsible for deaths of many others, Victor never confesses when he knows the fault is his. His vengeance almost keeps him away from the

Victor's creation experienced his ultimate rejection when he encounters the peasants in chapter 12. The creature shows kindness and his innocence is highlighted when he states " I saw no cause for their unhappiness; but I was deeply affected by it. " The creature is experiencing compassion and doesn't understand why such kind people are suffering; much like himself. When he realises him stealing their food is harming them he stops immediately and settles for "berries, nuts and roots. " The creature also takes it upon himself to cut firewood for the peasants "sufficient enough for the consumption of several days.

He recognises that his health is deteriorating and is not sleeping this is a reflection of the creation scene where he deprived himself of sleep and his health suffered, the scenes differ because then he was giving life in the first scene and now wants to take it away. Victor is in a deep depression, this is indicated when he says, “Thus not the tenderness of friendship, nor the beauty of earth, nor of heaven, could redeem my soul from woe”

any better, he went for it.  He was then met by a mob of angry villagers,

Critic Northrop Frye once commented that "Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscapes" (Frye 1). Few characters illustrate this characteristic of a tragic hero better than that of Victors Frankenstein, the protagonist of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. His story is one of a brilliant man whose revolutionary ideas brought suffering to himself, his family and friends, and his creation. Victor is an instrument as well as a victim to this suffering throughout his story.

The novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley involves the complex issues with the creation of life through an inanimate life. Shelley uses these character archetypes to develop a deeper meaning of the characters intentions. Shelley does an excellent job at allowing the reader to have a peak at the characters inner thoughts and feelings. The archetypes presented in Frankenstein allow readers to identify with the character's role and purpose.

Mary Shelley, in her book Frankenstein, makes several allusions to the fact that Victor Frankenstein is usurping the role of God in bringing his creature to life. The point of the book seems to be that a human who attempts to usurp the role of God will be heavily punished. Victor Frankenstein is severely punished. He loses everyone he loves before perishing himself in the arctic wastes. But did he really "play God" or did he merely unleash his own id and destroy himself?

    In any novel the author is free to create and shape their characters in whatever way they see fit. In Frankenstein, Shelley does an excellent job of shaping her characters, be it however minute their part in the story, so that the reader gets a clear picture of Shelley's creations. It seems that each character in Shelley's Frankenstein is created by Shelley to give the reader a certain impression of the character. By doing this Shelley creates the characters the way she wants us to see them. She tells us certain things about them and gives them certain traits so that they will fit into the story the way she wants them to. In particular I will examine the characters of the

Victor, after being convinced to create a female companion for the monster, realizes that this will only create double the amount of destruction, he then makes the choice to discontinue his project to prevent more devastation. Instead of less damage resulting from this choice it only brings more harm to his life and everyone around him. First, his good friend Henry Clerval is murdered by the beast and Victor is accused of this murder, “The human frame could no longer support the agonies that I endured, and I was carried out of the room in strong convulsions.” (Shelley 129). This was Victor’s reaction upon seeing Henry’s corpse and demonstrates how deeply his pursuit for knowledge affects him. Even though he is later released on circumstantial evidence, he will be scarred for life knowing that he responsible for yet another death. Given that Victor destroyed the monster’s only hope of having someone else like him in the world; the monster swears revenge and that he will return on Victor’s wedding night. Victor misinterpreted this warning and instead of the monster attacking Victor, his creation attacked and

The monster believed that Victor would accept him, but after he realized that not only did Victor not want to assume his position in the monster’s life, but society also rejected him, it became a transitory thought, and instead became replaced with his bloodthirst towards Victor and his loved ones, which he knew would hurt way worse than just killing him; making him lonely like himself. Both Victor and the monster partook in horrid acts, in which held horrendous actions; the main one being Victor creating the monster in the first place which in result caused the both of them heartbreak, loneliness, and pain. If Victor wouldn’t have created the monster, then his life would not be filled with so much grief and emptiness; Victor is the true monster, although they are both the primal protagonists as much as they are the antagonists because of the display of the emotions they both portray as lamenting humans/monsters, and the power they give to nature in order to destroy one another. Victor used nature to his advantage, although it was wrong; Victor used nature to create and destroy the monster; he used the