Victor Frankenstein Character Analysis

Character Analysis: Give your ideas about the main characters(s). Include what you like and dislike about the characters and why they deserve praise or criticism. Does the author intend for you to like/dislike them? How do you know?

Friends will determine the direction and quality of your life. Loneliness is a battle that all people will once face at a certain point in their life; it is how they handle it that determines the outcome of that battle. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein loneliness is the most significant and prevailing theme throughout the entire novel. Shelley takes her readers on a wild journey that shows how loneliness can end in tragedy.

Victor Frankenstein in the book Frankenstein faces many terrible situations and has to face many consequences for trying to play God’s role in creating life. Victor seen and dealt with many situations as a young boy that will lead to his madness and obsession with science. Victor has always been intrigued with science and life ever since he was a boy. He studied natural science endlessly trying to master how to create a creature that could sustained life. When Victor finally creates his creature, he becomes disgusted with how it turns out. Victor runs from his creation failing to teach him any social or moral qualities. The creature haunts Victor killing many of his family and friends. Victor will try to run from the many problems he has caused. This causes Victor’s misery throughout the book. Victor becomes the true murderer in the book for trying to play God and create life with science.

Select a novel or play in which a tragic figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by that figure contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, most people view the monster created by Frankenstein in his attempts to bring inanimate objects to life as the villain; after all, he kills numerous people in cold blood. However, the monster is much more than a static, evil character; he is initially compassionate and has good intentions and kills people out of anger and resentment from the fact that he will never fit in to society. The monster’s character arc in the novel emphasizes two important themes: first, that people are products of society, and second, that society’s emphasis on outward appearance is highly detrimental.

One can say that humans should know better than to wonder in the unknown, especially when it comes to things like science. Trying to cheat death is definitely not the way to go. Clearly Victor Frankenstein did not know that until the creature he brought back to life became his worst nightmare. Death is an Important theme in this novel you see this by how Victor decides to make a man or a monster per se by using dead body parts, giving him a horrifying, monstrous and terrifying appearance.

The broken relationship between the creature and Frankenstein causes the creature to take drastic measures in order to feel loved and wanted. The first moment where their broken relationship is shown is where the creatures character is first introduced.

During the course of the novel Frankenstein, Victor’s creation is repeatedly broken down and transformed mentally by its innate longing for acceptance in society. The creature was constructed unnaturally, and therefore is unwanted and loathsome in man’s eyes. Even in the creation’s nascent stages, Victor runs from it and deserts his creation. This loneliness at first sparks a desire to be loved, which soon shifts into madness as it becomes clear the desire cannot be filled. The near-insanity of the creature drives a theme of monstrosity throughout the novel, first touching upon the creation’s outward appearance, then on the monster’s all-consuming rage.

Victor Frankenstein, a scientist and doctor, commits himself to the resurrection of a creature made with human remains of deceased villagers. Not thinking what might happen in the near future, he opens many doors for disaster. Victor, the determined doctor, drafts the intricate details, but as he sets to work bringing the creature to life, conflicts arise. The creature is stronger than Victor had planned for and escapes from the lab, killing William, Victor’s younger brother. Victor has gone into a depression as he struggles to accept the responsibility for the deaths of others at the hands of his “monster”. Another conflict arises as the creature becomes more intelligent and understands that society has rejected him. He threatens to kill more innocent lives, unless Victor goes back to his lab and creates another mate for him. This mate will give the monster a friend, keeping him from murdering further, but should Victor force another monster into the world? As Victor struggles to make a decision, the creature continues on his warpath, killing Victor’s wife, Elizabeth. Mary Shelley, the author of the novel Frankenstein, develops the theme of guilt through Victor’s remorse of the deaths caused by his creation. Shelly also focuses on the “monster’s” quilt and sense of shame as he becomes more

The creature similar to a newborn, was unfamiliar to the world, and the cruel rejections that were brought upon him sparked the beginning of a journey that will ultimately end in the death of Victor. Victor’s passion for his work causes a portion of his life to simply vanish. Frankenstein selfishly still chooses to remain isolated, despite the great pain he is causing to the ones he loves the most. It is his decision to remain isolated that contributes to his monster-like attributes.

However, despite the success with his experiment, after the making of the Creature, Frankenstein instantly loathes his creation and estranges himself from it, and eventually becomes very sickly. Meanwhile, the Creature then begins his narration and tells his story of development from an innocent Creature to the nefarious monster feared by all. As the Creature learns more about the world, he becomes more violent, in the same way that Victor stepped out of bounds with his over ambition when he acquired an unsatiated thirst for knowledge. Throughout the novel there is evidence of a clear motive of revenge and a theme of knowledge and education. Victor and his creature begin on a long and excruciating journey of trying to punish the other for the wrongdoings.

In chapters 15 - 20, the creature attempts to gain De lacey’s trust by the inspiration of a book called Paradise Lost. However, Felix, Agatha and Safie comes back unexpectedly and Felix drives the creature away from the cottage. Nearly escaping the incident, he swears to find revenge on his creator. As follows, the creature tells Victor Frankenstein about stumbling upon William and kills him and frames Justine. After mentioning the truth behind William and Justine’s death, he asks Victor to make him a female creature to stand by his side. While Victor debates to create a female creature, he accepts the offer and hopes he will not get in trouble. While keeping his promise to the creature, Alphonse notices Victor is struggling. Alphonse persuades

Having bypassed the female birthing process completely, Frankenstein robbed graves and mausoleums in search of large -easy to work with- body parts to create his monster. After shocking his monster with electricity, the Creature comes alive, and horrified, Victor retreats from his lab in fear. The Creature is now left abandoned to figure out the world on his own. He learns the differences between hot and cold, light and dark, and how hunger works, all on his own. Upon mastering these basics, he emerges from the forest he has hid in upon a village, only to be shunned and chased away by a mob of villagers, back into the forest.

The creature’s meeting with De Lace turned out well. Felix reacted by attacking him and Agatha fainted. The creature reacts by leaving the cottage because he respects the family.

Victor Frankenstein seemingly goes through several moral pitfalls throughout Mary Shelley’s novel. Between playing God and inviting life to be placed upon a concoction of otherwise left-over body parts, or, completely abandoning the Creature during its first second of life. Is either one morally correct? No. But in my opinion, one is far worse than the other.