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Analysis of frankenstein frankenstein
Victor frankenstein character analysis vs monster
Victor frankenstein character analysis vs monster
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In Frankenstein and “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,” the Creature is misunderstood and rejected by society despite his innocence at birth. In Frankenstein, despite living on the fringe of society, the Creature selflessly helps the people around him. For instance, he secretly assists Felix’s family survive the harsh winter (Shelley 78) and saves a young girl from drowning (Shelly 101). However, the fear that his stature inspires prevents any human being from communicating with him, and instead provokes violent reactions, notably the beating (Shelly 97) and the gunshot (Shelley 101). The violent backlash he suffers gives evidence of the society’s misunderstanding toward him: due to his physical ugliness, he is unable to find a human companion, …show more content…
and as a result, lives a lonely and miserable life. Similarly, in Branagh’s film, the Creature is victim of society’s prejudices when he meets Ingolstadt’s people for the very first time. In fact, his physical appearance terrorizes the townspeople in the marketplace and leads to him being held culpable as “the person who’s been spreading the plague.”(Branagh 54:55).
This unjustified recrimination supports the fact that the Creature fails to find acceptance in humankind and resembles the injuries he suffers in the novel when people turn on him simply because of his frightening physical appearance.
While loneliness and frustration drive the Creature’s evil actions in Frankenstein, his motive for attacking Victor’s family in the movie is purely his desire for vengeance. In the novel, the misery experienced by the Creature causes him to release these negative feelings on Victor. For instance, the Creature says that the mistreatment he receives after offering help to human being leads to the hatred against “mankind” (Shelley 101) and “more than all, against him who [has] formed me, and sent me forth to this insupportable misery” (Shelley 97). In fact, he commits his first murder after being fed-up with human beings’ repeated hostile reactions towards him when he tries to communicate with them, namely after seeing his desire to have William as a companion denied by the little boy (Shelley 102). Moreover, the Creature asserts that he “shall be with [Victor] on [his] wedding-night” (Shelley 123) after Victor breaks him promises and
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denies him the hope of having another female creature as companion. Therefore, the major causes of the Creature’s mischiefs are his inability to find company and his exasperation after suffering hostilities and after being lied to. In Branagh’s film, however, the Creature does not explicitly express hatred toward mankind. The fact that after being beaten, he runs back to Felix’s house with the flower the family has gifted him indirectly shows his intention to clear their misunderstandings of him and to seek for acceptation (Branagh 74:19). This scene reveals the Creature has the ability to forgive Felix for his aggression and that he still has hope in an eventual reconciliation with society. Instead, the Creature swears vengeance on Victor after seeing in Victor’s journal an illustration of a grossly stitched body that resembles the Creature and a crude description of him as “massive birth defects…malfunctional and vile and dead” (Branagh 74:51). Therefore, Branagh shows that his thirst for vengeance is not due to the abuses he has suffered; instead, his anger is directed at Victor, who is the one who has given him this body that prevents him to get acceptation from anyone he meets (except the unprejudiced blind old man). Later in the movie, the Creature reveals that “as [he] killed [William], [he] saw [Victor’s] face” (Branagh 88:10). This assertion further supports Branagh’s interpretation that Victor is the real origin of the crimes committed by the creature by becoming the target of the Creature’s thirst for revenge. This difference of the film compared to the novel is attributable to the modification of the plot in “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” and the use of the creature to reveal the flawed nature of Victor’s decisions.
In Branagh’s movie, many details about the Creature’s life is omitted or simplified. Branagh does not give as much attention to the Creature’s development as the novel does; in fact, never does the Creature meet a character similar to Safie, who brings with her a detailed story about Middle East’s culture and the background of Felix’s poverty, nor does he read books about Western history or Christianity. Instead, Felix’s family has a functional role in helping the Creature learn how to speak in order to move the plot forward. By not showing the rich cultural background acquired by the Creature in the novel, Branagh leaves out a big part of what would be the Creature’s identity in the novel when he narrates his life to Victor. Branagh rather uses the Creature as a way to reveal that Victor’s excuses for creating life are flawed. For instance, the Creature tells Victor that they, together, have caused two deaths and asks Victor directly: “did you ever consider the consequences of your actions?” (Branagh 89:22). By using the creature to directly question Victor’s morality and responsibilities, Branagh puts the focus on Victor’s flaws, showing him as a creator who does not take responsibilities for his act of creation. Branagh shows, using this relationship, that Victor’s
rationale for creating life is flawed, as he only thinks about his own benefits without caring about the consequences on his family or the Creature’s miserable life.
Victor Frankenstein’s recollects his past before his mind in youth was plagued by his self destructive passions later on in his life. By reflecting on his past, he becomes keenly aware of the poor choices he has made which inevitably lead to the decimation of the innocence he used to possess in the past. The simile in this text compares the beginning of when he discovers his passions for natural philosophy, and his eventual demise caused by it, to the flow of a river which source was in the mountains. The serene nature of the mountain and river foreshadows the purity of Frankenstein’s being before the discovery of his passions, and the peak of that mountain symbolizes the height of this innocence. The many sources of water at the peak represents
The creature’s moral ambiguity characteristic was a vile ingredient to the construction of this novel Frankenstein because it made the reader 's sympathies with him even after the audience knows he had committed murder because the readers had seen the truth this creature had to face. That he had tried everything within his power to peacefully live with them, to interact, communicate, and befriend them “these thoughts exhilarated me and led me to apply with fresh ardour to the acquiring the art of language”, that even though he was seen as a monster because of the looks he was created with, something he had no control over, he still had hope to be seen as equals, ”My organs were indeed harsh, but supple; and although my voice was very unlike the soft music of their tones, yet I pronounced such words as I understood with tolerable ease. It was as the ass and the lap-dog; yet surely the gentle ass whose intentions were affectionate, although his manners were rude, deserved better treatment than blows and execration;” this hope of his was utterly crushed, and can only set him up for utter disappointment(12.18). Because in the end he only received hates, scorns, violence, and prejudice from his good will. So in the end of the story, Mary Shelley’s forces the readers to see within the creature’s heart and for
In the novel "Frankenstein," Victor Frankenstein is the creator of a "monster." Because of his thirst for knowledge, he goes too far and creates a huge monster, which he immediately rejects. This rejection plays a major part in the monster's hatred for humans. The author, Mary Shelley, supports the theme, loss of innocence, through plot, setting and characterization. This paper will explain the many ways that the characters lost their innocence throughout the novel.
The creature displays his hatred toward Frankenstein for leaving him immediately and not providing guidance and protection in this harsh, new world by murdering his family and friends. While seeking his creator, the creature first murders Victor Frankenstein’s youngest brother William and exclaims, “I too can create desolation; my enemy is not invulnerable; this death will carry despair to him, and a thousand other miseries shall torment and destroy him” (Shelley 144). The creature wishes for Victor Frankenstein to suffer taking his own companions away, forcing him to be miserable as well by destroying his personal relationships with others by murdering loved ones. Through the rejection of the creature because of his physical appearance, he learns what is accepted as well as how you can treat another being as he succumbs to his anger and proceeds with his crimes. The creature tells Frankenstein, “your hours will pass in dread and misery, and soon the bolt will fall which must ravish your happiness forever.
Although the Creature later went on to commit crimes, he was not instinctively bad. Victor’s Creature was brought into this world with a child-like innocence. He was abandoned at birth and left to learn about life on his own. After first seeing his creation, Victor “escaped and rushed downstairs.” (Frankenstein, 59) A Creator has the duty to teach his Creature about life, as well as to love and nurture him. However, Victor did not do any of these; he did not take responsibility for his creature. One of the first things that the creature speaks of is that he was a “poor, helpless, miserable wretch; I knew, and could distinguish, nothing; but feeling pain invade me on all sides, (he) sat ...
On the contrary, this demonstrates how human the creature really is. On the contrary, the creature also experiences the deficiencies of human emotion through rage and vengeance after he is attacked for rescuing a little girl. “The feelings of kindness and gentleness which I had entertained but a few moments before gave place to hellish rage... I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind.” (Shelley 121).
Victor, at first sight of the Creature, abandons and leaves him to survive on his own. This is insignificant to the creature at the time, but later causes the Creature to have bitter feelings towards Victor. After the Creature discovers Victor’s notes, he becomes enraged, and incriminates Victor for the victimization that he faces; hence accusing him as a perpetrator of cruelty. Through the accusation of Victor one can see that the Creature believes that Victor should be held responsible, and owes the Creature a favor. Additionally, Victor double-crosses the Creature after obliging to create a mate for the Creature. These actions of betrayal demonstrate how Victor is a perpetrator of cruelty and how the Creature is his victim. Victor’s unintentional cruelty reveals how he only wanted what was best for himself and human kind. Victor’s betrayal is seen as an action of cruelty by the Creature, and consequently delivers the final blow that instigates the retaliation of the
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.
All children are born with a certain level of innocence. It is the way that they are raised that shapes who they are. Nature versus nurture is a common theme in literature. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster displays his innocence in all of his actions. His father did not teach him right from wrong or show him any affection, which causes his estrangement from society. Although the monster did learn right from wrong through experiences, he should still be innocent of his crimes because he had to learn on his own and often learned that what he did was wrong after the fact.
Victor rebukes the Creature immediately and says, “it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived,”(Shelley 44). The Creature has the knowledge that Victor wants to hurt him, too. It is later when the Creature confronts Victor that he says, “You would tear me to pieces, and triumph; remember that, and tell me why should I pity man more than he pities me,” (Shelley 173). If it’s own creator wants nothing more than to hurt the Creature, why should the Creature not wish to hurt his creator? He was never taught any different and only learned what he observed so it goes to say that the Creature grasped an understanding of equal justice from Victor Frankenstein. The Creature also accumulates a greater understanding of justice from the family he observes and grows to love. For months he watched their lives, he learned from them, and he helped them. The Creature would bring them wood for their fires simply because he wanted to help. In his mind, he believed that it might be possible for him to one day become a part of this caring family. He loves them and cares for them, so why would they not do the same? Of course, the family reacts in a horrific way. The father, DeLacey, is blind and does
When the Creature arrives at a village, the people are extremely scared of the him because he is hideous. The villagers start attacking him: “The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons, I escaped to the open country, …” (124). Since, the Creature is treated that way when he encounters humans, he understands that society will forever turn him down, and that he is forced in solitude. The fact that he is alone, and that he has been rejected, causes him to want to take revenge. The Creature even comes to say that he will take revenge on the society and his creator that had rejected him: “from that moment I declared everlasting war against the species, and more than all, against him who had formed me, and sent me forth to this unsupportable misery” (149). The Creature desires that everyone that caused him his solitude and the misery that comes with it to pay for what that they have done to him. He wants to take revenge on Victor because he created him, and he gave him the hideous looks which led to him being rejected by society, and this consequently led to his solitude. It is, therefore, Frankenstein’s fault if the Creature is not accepted in society. The hyperbole “unsupportable misery” (149) is a literary device used to create an effect. Misery is obviously unsupportable, but this overstatement emphasizes the amplitude of the Creature’s misery. The Creature, wanting to take revenge on Frankenstein, killed the people that Victor loved. He even kills Victor’s wife, Elizabeth, on their wedding day. Victor describes Elizabeth when he holds her dead in his arms: “what I now held in my arms had ceased to be the Elizabeth whom I had loved and
The creature in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, is trying to fit into the human community, but is neglected and rejected by society solely on his physical appearance, deformity. “The demon is (sub) human consciousness-in-the-making, naturally benevolent as Milton’s Satan is not, and received with horror and contempt solely because of his physical appearance” (Oates 32). Abandoned by his creator, Victor Frankenstein, the creature ventures off on his own, and shows through experiences that indeed he is benevolent. However, his benevolence soon turns into vengeance, as he is constantly mistreated by the human race; the creature commits heinous acts. I disagree with Lawrence Lipking’s statement that “the novel is ambiguous on whether we
Many people have problems with the world they live in, but most do not have the means to express their grievances with society. Authors, however, have the ability to reach millions and present their opinions through their works of art. Throughout known history, authors have placed ideals humanity should strive towards, or presented a darker critique of society through the stories they tell. Mary Shelley, the author of the gothic novel Frankenstein, was no different. Frankenstein is filled with murder and treachery, but a theme that stands out is the loss of innocence; the ruining of an individual so that they are no longer pure. Through this theme, Shelley is able to give her opinions on her society. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley,
Throughout Frankenstein, a novel by Mary Shelley, the knowledge of the existence of a creator has a devastating effect on a creature as he struggles to reconcile with his own perception of himself with his increasing desire for approval and acceptance. Many virtues and vices can be found throughout the text including those such as acceptance and belonging. For the creature, he desperately wants to feel loved by his father figure, his creator, Victor Frankenstein. As for Victor, he flees from his creation, which he views as a problem, despite the fact that he knows how important it is to belong, and in spite of his knowledge that it will affect those he loves.
However repugnant he was on the outside, when Frankenstein’s creature begins to tell his tale of sorrow and rejection the creature does not seem to be monstrous. Although rejected multiple times by the humans around him when he finds a family in poverty and “suffering the pangs ...