Is Frankenstein a Hero or Villain?
(An analysis on the character of Mary Shelley’s monster, Frankenstein)
Mary Shelley’s brilliant scientist, Frankenstein, is an intriguing character in the way in which he demonstrates characteristics of both a hero and a villain. “Frankenstein the man is both hero and villain, applauded for his courage and genius at the same time that he is punished for his pride and transgression” (Hitchcock). While this scientist is brilliant and quick to create new things, those creations are quick to destroy. It has been debated by many whether Frankenstein is a force for good or evil; furthermore, many question who is to blame for the destruction the monster creates. On one hand, one can easily blame the monster for destroying things and
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killing people because that said monster obviously performed those terrible actions. On the other hand, it is arguable that the monster did not choose to be created, abandoned, and feared by the public, thus it is the creator’s fault. This is a dark and extremely controversial novel in which many ideas and philosophies are challenged. “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus grew out of a parlor game and a nightmare vision” (Levine). This story full of horror depicts the character of a curious scientist who means well but causes harm. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is not a hero because of his evil creation, but is no villain either because of his harmless intentions. Frankenstein is obviously unheroic as the reader learns that he creates something that causes major destruction and chaos.
He does not question what he is doing until it is ultimately too late, and the monster is too far developed to reverse the learning process and teach it how to be a force for good. He fears nothing in the beginning which leads to his destruction. “There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand” (Shelley). Frankenstein does not shy away from the daunting task in front of him of creating life; rather, he embraces it and creates something wonderfully terrible that is released into the world, causing anguish and destruction. Nobody knows why he does what he does, but he creates a terrible monster that is the source of his own demise. This poor creature who is “quite horribly trapped in his own outsized, appalling body” (Zonana) thus frightening anyone he comes into contact with. This causes him to begin the path of rage and hatred for his creator who abandoned him and sent him out into a world where he knew nobody would love him. Overall, Frankenstein is clearly no heroic figure as he has made something that has cause grief and pain for many, including himself most of
all. Frankenstein’s actions are not villainous due to the fact that he intended to use his life-creating skills for good, and had not anticipated that he would create a weapon. He didn’t realize beforehand that the monster he would create would hate himself and curse his creator till the day he died. The monster complains as follows: “‘Hateful day when I received life!’ I exclaimed in agony. ‘Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?’” (Shelley). Indeed, Frankenstein did become afraid and abandon his creation once it gained consciousness and human capabilities. This caused the monster to go on a rampage and destroy much more than Frankenstein had ever anticipated, including his own family members, and in the end would be the source of his own personal downfall. This theme of unjust imprisonment is one that is reflected from Shelley’s novel into real life. “It is now commonly accepted that the Gothic literary genre of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries represents, if remotely and unconsciously, the central tensions of an age of social liberation and political revolution” (Malchow). The French revolution mirrored the ideas that Frankenstein captured. Mary Shelley demonstrates these imprisonment themes as she has the monster trapped inside his own head and body, having had no choice as to whether he was created and brought into the terrible world or not. Nonetheless, this does not make Frankenstein a villain because he intended to create life as a positive breakthrough, one that would be amazing and beautiful. It was wrong for Frankenstein to try to play God, but the monster is the true villain in this novel, as his actions are purely evil. This creature was once kind and innocent, but his unfair circumstances caused him to turn to darkness and become a destroyer. He tells his creator, “‘I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous’” (Shelley). His despair of being completely and utterly alone in the world caused him to curse the being who created him and vow to tear his life apart no matter who was hurt in the process, and Shelley clearly demonstrates this. “In Frankenstein, she analyzed the disastrous consequences of the absence of a nurturing parent or supportive family” (McGeough). The monster goes on to kill Frankenstein’s family members, including an innocent young boy named William, all just to get back at Frankenstein. Killing a child is undoubtedly a purely evil act, no matter how poorly one is raised. This monster has enough knowledge to know of the moral wrongness of taking one’s life, thus making him a villain. It is understandable that he did not choose to be created, was treated poorly by his creator, and is shunned by the entire world, but that is no excuse for him to run around taking innocent people's’ lives in all of his rage. Because of this reason, the monster is the villain, not Frankenstein. In conclusion, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a classic novel in which Frankenstein is not the villain, but rather the monster that he creates. Frankenstein cannot be the villain due to his harmless intentions and simple fear of the monster that he has created, causing him to abandon him, not knowing what he would do when set loose. Furthermore, Frankenstein is very unheroic as he does create a monster that causes destruction throughout the world, bringing misery upon not only himself but many others as well. This is, and will continue to be a controversial subject in this horrific novel about abandonment and being alone. Ultimately, purely evil acts cause the monster to be the villain, but this certainly does not make Frankenstein a hero. There seems to be no hero overall in this literary text. Works Cited Hitchcock, Susan Tyler. “Frankenstein.” Google Books, books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=BDyFqIFmfwAC&oi=fnd&pg=PA3&dq=is%2BFrankenstein%2Ba%2Bhero%2Bor%2Bvillain&ots=xjMBIjc_bC&sig=v6tTLss4EYnR5NcKjkAHoaKSkC0#v=onepage&q=is%20Frankenstein%20a%20hero%20or%20villain&f=false. Levine, George, and U. C. Knowflmacher. “The Endurance of Frankenstein.” Google Books, books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=uawwDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=Mary%2Bshelley%27s%2Bfrankenstein&ots=8ikzcGNbAa&sig=GhrAbYzArqINcwH2cWDq4idzK6Y#v=onepage&q=Mary%20shelley's%20frankenstein&f=false. Malchow, H. L. “Frankenstein's Monster and Images of Race in Nineteenth-Century Britain.” Jstor.org, www.jstor.org/stable/651092?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents. McGeough, and Jared. “Masks of An-Archy: Shelley, Rancière, and the Anarchist Turn.” Romantic Circles, Romantic Circles, 1 Sept. 2015, www.rc.umd.edu/praxis/shelley_politics/praxis.2015.shelley_politics.mcgeough.html. Zonana, Joyce. “‘They Will Prove the Truth of My Tale’: Safie's Letters as the Feminist Core of Mary Shelley's ‘Frankenstein.’” Jstor.org, www.jstor.org/stable/30225329?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.
Victor Frankenstein may be the leading character in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but a hero he is not. He is self-centered and loveless, and there is nothing heroic about him. There is a scene in Chapter twenty-four where Captain Walton is confronted by his crew to turn southwards and return home should the ice break apart and allow them the way. Frankenstein rouses himself and finds the strength to argue to the Captain that they should continue northwards, or suffer returning home "with the stigma of disgrace marked on your brows." He quite obviously has alterior motives and if he were not the eloquent, manipulative creature he so egotistically accuses his creature of being, he might not have moved the Captain and the men so much that they are blind to the true source of his passion. Unfortunately for Frankenstein, the crew, (however "moved") stand firm in their position. Yet the things he says in his motivational speech are prime examples of the extent to which Frankenstein is blind to his own faults and yet will jump at the chance to harangue others. He is so self-centered that his lack of interaction and love for others after his experiment has been completed, would barely qualify him as a person, if the difference between being human and being a person lies in the ability to have relationships with others.
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...
As Frankenstein is enroute to his pursuit of gaining more knowledge, he states, “I wished, as it were, to procrastinate all that related to my feelings of affection until the great object, which swallowed up every habit of my nature, should be completed” (Shelley 41). Frankenstein’s decision in allowing his intellectual ambitions to overpower everything else in his life leads him to be blinded to the dangers of creating life. He isolates himself from his society when creating the monster, letting himself be immersed in his creation while being driven by his passions, allowing nobody to be near him. The fact that he allows this creation of a monster to consume his total being reveals how blinded he is to the immorality of stepping outside the boundaries of science and defying nature. His goal in striving to achieve what wants to in placing man over nature makes him lose his sense of self as all he is focused on is the final product of his creation. He starts to realize his own faults as after he has created the monster, he becomes very ill and states, “The form of the monster on whom I had bestowed existence was forever before my eyes, and I raved incessantly concerning him” (48). His impulsive decision to make the monster leads him to abhorring it as it does not turn out to be what he has expected. Because he chooses to isolate himself in creating the
When Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein is analyzed, critics comes to a conclusion about Victor Frankenstein's creation. The creature invokes the most sympathy from the readers than any other character in the novel. Because he is abandoned by society which manipulates the creature to do evil things despite his good heart. Therefore Shelley's message throughout the novel is that a person is not born evil, they are made evil.
Tragedy shows no discrimination and often strikes down on those undeserving of such turmoil. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a creature more repulsive than one can imagine is brought to life by a young scientist. Although this creature is horrifying in sight, he is gentle by nature. Unfortunately, the softer side of the creature is repeatedly overlooked and the so called “monster” is driven to a breaking point. Even though the Creature committed many crimes, Mary Shelley’s Creature was the tragic hero of this story because of his efforts rescue the life of a young girl and helping destitute cottagers.
In today’s world of genetically engineered hearts and genetically altered glowing rats, the story of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, seems as if it could be seen in the newspapers in our near future. The discoveries seen in modern science, as well as in the novel, often have controversy and negative consequences that follow them, the biggest of which being the responsibility the creator of life has to what has been created. Victor Frankenstein suffers from a variety of internal and external conflicts stemming from the creation of his monster, which in return also experiences similar problems. Shelley uses these tumultuous issues to portray the discrepancies between right and wrong, particularly through romanticism and the knowledge of science.
Although fictional, the story Frankenstein makes frightening parallels to modern day science and simultaneously questions the morality of its usage within present society. Mankind’s infamy for desiring power and dominance has seeped into every aspect of civilization. Frankenstein illustrates this phenomena in an extreme manner: controlling life and death. Playing with faculties that are incomprehensible results in peril and involves warping morals that are held dearly.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a nineteenth century literary work that delves into the world of science and the plausible outcomes of morally insensitive technological research. Although the novel brings to the forefront several issues about knowledge and sublime nature, the novel mostly explores the psychological and physical journey of two complex characters. While each character exhibits several interesting traits that range from passive and contemplative to rash and impulsive, their most attractive quality is their monstrosity. Their monstrosities, however, differ in the way each of the character’s act and respond to their environment. Throughout Frankenstein, one assumes that Frankenstein’s creation is the true monster. While the creation’s actions are indeed monstrous, one must also realize that his creator, Victor Frankenstein is also a villain. His inconsiderate and selfish acts as well as his passion for science result in the death of his friend and family members and ultimately in his own demise.
Since its publication in 1818, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has grown to become a name associated with horror and science fiction. To fully understand the importance and origin of this novel, we must look at both the tragedies of Mary Shelley's background and her own origins. Only then can we begin to examine what the icon "Frankenstein" has become in today's society.
To begin, doctor Frankenstein should not be considered a hero for his immense amount of selfishness. He created the monster thinking about himself. In the fourth letter, paragraph 21, Frankenstein says, “One man's life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought, for the dominion ...
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, explores the monstrous and destructive affects of obsession, guilt, fate, and man’s attempt to control nature. Victor Frankenstein, the novel’s protagonist and antihero, attempts to transcend the barriers of scientific knowledge and application in creating a life. His determination in bringing to life a dead body consequently renders him ill, both mentally and physically. His endeavors alone consume all his time and effort until he becomes fixated on his success. The reason for his success is perhaps to be considered the greatest scientist ever known, but in his obsessive toil, he loses sight of the ethical motivation of science. His production would ultimately grieve him throughout his life, and the consequences of his undertaking would prove disastrous and deadly. Frankenstein illustrates the creation of a monster both literally and figuratively, and sheds light on the dangers of man’s desire to play God.
I took their word for all that they averred, and I became their disciple” (21). Frankenstein embodies the movement in science to understand everything, and that is not necessarily a good thing (Storment 2). Frankenstein only understands that this train of thought is bad when he reaches the pinnacle of knowledge and produces the creature. The fruits of Frankenstein’s labor end up costing him the lives of his friends and family, as well as his own sanity. The feeling of guilt thrives in Frankenstein because he knows his work was the direct cause of the chaos in his life.
This philosophical analysis focuses on the main character of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the Monster, and how his crime of killing a young boy and framing an innocent bystander is explained through the arguments made by Mengzi concerning evil natures. This parallel will be made by showing the progression of the Monster from good to evil nature and how his motivation to ruin his creator’s life tainted his fundamental heart. I will first briefly address the action as portrayed in Frankenstein and then discuss how Mengzi’s ideas explain the change in the Monster’s nature. The Evil Action Explained The main plotline of Frankenstein involves the lives of two major characters, Victor Frankenstein and the Monster. Their relationship is a tumultuous one, mainly due to the fact that Frankenstein created the Monster out of a wish to be some sort of god and be able to play with the balance of life and death.
Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein is a novel narrated by Robert Walton about Victor Frankenstein and the Monster that he creates. Frankenstein grew up surrounding himself with what he loved most, science. He attended Ingolstadt University where he studied chemistry and natural philosophy, but being involved in academics was not enough for him. Frankenstein wanted to discover things, but did not think about the potential outcomes that could come with this decision. Frankenstein was astonished by the human frame and all living creatures, so he built the Monster out of various human and animal parts (Shelley, 52). At the time Frankenstein thought this creation was a great discovery, but as time went on the Monster turned out to be terrifying to anyone he came in contact with. So, taking his anger out on Frankenstein, the Monster causes chaos in a lot of people’s lives and the continuing battle goes on between the Monster and Frankenstein. Throughout this novel, it is hard to perceive who is pursuing whom as well as who ends up worse off until the book comes to a close.
At first glance, the monster in Frankenstein is a symbol of evil, whose only desire is to ruin lives. He has been called "A creature that wreaks havoc by destroying innocent lives often without remorse. He can be viewed as the antagonist, the element Victor must overcome to restore balance and tranquility to the world." But after the novel is looked at on different levels, one becomes aware that the creature wasn't responsible for his actions, and was just a victim of circumstance. The real villain of Frankenstein isn't the creature, but rather his creator, Victor.