Good And Evil In Frankenstein

While attempting to uncover the meaning of life and death, and though he believed his experiments would further the paths of science, Victor fails to see the potential consequences of “bestowing animation upon lifeless matter” (Shelley 37). This, in turn, creates a monster. After his “great” experiment, Victor spends his life in grief. Despite this, he manages to belittle his creation, and act superior to him, claiming that “I [Victor] will not hear you. There can be no community between you [the creature] and me; we are enemies” (Shelley 84). Even later on, when assured by the creature himself that Victor would be left alone if he creates a female counterpart, Victor cannot see past the shreds of pride he has left and refuses, causing the death of his family and loved ones. It’s Victor’s pride and his fear of the creature that clouds his judgement and in the end leads to his

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley tells the tale of the protagonist Victor Frankenstein and his creation. Both Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s creation’s questionable actions lead them both to be considered morally ambiguous figures. Victor is ambitious with good intentions, but his ambition leads to bad results. The Creature is an innately kind and compassionate person who commits abominable actions due to how others treat him. Their moral ambiguity is significant, as it reveals that an obsession with ambition distorts one’s morals.

Mary Shelley’s ability to create such multidimensional characters in Frankenstein proves that writing is a powerful tool that has the ability to provoke vastly different opinions amongst readers. Even though each individual reading the story is reading the exact same words, their interpretation of those words often leads to opposing views in regards to the fate of the characters. The creature, in particular, has been a popular topic of discussion when conducting a close read of the novel due to his arguable versatility as a victim and villain. The concept of the villain has evolved over the years, however its basis still rests upon the simple fact that as a character in the story, their actions are a result of malicious intentions

In the infamous novel, Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley, there have been a variety of recurring themes throughout the book, one of them being good versus evil. Good versus evil is a popular theme that appears in several movies, TV shows, as well as literature itself. According to Wikipedia.com, it means: “[...] the battle between ideologies, with one side Good, and the other Evil. Another variation is the inner struggle in characters (and by extension, humans in reality) between good and evil.” This theme is specifically crucial to the plot because it ultimately asks the readers what it means to be “human.” Shelley supports her representation by manipulating society’s behavior, questioning the limits of humans, and

Victor, the protagonist, is a Byronic hero who voluntarily isolates himself from society as his obsession of creating a new life-being becomes his main interest. He cuts himself off from all human contact and concentrates on his scientific experiment as he wishes his “thirst for knowledge” (Shelley 38) to be stilled. Additionally, he hides a dark secret inside him, namely the creation of the monster which he irresponsibly abandons and ultimately is forced to accept the consequences of death of his loved ones.

In the novel, the readers learn that the main antagonist, Victor Frankenstein, is trying to reanimate life and create a “new generation” of advanced humans. Despite being successful in creating the monster, Victor would abandon his creation which forces it to have and conceive different identities and creates conflicting perspectives for the readers. This technique of giving the monster different identities is used by Shelley to portray the monster as a complex being. In the book, Victor abandons his creation because he is horribly terrified as he sees his creation is dreadful looking and says, “I beheld the wretch

In Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, Frankenstein, three different positions are portrayed in the story of Victor Frankenstein’s creation. Shelley presents the story through letters that Robert Walton writes to his sister as he is hearing the retelling of the story from Frankenstein himself. While discovering Frankenstein’s and the Creature’s backstories, the reader witnesses the inevitable nature of man and the crucial effects of one’s environment; nurture is a problematic component in the Creature’s life while Victor’s inevitable nature overrides his upbringing.

Every story has its hero and villain. Some authors’ works easily clarify the debate between which character is the ultimate protagonist or the antagonist, but sometimes the author tries to toy with readers’ minds. Similarly, Frankenstein’s author, Marry Shelley is one of the authors who is not straightforward about who is the villain in her novel. In Frankenstein, both the Monster and Victor Frankenstein could be considered the villains in the book. Doctor Victor Frankenstein is an alchemist who is obsessed with creating life from the dead. He creates the green creature, also given the name Frankenstein, who is portrayed as the Monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Dr. Frankenstein’s complete disregard for mortal beings, obsession with becoming a God, and his self-centeredness throughout the novel are all good evidence to why he – Dr. Victor Frankenstein plays the role of the villain in the story.

Who is the real monster?” acts as the dominant question throughout the novel “Frankenstein” written by Mary Shelly as the reader explores the protagonist Victor Frankenstein and his nameless creation. As the novel progresses, the reader notices how the relationship between the two characters goes far beyond a neglectful creature and resentful creation, for the two influence the thoughts, actions and emotions of each other. Furthermore, the creature’s physical appearance acts as his purpose throughout the novel as well as a mirror of Victor Frankenstein’s true identity. Additionally, the creature’s lack of identity begins to initiate Frankenstein’s shame towards his own identity, revealing the flawed character of Frankenstein and determining the resolution to the question “Who is the true monster? Who is the true catalyst of destruction?” During the novel, the reader is able to identify the creature as the most effective foil for Victor Frankenstein because the creature causes: Frankenstein to view the action of the creature as his own work, the shift between pride and shame in Frankenstein, and his physical appearance demonstrates his purpose to reveal the true character of Victor Frankenstein.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein explores the concepts of knowledge and science and the dangers involved with the pursuit and investigation of these ideas. The novel conveys Shelley’s attitudes towards science by portraying it as having the capability to exceed the bounds of human restraint. Through the development of her protagonist Victor Frankenstein, the romantic and gothic aspects of her novel, the period of 1818 and the influences of the world she was living in that

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is very much a commentary on the Enlightenment and its failure to tame the human condition through reason. The human condition can be defined as the unique features which mold a human being. The creature is undoubtedly a victim of this predicament. He grapples with the meaning of life, the search for gratification, the sense of curiosity, the inevitability of isolation, and the awareness of the inescapability of death. These qualities and his ceaseless stalking of his master conjure up the metaphor that he is the shadow of the Enlightenment. Indeed, the Enlightenment is represented through Frankenstein whereas the creature is the embodiment of everything it shuns. These include nature, emotion, and savagery. The two characters are understood as counterparts and yet strikingly similar at the same time. The creature is considered a monster because of his grotesque appearance. Frankenstein on the other hand is a monster of another kind: his ambition, secrecy, and selfishness alienate him from human society. He is eventually consumed by an obsessive hatred of his creation. Both characters also commit primordial crimes. Although rationality pervades through Frankenstein's endeavours, it can be argued that he becomes less human the more he tries to be God. The secret of life lies beyond an accepted boundary from which none can return. By creating life Frankenstein ironically sets the stage for his own destruction as well as that of his family. The

Upon the death of his mother and his preparations to depart for Ingolstadt, we see a Victor who is ignorant to the changes he will undergo. We still see him only as a romantic, not yet as a mad scientist.

Victor Frankenstein, a complex character created by Mary Shelley, experienced a complete change in attitude and perspective on the scientific world as he knew it. Between the deaths of his close family and friends, to the constant fight for survival as his own creation stalked him, Victor was under straining circumstances that allowed for his evolution as a character. Pre monster, Victor had strong morals and close relationships with his family. His family was his priority. Victor’s dedication to science was always a constant nagging in the back of his mind, but it did not mean more to him than his family dead. During the formation of his creation, he began to block off his family, especially his fiancee, Elizabeth. His dedication to science was his only priority, above food and hygiene. He was driven by the creation of his monster. After creation, his family members were killed off, eliminating any type of relationship he had with them, he rejected all science and moral values.

Nature has a mostly positive effect on Victor, as he describes it as “happy”, “calm” and “lovely” (Shelley 7, 45, 92). Every time Victor comes into contact with natural phenomena such as the sun, the moon or a sea, it immediately takes him back to the past where he was a “happy creature” and had no worries (45). Already at a young age, Victor develops his passion for science when he witnesses a lightning. Fascinated by its power, he does his own experiments and even attends lectures of natural philosophy and other sciences such as mathematics and chemistry. Slowly, Victor realizes his interest in science and in the human life which lead him to the anatomy of the human body (31). This development of interest hints at the upcoming clash of science and nature. Victor’s improving abilities in scientific experiments make him believe in even severing the boundaries between life and death and thus connecting science and nature (33). When Victor is uncertain about the recreation of life, he again refers to the scientific abilities that have improved and offer a wide range of possibilities (33). This improvement of science goes back to the actual achievements in times of romanticism when people like Davy imposed significant ideas of natural philosophy and other scientific fields such as electrochemistry. (Cunningham & Jardine