Theme Of Illness In Victor Frankenstein

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Recommended: Frankenstein character analysis

Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist of this intriguing story, tends to fall ill subsequently with every traumatic event that occurs within the story. In other ways, this “illness” can be elucidated as an additional way to overlook into the mindset and personality of Victor Frankenstein. Is Victor truly, undeniably sick or could his “illnesses” be just manifestations of a particularly guilty mindset? Victor’s multiple tensions and guilts somehow lead to his “illnesses” and cause separation from civilization. Victor undergoes an array of traumatic cataclysms, all emanating from the aftermath of his creation. In a way, falling “ill” acts as his coping mechanism for all of this stress. This is his essential way of escaping society and his many debacles. Victor feels as if his physical disengagement from his aggravation somehow eases his guilt, along with his responsibility. His illnesses reside from a personal and societal guilt that he puts on himself. Victor Frankenstein tends to fall ill when he creates the monster, when Clerval is murdered, and when Elizabeth is murdered after the wedding; therefore, a recurring illness tends to be his means of escape from reality.

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His monster murders his best friend Clerval as a retaliation to him destroying the half-finished female Frankenstein that his monster requested. This brought Victor into his “ill” state because Victor couldn't handle what he had observed, his friend murdered with the handprints of his monster on his neck.Victor remained ill for two months only to find himself in jail when he recovered because of suspicion of Clerval's murder. He is released because there was no evidence of the murder, however, he still rested in Paris to help cope with his issues and regain

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