In the beginning of Frankenstein, the creature is comparable to Caliban in A Tempest as both characters are looked down upon by their creator or master and both are treated similarly. Victor can also be viewed as the victim in the beginning as he grieves for his murdered relatives and friends by his own creation. However, as Frankenstein progresses and reaches its conclusion, Victor and the creature both are after the same thing, vengeance. They both resemble Prospero in A Tempest, showing how each became a monster in their own sense through their investment towards revenge.
In the end, Victor and his creature focus solely on revenge which ultimately becomes their life purposes, similar to Prospero. Victor, after having lost everyone dear to him to the creature, makes his purpose to chase down the creature by travelling great desserts, seas and ice.1 His actions can be seen as a parallel to those of Prospero when he states, “My fate is here: I shall not run from it.”2 Both characters allow their emotions to make fairly irrational decisions towards revenge and punishment. In his last moments, Victor still pursues his newfound passion by attempting to go out into the artic alone while on the verge of death.3 He dies as a victim of his own decisions and desires which led to his misery and demise. Comparably, the creature grieves over his dead master’s body since his only hope of love and friendship disappeared.4 His searchfor revenge throughout the novel led to a similar misery as his creator’s. This is all in contrast to Caliban’s ending in A Tempest. He,
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Through the progression of the novel however, the distinction between antagonist and protagonist between Victor and the creature became obscure. The relationship of the monster of Frankenstein and the monster that is Frankenstein aided in developing their lust for vengeance as each did psychological harm to the
After abandoning the Creature, it vows “eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind” which ends up being in direct correlation with Victor’s life (Shelley 143). The Creature is able to carry out this deed by not directly attacking his creator and abandoner, but the one’s of his creator’s affections. The Creature not only makes Victor feel pain through the killings, but also through the guilt that Victor experiences since he knows that he (Victor) is the reason that all the people are now dead. After all the killings had happened, “yet one duty” remained for Victor, to silence the Creature and all feelings of sorrow rooted from death (Shelley 176). This was Victor’s act of revenge in which only one of the two could live while the other was dead. Victor was so influenced by all the death he had experienced, that his revenge took him to his deathbed. The ending years of Victor’s life had been spent focusing and caring for the matters concerning the Creature and himself, which differs of how Zeus felt about his revenge, as it was only of current importance and had no impact on his
...e all the evil things they have done. When he goes to Victor's coffin, the creature does the opposite of what a evil being would do. He grieves over Victor despite all the horrible things the creature has done to Victor. The creature even feels guilt over the innocent people he has killed and the torment he put his creator through. Despite Victor's actions leading the creature to commit evil deeds, the creature finds in himself to feel regret in the end.
Frankenstein is based around the life of Victor, who is overindulged as a child and who later creates a “monster”. He disowns the monster, who then goes on to kill several of Victor’s friends and family out of hate for Victor who left him. Victor then tries to create a friend for the monster so as to calm him, but rebels midway and then proceeds to chase the monster in attempt to put an end to him.
An idea becomes a vision, the vision develops a plan, and this plan becomes an ambition. Unfortunately for Victor Frankenstein, his ambitions and accomplishments drowned him in sorrow from the result of many unfortunate events. These events caused Victors family and his creation to suffer. Rejection and isolation are two of the most vital themes in which many dreadful consequences derive from. Victor isolates himself from his family, friends, and meant-to-be wife. His ambitions are what isolate him and brought to life a creature whose suffering was unfairly conveyed into his life. The creature is isolated by everyone including his creator. He had no choice, unlike Victor. Finally, as the story starts to change, the creature begins to take control of the situation. It is now Victor being isolated by the creature as a form of revenge. All the events and misfortunes encountered in Frankenstein have been linked to one another as a chain of actions and reactions. Of course the first action and link in the chain is started by Victor Frankenstein.
He not only turned away the being he had brought into the world; he also denied the creature companionship, friendship, and happiness while continuing to seek his own. Victor gained new purpose and even on his deathbed holds to the principle that he is justified in desiring the death of his enemy. Moment before his death he turns to Captain Robert Walton and says, “I feel justified in desiring the death of my adversary. During these last days I have been occupied in examining my past conduct; nor do I find it blamable” (156). He even begins to lose the small amount of compassion he had for the creature’s struggle.
What is monstrosity? According to the Oxford Dictionary, monstrosity is “something that is very large, ugly and frightening.” In literature we have encountered numerous characters that fall under this description, however only a few have been labeled as monsters. Two famous examples would be Shakespeare's Caliban from The Tempest, and Victor’s “monster” from Merry Shelley’s Frankenstein. Caliban is a native of the island Prospero encounters, that is physically deformed; while Victor’s ‘monster’ is Victor’s creation that is also physically deformed. Both, Caliban and the monster, are outcasts from normal society, and viewed as The Other. The only think that distinguishes them from being human is their deformity.
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein and the monster that he creates are very similar. For example, Victor creates the monster to be like himself. Another similarity is that the anger of both Victor and the monster is brought about by society. One more parallel between Victor and the monster is that they both became recluses. These traits that Victor and the monster possess show that they are very similar.
Although most people assume that in Frankenstein, the creature was the murderer, the truth is the exact opposite. Victor was the real murderer. He is the murderer when the novel is viewed on three different symbolic levels, as a Romantic novel, Archetype novel, or a Gothic novel. On the romantic level, Victor is the monster because he abandoned the creature and left him to fend for himself. The creature was miserable and simply wanted a companion, but because of the poor behavior and attitude of Frankenstein, it was impossible. On the Archetype level, Victor is the monster because he tried to play the role of God. He wanted to be worshipped like a god, by creating his own species, and creating life from plain matter. Although in doing so, Victor disturbed the natural order of things. Finally, Victor is the monster on the Gothic level. He and the creature are part of a greater being, and Victor's subconscious wants William and Elizabeth dead, which is why the monster actually killed them. Despite the fact that Victor did not physically murder anyone, he was the ?monster? of the novel (Ellis 155).
The monster of the novel is often misattributed with the name, “Frankenstein.” However, Victor Frankenstein can ultimately be considered the true monster of this tale. His obsession would lead to the corruption of his soul and the creation of two monsters—one himself, and the other, the creature. In attempting to take on the role of God, nature would become a monster to Victor and destroy his life. These elements of monstrosity in Frankenstein drive the meaning of its story.
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.
One part in the novel that displays this is when the monster speaks its true feeling towards victor and talks about how “unfeeling [and] heartless” he was for “[casting] [it] abroad” after giving “It” “perceptions” that the world was a “[passionate]” and understanding place (pg 229). Because of this, the monster went in the world thinking that “it” would be accepted. When he failed to connect to the humans, he automatically blamed Victor for his perils. Like when a parent helps a child with their homework but it ends up being wrong, the child then blames the parent for it. Another example is when the creature murders Victor’s younger brother William. When “It” learned that William “[belonged] … to [his] enemy… Frankenstein” he decided that William would be his “first victim”(pg 146). Once again the creature’s obsession over Victor caused his actions. If William had not had a relationship with Victor then the creature may have treated him like he did with Felix. But, knowing this connection, he felt that he had to take action somehow. Also, he might not have known that he was killing William since he had never seen death happen before, so he might have meant to inflict pain and not end his life. Those are some of the reasons why Victor being horrible to the monster is why he is remotely responsible for the
Most people know the concept of human nature in its simplest form, a way in which humans interact with the world around them, but perhaps a more fascinating and often overlooked component of this anomaly (what word should I actually use here?) is the way that human nature applies to the way that people treat each other. Shakespeare and Shelly both observed the way in which instinct affected the way people treat each other and incorporated it into The Tempest and Frankenstein respectively. They focused on two major aspects of human nature, the way people act when in a position of power and the way people act when face with outsiders. Shakespeare did this by showing Caliban as a victim of human nature in both of these situations. Shelly made
Mary Shelley puts a lot of emotion and imagery in her writing. Even though the creature was supposed to appear to be a monster, she wrote the story so she could demonstrate that he was the victim in the story. She turned it around, and changed it from what you would usually predict from a story of a monster. Instead of persecuting the creature, she switched the story around to target Victor as the monster in the story.
Initially, the audience is presented with an eager, studious Victor Frankenstein and tags along on his journey to scientifically creating the creature. After the creature is created, however, Frankenstein is disgusted; he wants nothing to do with the creature. All the hard work Victor did would not reward him. After the creation, Victor and the Creature separate. When they meet again, the actions and outcomes of revenge become understood.
Mary Shelley, a brilliant writer with the tale of Frankenstein narrated two opposite topics: science and creature. If we looked at the background of this story, we could find it was the time that people almost make fun of nature and science without respect, and we called it the Age of Enlightenment. This is the time people addicted in a science fiction novel and favored unnatural events. As an emblem fiction during that period, the Frankenstein discussed the impact of science and nature given to young Frankenstein, and his potential knowledge spurs the idea of creating new strange creature. Following the main line of the story, it could easily conclude that victor and monster have several similarities. They are both isolated from society,