How is the creature of Frankenstein forms the archetypal horror character? Have you ever wondered what really makes a monster? In Mary Shelley's book, Frankenstein, Victor’s creation was the true face of the horror genre. Frankenstein is about a man named Victor Frankenstein who is rescued from a drifting iceberg. After the crew members save and nurture him back to health, Victor tells them how he got there by starting of with his early childhood to the point where he found the monster he created. Frankenstein’s monster was very big, hideous and terrified everyone that even looked at him. In fact, The creature was the very definition of horror. Frankenstein’s monster fits the archetypal horror character because his appearance brings fear …show more content…
Shortly after creating the monster, Victor becomes disgusted and horrified by the monster's appearance. “Oh! No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then, but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived”(Shelley 60). If Victor had noticed how frightening the creature would appear, then he would either stop creating the monster or at least improve the monster. The creature’s appearance was so frightening that an old man caught one glimpse of him and ran for his life. “He turned on hearing a noise, and perceiving me, shrieked loudly, and quitting the hut, ran across the fields with a speed of which his debilitated form hardly appeared capable. His appearance, different from any I had ever before seen, and his flight somewhat surprised me”(Shelley 122). The fact the monster caused the old man to run unexpectedly so fast just by looking at him should give a hint the monster was pretty terrifying. His appearance scares people so much that he becomes an …show more content…
When the monster became sick of not being loved, he tells Victor that he was planning to get his revenge on him . “I will revenge my injuries; if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear, and chiefly towards you my archenemy, because my creator, do I swear inextinguishable hatred. Have a care; I will work at your destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart, so that you shall curse the hour of your birth”(Shelley 173). If the Victor showed the monster love from the beginning then the monster would have no reason to plot revenge against him. Victor breaking his promise caught up to him because the Monster found him and killed his wife. “I rushed towards her and embraced her with ardour, but the deadly languor and coldness of the limbs told me that what I now held in my arms had ceased to be the Elizabeth whom I had loved and cherished. The murderous mark of the fiend’s grasp was on her neck, and the breath had ceased to issue from her lips”(Shelley 242). Victor should have took the risk of creating the monster a companion because now he doesn’t have a wife. The monster never wanted to be a monster but the way society treated turned him into
Virtually all literature contain instinctive trends in the human consciousness to represent certain themes or motifs, these are defined as archetypes. Archetypes can be thought as blueprints or as bundles of psychic energy that influence the manner in which we understand and react to life. There are two different categories of archetypes, the plot archetype and the character archetype. The orphan, martyr, wanderer, warrior, magician, villain, wise child, temptress, rebel, underdog, fool, saint, virgin, wise, old man or woman are all considered to be character archetypes. Call to adventure, isolation, quest and monster that turns against its creator are all considered to be plot archetypes. The novel, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, contains archetypes.
If Victor had stayed around and showed the monster the real world, he might have not have went on to perform violent actions. This portrays Victor as a selfish character and gives more of an insight on his personal life. As a child, Victor is only interested in furthering his own knowledge and not worried about anyone else. He spent much of his time “drawing the picture of [his] early days... when [he] would account to [himself] for the birth of that passion which afterwards ruled [his] destiny” (Shelley 34), or otherwise a magnificent creation that would change his future. When constructing the Monster, he put all of his relatives in the back of his mind, and only focused on his own success and victory. This further explains the theme of being selfless and only doing certain things that will benefit
"But it was all a dream; no Eve soothed my sorrows nor shared my thoughts; I was alone. I remembered Adam
As a tragic hero, Victor’s tragedies begin with his overly obsessive thirst for knowledge. Throughout his life, Victor has always been looking for new things to learn in the areas of science and philosophy. He goes so far with his knowledge that he ends up creating a living creature. Victor has extremely high expectations for his creation but is highly disappointed with the outcome. He says, “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” (Shelley 35). Frankenstein neglects the creature because of his horrifying looks, which spark the beginning of numerous conflicts and tragedies. At this point, the creature becomes a monster because of Victor’s neglect and irresponsibility. The monster is forced to learn to survive on his own, without anyone or anything to guide him along the way. Plus, the monster’s ugly looks cause society to turn against him, ad...
After Victor destroys his work on the female monster meant to ease the monster's solitude, the monster is overcome with suffering and sadness. These feelings affected his state of mind and caused him to do wrong things. He did not deserve to see his one and only mate be destroyed.
From all the injustices he has suffered, the Monster has resigned himself to believing that no human could possibly love him, and his only hope for happiness is for Victor to make him a wife. No thought is given to this female, and Victor wonders if “they might even hate each other; the Creature who already lived loathing his own deformity, and might he not conceive a greater abhorrence for it when it came before his eyes in a female form?” (138). Not only does this accentuate the Monster’s desperation for a companion, but it also further shows Victor’s own hatred for the Monster. He views the monster as so hideous and different from himself, that he thinks that even two members of the same species might hate each other. However, the Monster does not consider this, because he longs for someone to join him in his segregated lifestyle, so they can potentially have children who will in turn be segregated, and so will their children and so on. This segregated lifestyle has become normalized for the Monster, to the point where he does not view it as cruel to introduce new life to the world that would be forced to endure the same pain and suffering that he
As a romantic, archetype and gothic novel, Victor is responsible for the monsters actions because Victor abandons his creation meaning the creature is dejected and ends up hideous and fiendish. It is unfair to create someone into this world and then just abandon it and not teach it how to survive. The quote from the creature “Why did you make such a hideous creature like me just to leave me in disgust” demonstrates how much agony the creature is in. He is neglected because of his creator. The monster says “The hateful day when I received life! I accurse my creator. Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?” Victor is wholly at fault for his actions, image and evil.
To begin, the monster longed for human connection so badly, he even begged Victor to create his wife: “You must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being. This you alone can do, and I demand it of you as my right which you must not refuse to concede,” (174). In this quote, the monster asks Victor to make him a companion, which Victor blatantly denies. This eventually leads to
Frankenstein Over Time Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is impressive, entertaining, and fascinating, so it is no surprise there have been so many films and artworks influenced by her novel. Many of which have put their own spin to the horror novel, especially the character of the creature that remains one of the most recognized icons in horror fiction. However, there have been critics who argue modern versions and variations have lost the horror and passion that is an essential to the creature. The start of the Creature is bound to be one book. However, public impression of the Creature has changed severely since the publication of the original novel, leading to diverse styles and plot lines in its diverse film adaptations.
Victor Frankenstein and the others who have encountered the creature all recoiled in horror at the mere sight of him. He is described by Victor: “His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful!—Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion, and straight black lips” (Shelley, 35). Even his creator shuns him based solely on his looks. Another attribute of the creature that makes him monstrous is his thirst for revenge against Victor and the hateful attitude he develops toward humans throughout the book. While he has not developed the emotional intelligence and experience of other human beings, he has learned to differentiate between right and wrong. Therefore, the murders he has committed are taken into consideration when labeling the creature as a monster. If anything, as I will later demonstrate, the creature is an antihero. He is mostly monstrous in appearance but his thoughts, feelings and circumstances create the ingredients of an antihero, who has doubtlessly committed
Throughout the year Professor Prudden has been teaching us the idea of the individual and when and how it came about. We have studied The French Revolution, Scientific Revolution, Colonialism, and Reformation, all stressing what made this time period important to the individual. We finished the class reading the novel Frankenstein with does a great job of demonstrating a man or “monster” creaking his own being. We have already determined that an individual is; the habit or principle of being independent and self-reliant. Mary Shelley demonstrates individuality through Frankenstein and leads to his internal isolation and loneliness. She shows that uniqueness is the most important aspect of individualism not only through Frankenstein but Victor
Monsters can come in various physical forms, but all monsters share the same evil mentality. A Monster is a being that harms and puts fear within people. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example of how appearance does not determine whether a creature is a monster or not. In the story, Victor Frankenstein tries to change nature by creating a super human being. The being appears to be a monster. Victor becomes so obsessed with his creation and then rejects it. Victor is the real monster because of his desire for power, lack of respect for nature, and his stubbornness.
Peter Brooks' essay "What Is a Monster" tackles many complex ideas within Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and the main concept that is the title of the essay itself. What is the definition of a monster, or to be monstrous? Is a monster the classic representation we know, green skin, neck bolts, grunting and groaning? A cartoon wishing to deliver sugary cereal? or someone we dislike so greatly their qualities invade our language and affect our interpretation of their image and physical being? Brooks' essay approaches this question by using Shelley's narrative structure to examine how language, not nature, is mainly accountable for creating the idea of the monstrous body.
Throughout the novel, Shelley investigates the idea of monstrosity. She makes the point that a monster does not have to be genuinely evil in order to be considered monstrous. Shelley presents two characteristics of mankind in order to prove her case. The first example is Frankenstein’s creation. Upon first being introduced to his creation, the reader initially labels him as a monster because of his physical appearance. He is portrayed as a man with “…yellow skin scarcely cover[ing] the work of muscles and arteries beneath…watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set…shrivelled complexion and straight black lips” (Shelley 58). Not only does the reader view him as...
Frankenstein shows that what looks like a monster in appearance my not be and what looks normal on appearance may be a monster. While a scary ugly creature may look like a monster a true monster is formed from within and is scene through actions. Along with this knowledge is power and power has the ability to make monsters. The pursuit to know more is a never ending road that leads to lies, secretes, and monstrosity. “How much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow,” while knowledge is boundless and beautiful an excess of anything can create a monster.