Frankenstein Compare/Contrast Essay

Several fields have studied the relationship between creator and creation. The most significant aspect of this research considers the difference between nature and nurture. Sociologists, psychologists, scientists, and other professionals have tried to pin down the exact distinctions between these two types of upbringings. In literature, the same questions have been asked and studied using fictional characters, most famously in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, in 1667, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, in 1818. The complexity of the characters in these texts creates the theme of nature versus nurture before they diverge and arrive at differing conclusions.

Victor knew that what he was doing was hurting his body physically and mentally, “My labors would soon end, and I believe that exercise and amusement would then drive away incipient disease” (Shelley 42) Victor felt this way when he was in the midst of the creation of his monster. Victor knows that his decisions were hindering his body and his ruining his limited time that Victor has on this Earth. The hindering of someone’s body and wasting of time is going to be a direct result of Victor’s demise. The actual creation of the monster also took a toll on Victor; Victor describes the monster by saying “No moral could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch” (Shelley 44) Another example of Victor’s description of the creation of the monster the night before “I trembled exclusively; I could not endure to think of, and far less to allude to, the occurrences of the preceding night” (Shelley 46) Even the next day, after the monster was created, Victor still was hurt by the creation of the monster which then led to Victor being very sick, only to be nursed back to health by Clerval. All of this could have been avoided by Victor if he would have not of created the monster. But because Victor decided to create the monster, the consequences of these actions were the ultimate demise of Victor with the person responsible for the demise being victor

But there is also a plethora of differences and alterations in the movie than in the original written version. The book focuses on the many complex thoughts of the main character, Victor Frankenstein. We know exactly how he feels whenever he speaks. In the movie, we are only shown that he has dedicated his life to his experiment; we never really know his inside thoughts, though. The book shines the creature in a completely different light than the film. He is shown as an intelligent being full of of human emotions: love, hate, revenge, remorse, etc. He is very articulate and has much common sense and awareness. During his first verbal altercation with Victor he says, “Be calm! I entreat you to hear me before you give vent to your hatred on my devoted head. Have I not suffered enough, that you seek to increase my misery?” (Shelley 86). We learn what he encounters in life, what has shaped him into the “human” he was created to be, and what compels him to kill. The creature in the movie is more like an animal than anything else. He is unable to speak, communicate, or comprehend what is going on around him. He only kills because he has the brain of a murderer and he wanders aimlessly not knowing what is happening. We never see his character ever develop or change at any point; we are only shown that he is an ignorant, killing

    In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley combines three separate stories involving three different characters--Walton, Victor, and Frankenstein's monster. Though the reader is hearing the stories through Walton's perspective, Walton strives for accuracy in relating the details, as he says, "I have resolved every night,...to record, as nearly as possible in his [Victor's] own words, what he has related during the day" (Shelley 37). Shelley's shift in point of view allows for direct comparison and contrast between the characters, as the reader hears their stories through the use of first person. As the reader compares the monster's circumstances to those of Victor and Walton, the reader's

Victor thought “for this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart”(page). This quote demonstrates that once Victor had concluded his work of creating the monster, he realized that it may have been a huge mistake. He was not satisfied with his creation instead he was filled with terror. In result of his realization, he left the monster to fend for himself and suffer. Victor shows an evil side of himself by abandoning the monster and leaving him to be universally shunned by society. By Victor doing this one evil act, it causes the monster himself to go off and initiate evil acts of his own.

According to page 76 in chapter 10 “...that I could, with the extinction of your miserable existence, restore those victims whom you have so diabolically murdered!”, this shows how angry he was to the monster. By knowing and reading this you can notice and get a sense of feel of how Victor was now starting to regret creating the monster. On page 79 in chapter 10 it says “ Why do you call to my remembrance,” I rejoined,” circumstances of which I shudder to reflect, that I have been the miserable origin and author? Cursed (although I cursed myself) be the hands that formed you! You have made me wretched beyond expression. You have left me no power to consider whether I am just to you or not. Begone! Relieve me from the sight of your detested form.”, this shows how he feels now that he has seen what the monsters has

While Victor is looked upon to be a normal man while the creature is seen as a monster specifically because of his physical appearance. At eight feet, with a gigantic body and a disfigured face, society only looks upon the creature with fear and disgust. However, I wonder, couldn’t Victor be a monster as well? He abandoned the creature in the horror of the moment and even attempts to take the creature’s life at one point. To me, the creature’s feelings of rage, revenge, and hurt are what any “normal” human would have felt if left to fend for themselves on their own, with no experience of love or kindness from anyone.

I can compare Frankenstein to the movie I saw by Tim Burton, Frankenweenie. They are similar but instead of a human body, it was a dog and the mad scientist was a young boy named Victor Frankenstein. The young Victor Frankenstein brings his dog back to life after being hit by a car for a science fair project while the real Victor Frankenstein wanted to create a real life human. Just like the real Frankenstein monster, the dog brings trouble. In the book, the mad scientist, denies the monster but in Frankenweenie, the young boy convinces his family and friends to like his creation. Some of his classmates had known the young Victor Frankenstein creation and was intrigued to do the same experiment like his but it went out of the standards of

The characterization of Victor’s creature, the monster, in the movie although somewhat dramatically different from Mary Shelley’s portrayal in the novel Frankenstein also had its similarities. Shelley’s views of the monster were to make him seem like a human being, while the movie made the monster out to be a hideous creation. The creature’s appearance and personality are two aspects that differ between the novel and movie while his intellectual and tender sides were portrayed the same.

whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of a man that occupied me, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in it highest sense, the secrets of the world.” (23) Victor has said, this quote shows Victor’s deep desire to learn about all the secrets the world may have. This is the when Victor realizes what he would like to dedicate his life’s work to. Victor ignores both his social life, and his health. He focuses solely on discovering the secrets nature holds. Victor’s obsession with this consumes all his time thus destroying relationships he had. This shows that Victor no longer holds his friends or family close, but instead he pushes them aside to focus on what he feels is more important. Victor speaks of all the countless nights and days he has spent, and how he is tired. Victor had stopped mailing Elizabeth, and she grows worried all due to his search for knowledge. Later on in the story Victor’s work comes alive. He creates a monster, and from this point on nothing will be the same between him and his

Throughout the novel, Victor ignores and shows no interest or empathy towards human beings. He is an alchemist himself who is interested in making things come to life from the dead specifically. He was unable to differentiate the “impracticability” of this creation he had in mind (Shelley 54). Victor has this big idea of taking body parts of the dead people and creating this creature that also becomes known as the Monster. He does not think about the future of the

In the book, Victor uses an unknown process to create what would have been the monster, which he destroys. Although in the movie he does create a female “monster”, he actually recreates Elizabeth. This causes extra conflict between Victor and the Monster, because the Monster attempts to take her as his bride and Victor loves her and fights for the rights to her love. This causes yet another difference in the way Elizabeth dies. In the book, Elizabeth is killed by the Monster. In the movie, She is distressed by the conflict and kills herself in flames.

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

As a child, his only friends are Elizabeth and Clerval, and they are in fact, the only true friends he has throughout his entire life. He isolates himself from society during the time he is creating the monster, claiming that, 'I must absent myself from all I loved whilst thus employed' (page 147). He claims that this is necessary if he is to discover the secret of life. One reason why Victor isolates himself is due to his fear of sexuality. When he creates the monster, he is eliminating the role of women and rejecting normal sexuality. This is also shown when Victor's father suggests that he should marry Elizabeth immediately, and he states 'Alas! To me the idea of an immediate union with my Elizabeth was one of horror and dismay.' (page 147). This shows Victor's problems with relationships and therefore his isolation from others.

Victor feels that his relentless search for more knowledge is the cause for all of his suffering. It is true that his knowledge is what created the creature, but what made things worse is that he never gave the creature what he needed, so the neglected creature set out to find it himself. Victor’s tragic fate was not the result of his knowledge but because he did not take care of his creature. 6. Foreshadowing is seen multiple times such as the night when Victor sees lightning strike down a tree and Victor is fascinated with how much power the lighting has. The monster also foreshadows his own death when saying, “But soon I shall die.. I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly and exult in the agony of the torturing flames..” 7. By not giving his creation a name, Victor didn’t give his creature an identity or a place in society. In society, a person’s name is who they are, people make their own judgment of people right away. The creature didn’t have a name and people judged him right away and identified him as monster and only that, rather than an actual being. 8. During the period in which Frankenstein was written, science was growing and it was seen as anything could be possible with the new research and