Essay On Victor As A Byronic Hero In Frankenstein

Another Byronic hero in Frankenstein is Victor Frankenstein himself, as evidenced by his intelligence, isolation, large ego, and selfishness. As a teenager, Frankenstein leaves his hometown of Geneva in Switzerland to seek a higher education in Germany away from his entire family. He is accompanied by no one, and he quickly delves into his studies. Early on, his intelligence becomes quite clear as “natural philosophy, and particularly chemistry, in the most comprehensive sense of the term, became nearly [his] sole occupation” (Shelley 40). His freetime gradually becomes nonexistent as he “became so ardent and eager that the stars often disappeared in the light of the morning whilst [he] was yet engaged in [his] laboratory” (41). Frankenstein

begins to evolve into a Byronic hero as he becomes isolated in his solitary work. He has no time for the idea of a friend or even a visit home to see his family. He spends two years completely engaged with his heart and soul in his research (41). Later on in the novel, Victor finds himself alone again, and he finds a nearly empty island where he can go about his work uninterrupted (Randel 196). This time “his ‘solitude’ is not just a matter of miles from population centers. He is psychologically remote from the few impoverished inhabitants of the island, whose misery facilitates his isolation by numbing their awareness” (200). At this point, Victor is arguing with himself endlessly about whether or not he is going to complete the construction of the second creature that the original had requested. Thoughts are tumbling through his head about the future pair. He ponders that:
Even if they were to leave Europe and inhabit the deserts of the new world, yet one of the first results for which the daemon thirsted would be children, and a race of devils would be propagated upon the earth who might make the very existence of the species of man a condition precarious and full of terror. Had [he the] right, for [his] own benefit, to inflict this curse upon everlasting generations? (Shelley 112)
He is alone in every sense of the word at this time, and he believes that everything that the creature does is his fault as he created him in the first place.

However, he is wrong on that front. He isn’t responsible for everything the creature does because he created him, he is responsible for all of the crimes the creature commits for the way he treats him when they interact. Victor’s intelligence is again proven when the creature is erected. Once he achieves his goal and the creature is animated, “the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled [his] heart” (45). Victor creates a being that is meant to worship him, “a new species would bless [him] as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to [him]” (43). When the creature rises for the first time, Victor becomes instantly repulsed, and abandons the ‘newborn’ alone in the laboratoratory where he was formed. The creature is left to fend for himself, and frankly, Victor hopes he wouldn’t survive. In fact, he plans to kill the creature himself, and when “[he] thought of him, [Victor] gnashed his teeth, [his] eyes became inflamed, and [he] ardently wished to extinguish the life which [he] had so thoughtlessly bestowed” (67). When he encounters the creature for the first time since its genesis, Victor dismisses the creature before he speaks. He exclaims, “begone, vile insect! Or rather, stay, that I may trample you to dust” (71). This treatment of his creation is

how he can be considered responsible for the deaths of his friends and family. If he had been a caring parent or mentor, the lives of everyone that surrounded Victor would have turned out drastically differently. Victor is very self-centered and selfish in this sense, he tends to believe that everything is about him which are classic traits of a Byronic hero. The image of his creation is enough for him to denounce it as a failure without even evaluating all of the superhuman features that he designed it to have as his “unearthly ugliness rendered it almost too horrible for the human eyes” (71). After the destruction of the creature’s companion, he knows that the creature is going to be after him for revenge, but he doesn’t realize the creature’s true intentions. He realizes that “as if possessed by magic powers, the monster had blinded [him] to his real intentions; and when [he] thought that [he] had prepared only [his] own death, [he] hastened the death of a far dearer victim” (128). He had thought that the creature was only going to kill him, when in reality, the creature plans to take his mate, as an ‘eye for an eye’ situation. The creature chooses to take the life of Elizabeth, the woman that Victor loves to force him to experience the pain that the creature goes through when Victor destroys his future mate. The creature is incredulous when he discovers:
That [Victor], the author at once of [his] existence and of its unspeakable torments, dared to hope for happiness, that while he accumulated wretchedness and despair upon [the creature] [Victor] sought his own enjoyment in feelings and passions from the indulgence of which [the creature] was forever barred, then impotent envy and bitter indignation filled [him] with an insatiable thirst for revenge. (146)
Victor is extremely self-centered and this quality leads to the death of numerous influential people in his life. Victor Frankenstein is ultimately a Byronic Hero through his supreme intelligence, solitude throughout some of the most prominent and important events in his life, large ego, and self-centeredness.