When summarizing the plot of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, most who have read it would describe it as the story of a scientist who brings the dead back to life, but must then face the wrath of his angry and evil creation. Those who say this are by no measure wrong in any way. This is, in fact, what the novel is most commonly interpreted as and what Shelley most likely had in mind when she wrote the story, but it cannot be denied that there could be another side to the story. When Frankenstein is analysed in its entirety, it becomes clear that Frankenstein 's creation and the cause of Victor’s downfall, is neglected as the intelligent, independent, empathetic, and unique creature that he is. The novel focuses more on his misguided anger, …show more content…
Beginning with his total lack of ethical concern when raising the dead, and ending with his absent minded decision to leave his wife right before the imminent monster attack, examples of Victor’s flaws outweigh and outnumber the few instances in which it seems reasonable to consider him a good character.
On the other hand, we have the monster. In order to understand the character of the monster to the point at which we can rationalize his decision to murder and frame innocent people, as he did, the story must be analyzed from the monster’s point of view. The monster was brought into existence one day just like any other being. For him, there was nothing, until, from one moment to the next, there was everything. He was brought into existence with no experience, no knowledge, and nothing having affected him, in a total Lockean tabula rasa type fashion. The monster is empty. His mind is new and fresh. Everything that happens to him from this point on will be everything that has ever happened to him and make up all of his experiences in life. And, he is abandoned. Before he even understands or has fully acquired his senses, he is already being taught that he will be feared. Now this is not to say that Victor is a bad person for abandoning his creation, because any sensible person might have run when faced with this creature. Victor was ignorant and unprepared. He should have been expecting the
To begin, Victor betrays nature with the physical creation of the monster. Upon giving the creature life, Victor becomes horrified of what he had created and essentially left the creature in fear. It is nature’s responsibility to create life, not mankind. Since Victor gives the monster life, he has created something unnatural and he himself even admits his mistake when he states, “I have created a monster.” To make matters worse, Victor had left his creation on its own when the monster had no prior experience in the world and was learning everything from this point on. The monster, at this point, reflected the innocent nature of a child and needed to be taught properly about life. Victor’s
The pity that the reader once felt towards this child-like creature who was abandoned upon creation, is turned to hatred and fear towards this monster who slaughters innocents. One doesn't blame the parents of a mass murderer for the crimes of their offspring simply because they gave birth to him. So why should Victor be held accountable for the treacherous deeds of his creation? The portrayal of the monster as the villain in this story attributes to the conflicting feelings of whether he is purely good or evil.
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.
"A Hermit is simply a person to whom society has failed to adjust itself." (Will Cuppy). In the gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley we follow the life of Victor Frankenstein in 18th century Germany. Shelley displays a recurring theme of isolation and how it drives once good people to do terrible things. If civilization does not adjust itself to a creature of any kind they will be forced into isolation and ultimately self destruction.
Every work is a product of its time. Indeed, we see that in Frankenstein, like in the world which produced its author, race, or the outward appearances on which that construct is based, determines much of the treatment received by those at all levels of its hierarchy. Within the work, Mary Shelley, its author, not only presents a racialized view of its characters, but further establishes and enforces the racial hierarchy present and known to her in her own world. For the few non-European characters, their appearance, and thus their standing in its related hierarchy, defines their entrances into the narrative. For the Creature, this occurs on the ices of the Artic, when, “atop a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north, at the distance of half a mile;” Walton and his men perceived, “a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature.” (Shelley 13) Shelley clarifies, even this early in her novel, the race of its principal Other as soon after the intrepid adventurers rescue its namesake, Victor Frankenstein, who, Shelley clarifies, “was not, as the other traveller seemed to be, a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island, but an European.” (Shelley 14) Later, closer examination of the Creature reveals a visage and figure of near unimaginable disfigurement, with a “shrivelled complexion,” and yellow skin which “scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath.” (Shelley 35) This could be contrasted directly
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.
Mary Shelley’s story of internal turmoil, the cruelty of altering the laws of nature, and the consequences of redefining the laws of nature is a harrowing one, known widely by many audiences, yet it is never the nature of the characters that is discussed, only the outcome. Shelley’s deliberate use of different character foils portrays the deeper connections and themes in her 1818 novel, Frankenstein. The creation and presence of Frankenstein’s monster directly foils the character of Victor Frankenstein himself, illustrating overarching themes of self inflicted isolation and internal conflict, exposing the dangers and consequences of complete and total narcissism, and revealing a truth many still refuse to accept: we, as humans, are capable
Frankenstein, a novel by Mary Shelley, tells the story of Victor Frankenstein’s pursuit of creation and the monster he unintentionally brought to life. Horrified with his own creation, Victor escaped his responsibilities, leaving him to fend for himself. The story follows the monster’s futile attempts to assimilate into humanity, his hatred finally leading him to killing his creator’s family one by one until Frankenstein committed himself to vengeance. The theme of humanity was prevalent throughout the novel as the monster’s existence blurred the line between what was “human” and “inhuman.” The question of whether nurture, or nature, mattered more to one’s identity was explored throughout the story. In Frankenstein, nurture rather than
Shelley addresses romantic conventions in Victor to convey his loss of identity. Victor is impatient and restless when constructing the creation, so much, that he does not think about it’s future repercussions. One of the great paradoxes that Shelley’s novel depicts is giving the monster more human attributes than to it’s creator [p. 6 - Interpretations]. This is true as the monster seeks an emotional bond, but Victor is terrified of it’s existence. The monster later reveals, “I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurred at and kicked and trampled on [Shelley, p. 224].” Victor’s lack of compassion is rooted from the inability to cope with his reality. He distances himself from others and is induced with fainting spells [Shelley, p. 59]. From this, the nameless creature exemplifies Victor’s attempt to abandon his creation to escape his responsibilities. His creation is described as, ‘wretched devil’ and ‘abhorred monster,’ eliciting that the unobtainable, pitied identity [Shelley, p. 102]. The act of not naming the creature reveals Victor as hateful, and unnaturally disconnected to his own created victim.
Although Frankenstein is a fictional story, I think in many ways it is representative of Mary Shelley personal views in her everyday life. Mary Shelley was raised by her father after her mother passed and because of that they always had a rocky relationship even after her father remarried. Mary fell in love with one of her father’s political followers, Percy Shelley and they got married although her father did not approve of their relationship because of the age difference. Throughout their relationship, they faced many obstacles that made it hard for their relationship to work, but it did. This aspect of her relationship is show through Elizabeth in the novel because it shows how hard women will work to make a relationship work even when
John Locke is one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and is famously known for asserting that all humans have natural rights. He also believed that humans are born with clean slates, and that the environment humans grow in, especially at a young age, has massive influences on aspects of their personalities, ideals, and motivations. Shelley was most definitely influenced by this claim when writing Frankenstein. As the reader, we can see the monster that Victor Frankenstein creates grow up alone, without guidance, and be formed by the experiences it is put through while trying to survive. Its emotions and beliefs throughout the book were merely a result of its experiences as it encounters the harsh reality of the world. Mary
The Victim and Victimizer In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, it can be hard to pinpoint who exactly is the victim and the victimizer. In a way, both Victor and the Monster are both victims, however, the Monster is the true victimizer between the two. From my perspective, Victor is the victim of poor planning and his own creation.
At this point Victor is responsible for two deaths and must keep this all to himself. By suffering through the guilt and the illness it is clear that his decisions that were made in order to deepen his knowledge of the scientific world are becoming dangerous to himself and the people close to him.
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Victor engenders massive destruction through his creation of artificial life, the Monster. The creation process of the Monster, as well as the effects of the Monster, including why he acted in the manner that he did, have been under strict scrutiny by experts in the field. Some tie it to his upbringing, or lack thereof, connecting the Creature to Mary Shelley, due to her tumultuous raising. Others attribute it to the disconnect between the artificially created life and his creator. Victor’s ardent pursuit of knowledge, provoking the creation of something he feels his reputation hinges on, the Monster, leads to the humanization of an artificially created life form, causing a disconnect between the average person and the Creature.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein portrays one of the darkest, most hopeless situations that could possibly occur due to the monstrous deeds performed by the main characters in the novel. When one thinks of Frankenstein, they generally think of Victor’s creation as being a monster, and the cause of the unfortunate events that occur in the novel. While Victor’s creation is indeed a monster, Victor is equally as monstrous in his actions. While both characters are initially innocent, they are being constantly corrupted throughout the story. Both Victor and his creation become monsters through their actions.