There is a lot of confusion in versions of Frankenstein over whether that is the name of the man who created the undead monster or if Frankenstein is the name of the creation itself. Of course when reading the book it becomes more clear that Frankenstein is the last name of Victor, the young man who uses science to conquer death while the creature was never given a name to begin with. Yet even with that knowledge it is easy to understand why it’s so hard to tell the two apart. Both have an intense connection to the natural environment and want to have a family. At the same time they respond to unfavorable situations that they are confronted with antithetically and people react to these two characters in different ways.
As is characteristic of romantic novels, the main characters in Frankenstein have a sublime connection to the natural environment around them. Victor, for instance, sees great beauty in the mountains that surround his childhood home and the creation also reveres nature as his home when he lives in the forest. “The immense mountains and precipices that overhung me on every side, the sound of the river raging among the rocks, and the dashing of waterfalls around, spoke of a mighty Omnipotence-” (Shelley, pg. 90). The creature also seems to have some respect for other lifeforms in the forest because he does not feed off of animals. At the same time though, Frankenstein and his creation seem to be against nature despite their feelings of personal connection to it.
To fully understand how society impacts the creatures in each story the reader must look at their actions before they were defined as monsters. Frankenstein’s creature wanted affection, love and attention from none other than his own creator
Nature is an important part of both Frankenstein and his creation’s life. Often Nature is used to describe certain points in victor’s life, for example, Marry Shelley uses metaphors in nature to describe Frankenstein’s youth. “I find it arises, like a mountain river, from ignoble and almost forgotten sources; but swelling as it proceeded, it became the torrent which, in its course, has swept away all my hopes and joys.” The use of nature to describe Frankenstein’s feelings is a prominent part of the book. Nature is also used as a calming technique for Frankenstein. After Frankenstein finds that his creation has murdered his brother he retreats to nature to calm himself and regain strength. “By degrees, the calm and heavenly scene restored me". Nature is also used as an escape for Frankenstein. After the execution of Justine, a dear friend to victor, the Frankenstein family takes a trip to Belrive to try to put their minds at peace. While there, victor took a boat and sailed in the water to pass the time and get his mind off recent events. “And I the only unquiet thing that wandered restless in a scene so beautiful and heavenly”. Similarly, the monster also shares a deep appreciation for Nature. After the monster was created Frankenstein fled from his house, leaving the monster to
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.
Though Victor Frankenstein and his creation both have qualities that are clearly monstrous, Victor’s selfishness, his abandonment of his responsibilities, and his inability to recognize his own faults and the monstrous qualities within himself qualities within himself make him the true monster while his creation is rather the opposite.
When reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein it is easy to see the practical argument: Victor has created a monster. In the novel Victor is exposed to us— his family values, his journey to school, his drive for scientific achievements, etc. It is easy to see Victor as a victim of a monstrous creature. The monster murders everyone that Victor loves. Though, the second half of the novel exposes the “monster” to us— he is an angry, child-murder that stalks and horrifies a family (and within that family a blind man), murders the friends and family of his creator. Therefore, in the minds of most it’s easily assessed that the creature is the monster. But it seems, if you pick apart our protagonist, that he is indeed
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein deeply develops the trope of nature vs. nurture. The romantic era is characterized by a desire to revert to natural animalistic living in the world. Shelley’s main characters embody nature and nurture respectively. Victor, raised in a loving home, kills with no concern and disregards his caring family. The Monster, Victor’s creation, on the other hand, is forced to live in nature like an animal with no companion. Victor is Shelley’s direct comment on the Victorian lifestyle characterized by material possession and religious moral structure. Victor embodies one who is grounded in societally constructed niceties and formalities but is corrupted by the lifestyle. The monster is shown to be the morally correct character
In the novel by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, the creature and its creator, Victor Frankenstein, share a lot of similarities throughout the story. The relationship shared between the two resembles that of a father and his son. Since Victor created it , the creature inherits certain traits of Victor’s without realizing it. Victor and the creature both have an overpowering thirst for knowledge, a love for the beauty of nature and a tendency to use it as a scapegoat, a depressing feeling of isolation from people, a desire for revenge, and the ability to play God. The relationship between Victor and the creature does not develop like a normal father-son relationship, nor does it develop as a good versus evil relationship. Both characters show hero and villain qualities throughout the novel as their relationship develops.
In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, man tries to tamper with nature. This is an enormous mistake, because his experiences prove that man should respect the omnipotent power of nature so man can be happy. Man should respect nature because if man goes beyond his limits, then nature lets man creates all types of consequences for himself which proves Shelley’s point to respect nature’s powers.When people look at nature, they are automatically healed just by its looks. This is a much more powerful force than anything man is capable of doing, thus nature is all powerful. Nature is constant, unlike man who is constantly changing, which shows that nature is always in control.
In 1818 Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley. In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein brings a creature to life. The creature kills William, Henry Clerval, and Elizabeth. Victor had promised to make a female creature for the creature, but he did not fulfill his promise. This makes the creature enraged. The creature runs away and Victor follows him. Victor gets on a boat with Walton. Victor dies and the creature comes and is very sad that his creator has died. The creature says that he must end his suffering and he jumps into the ocean. In the novel Frankenstein, Shelley uses the theme of nature to show how it is like the characters of the story and how it affects the characters.
Victor Frankenstein is in many ways more monstrous than the monster he created. Victor and his creation demonstrate a thesis-antithesis correspondence wherein they reflect opposite character traits. Victor has no sense of empathy or compassion, whereas the monster, although hideous and rejected by society as an outcast, has
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein there are several parallels that can be drawn. One of the major parallels in the novel is the connection between Victor Frankenstein and the creature he creates; there is an interesting relationship between these two characters. Frankenstein and his creation are not blood related, however, their similarities bond the two. Despite their dislike for one another and their physical differences Frankenstein shares many characteristics with his creation, throughout the novel we see each of them find comfort in nature, become isolated from society, and seek revenge towards those who have wronged them. There is significance in these similarities; if Frankenstein’s creation had not been physically deformed they would
The two dominant forces of our universe are man and nature, they need to be existing in a delicate equilibrium. One should not go beyond the other’s dividing line, we as humans should not meddling with nature and cross the line. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the point is emphasized that the balance between man and Nature must be preserved. In the book, Dr. Victor Frankenstein gives life to a creature constructed from the parts of dead humans. The creature was a hideous abomination of unnatural origin, which makes him an outcast that has no place in our world. The creature is fueled by the hatred and violence of humanity, thus both the creature and Victor
Throughout the story the Frankenstein’s monster is referred to as a true monster because of the different acts that he has committed, yet throughout the story the reader is made aware of the compassion and morality that Victor’s” creature possesses, like a real human. Victor is the true monster in this horror novel, because he possesses many of the characteristics that would define what a monster is. Victor Frankenstein created his monster due to his eagerness for alchemy and his unnatural obsession with being like God. Victor does not take into account the consequences of his actions. Victor rejects his creation the moment he lays eyes on it, and this caused the monster to perform the acts that he did. The cruel rejection is what begins the a journey that will soon enough be end of Victor. After Victor decides to go back on creating his monster a mate, he then destroys the half made creature which anger Frankenstein’s monster and this cause him wreak revenge on his creator. The monster tells Victor that he will be at his wedding night and the killing spree beings, Victor loses his father, and his friend Henry Clerval because of what Victor had done. In my opinion I believe that should have stuck to creating his monster a mate and this would have made things easier for him and
The environment has a lot to say in Marry Shelly's Frankenstein. It seems to reflect somewhat what is going on emotionally with Victor in the story. Victor finds solace in solitude with nature, and appears to use it as a coping mechanism to escape from the horrors of his life. Nature also ties into how the monster Victor has created feels, but in a much different way than it does for him.
Given the deep ties to nature that Mary Shelley explores within Frankenstein, the principles and methodology of ecocriticism can be applied in many different ways. The interaction of humanity and nature is a concept explored throughout the novel, relating directly to a core tenet of ecocriticism, "directly relat[ing] who we are as human beings to the environment" (Bressler 231). Being as there is no "single, dominant methodology" (235) within ecocriticism, the extent to which we can use ecocriticism to interact with Frankenstein contains considerable depth. However, I will look to a few main methodologies of ecocriticism to look at Frankenstein in detail to uncover how the novel deals with the changing attitudes of humanity and nature in