Frankenstein Tragic Hero Essay

A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction (Tragic Hero). Mary Shelley presents the downfall of Victor Frankenstein, the tragic hero, as a result of his fatal flaw. Some could argue that the creature is the tragic hero in the book, while the creature does possess some of the qualities of a hero, he is not the protagonist of the book. Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist, demonstrates the qualities of infinite potential, good intentions, and the fatal flaw that leads to the hero's downfall. No, Victor is not the black villain that foolishly plays with the forces of life and death, but he is a good, but flawed, human being, who unwittingly unleashes destruction. A tragic hero is not like the rest of us. Victor success in creating life proves his potential is virtually limitless. Victor states, “Two years passed in this manner, during which I paid no visit to

Victor’s journey for the secret of life and ultimate knowledge drives him to his downfall. Victor says in the passage, “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn…, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world” (Shelley 23). Victor possesses the fatal flaw in the fact that he believes he can become a scientist unparalleled in the ability to do science stuff. Success to Victor was gaining knowledge that no other human has yet possessed. Victors overpowering desire to obtain all knowledge sends him into a world doomed by fate to fail. According to the “Tragic Hero” website I learned “The sufferings and fall of a hero, arousing feelings of pity and fear through catharsis, purges the audiences of those emotions, to transform them into good human beings and good citizens” (Tragic Hero). The whole point of a fatal flaw is to learn the wrong of the hero and not to repeat their