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Victor frankenstein character analysis essay
What is the relationship between power and authority
Victor frankenstein character analysis
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Power is Mother, Mother is Power Power is defined as a person’s ability to alter another human being’s life, as seen in different narratives throughout literature; whether it be something as large as the giving and taking life, or as small as placing an idea in someone’s head, and furthermore, taking responsibility for those actions. However, the common theme is that the most powerful people in the world are those who give life, and do what they can to ensure their offspring stay healthy, happy, and alive. People who make a long-lasting impact on other’s lives. In Mary Shelley’s story Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein only goes on his crazy, rampant, rampage against death because something snaps in his own head when his mother dies. Victor …show more content…
How a person takes care of that creation is what really matters. Victor does indeed create life, but what he does afterwards is implorable; “Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep” (Shelley 36). The moment he is finished with the creation process, and looks at what he has made, he is horrified, and instead of facing his consequences head on, he is assured when the monster just sort of disappears. This is not motherly, nor fatherly or parent-ly. This shows his lack of power over the creature, and his own guilt for creating a …show more content…
The Duke thought he had a lot of different gifts to give to his Duchess, “[s]omehow - I know not how - as if she ranked / My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name / With anybody’s gift” (Browning ll 32-34). The gift he thought was most important was the fact that his family name goes back forever, he has such a prestigious hereditary background. By all means, yes, this would make him powerful. However. Browning starts making it a little obvious that his duchess was not all his, “[s]ir, ‘twas all one! My favour at her breast, / The dropping of daylight in the West, / The bough of cherries some officious fool / Broke into the orchard for her” (ll 25-29). At least, according to the Duke, the Duchess is not staying faithful. This could be due to many different kind of reasons, like maybe the Duke is not fertile as the title of the poem suggests that there have been more than one duchess he has had this issue with. As well as the fact that the Duke seems to be very familiar with Fra Pandolf - his painter. If the Duke constantly is having these problems in his relationships, he is more than likely the
His mother's love was shown throughout the beginning of the book so much more than his fathers was. Together the two parents loved him so much it helped him grow and this is why his childhood was so phenomenal. When Victor was sent off to Ingolstadt, he had no real idea of what it was like to be an adult. He was taken care of so well by his mother that once she was away from her parents, her father being at home and his mother being dead, he was not sure what was right and wrong. Victor's curiosity for knowledge is what led him to be a man of science and this is why he came up with the idea to experiment and create a human being from death. Without thinking of the results that were to come, Victor's ambition to become godlike pushed him to finish his project. The end result terrified Victor so badly that even he left him alone. To start, he left him alone in his apartment and when he returned, the monster was gone. “I could hardly believe that that so great a good fortune could have befallen me, but when I became assured that my enemy had indeed fled, I clapped my hands for joy and ran down to Clerval.” (Shelley 61) This is the first time that Victor does not care for his monster properly. After all of the care that Victor received from his mother, readers would think that Victor would grow up to be just like his parents and be so kind and gentle. Victor is unable to take responsibility of the monster that he created. Victor is prejudiced by the appearance of the monster which leads him to run away from his
In Frankenstein, everyone treats Victor’s creation like a monster, including Frankenstein himself. This leads to the creation accepting that title and going on a murder spree. His creation says “When I reflect on his crimes and malice, my hatred and revenge burst all bounds of moderation” (69). Victor’s creation shows that he did not ask to be created, and his existence is miserable.
Once the process of life has been initiated, individuals have a lot to consider. When Victor begins creating the first creature he is excited at the possibility of bringing his creation to life. He has no thoughts of destroying the creature at this time. However, once the creature is brought to life, and Victor realizes the monstrosity he has created, Victor wishes to abandon the creature.
As he goes off to college, interested in the science behind life and death, he ends up going his own way and attempts to create a living being. Victor “had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body” (Shelley 43). The being Victor has created does not by any means sit well with him. As victor is away from his family and for six years, he is neglectful to them, which only adds to his sorrow and misery. Victor’s isolation is brought upon him because of himself, however his creation, or “the monster”, is isolated from any connections with humans against his will. To start out, the monster would have had Victor there with him, but Victor is ashamed of what he has created, and abandons the monster. The monster is a very hideous being, which sadly is a contributing factor to his isolation. With nobody to talk to at any time, naturally this will be condescending and frustrating. Although the monster is able to
Although some critics say that the monster Victor has created is to blame for the destruction and violence that follow the experiment, it is Victor who is the responsible party. First, Victor, being the scientist, should have known how to do research on the subject a lot more than he had done. He obviously has not thought of the consequences that may result from it such as the monster going crazy, how the monster reacts to people and things, and especially the time it will take him to turn the monster into the perfect normal human being. This is obviously something that would take a really long time and a lot of patience which Victor lacks. All Victor really wants is to be the first to bring life to a dead person and therefore be famous. The greed got to his head and that is all he could think about, while isolating himself from his friends and family. In the play of Frankenstein, when Victor comes home and sets up his lab in the house, he is very paranoid about people coming in there and finding out what he is doing. At the end of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor says:
If Victor had stayed around and showed the monster the real world, he might have not have went on to perform violent actions. This portrays Victor as a selfish character and gives more of an insight on his personal life. As a child, Victor is only interested in furthering his own knowledge and not worried about anyone else. He spent much of his time “drawing the picture of [his] early days... when [he] would account to [himself] for the birth of that passion which afterwards ruled [his] destiny” (Shelley 34), or otherwise a magnificent creation that would change his future. When constructing the Monster, he put all of his relatives in the back of his mind, and only focused on his own success and victory. This further explains the theme of being selfless and only doing certain things that will benefit
Victor never even fathomed the actual existence of the creature, somewhat resembling an unplanned pregnancy that was never emotionally and rationally dealt with even after the actual birth of the child. He certainly did not adequately prepare himself for parenthood.
Victor is so engulfed by his work that he is unaware of what is going on around him. He “bore onwards [with his work], like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success” and he wants to “pour a torrent of light into our dark world" (Shelley 55). Blinded by his yearning for making new discoveries, Victor thinks that his knowledge of the sciences will be enough for him to be successful. However, he does not understand that in order to create an auspicious relationship between him and his creation, he needs to have knowledge of society as well. Once his creation is animated, Victor is unable to see that all the creature wants is to be loved and accepted. The creature craves the maternal love that Victor denies him. From the beginning, Victor is unable to realize the significance of his creation. He describes how the creature’s “yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath... [and] his hair was of a lustrous black... [and] his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips” (Shelley 58). He immediately focuses on the negative features of his creation, and does not even attempt to learn the positive qualities. If Victor uses more social skills, rather than his knowledge of the sciences to manage his creation, all of the destruction the creation causes could have been
Victor’s thoughts of grander clouded his mind making him think “A new species would bless [him] as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to [him]”(Ch.4, p.39). But life never goes as planned and Victor dropped all his obligations when he realized what he had done. Victor never questioned if creating a new species was morally right because he imagined they’d be grateful for him more than anything. For Victor to full fill his dream he knew that there needed to be a mate for his creature but “[he] thought with a sensation of madness on [his] promise of creating another like him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged” (Ch.20, p.145). Instead of feeling like he owed his creature anything or thinking of the ethics of destroying his mate, Victor only cared for himself. On one hand it doesn’t seem like Victor desired to create pain and suffering when he created life. On the other hand it doesn’t seem like he should be free of all moral blame because he had good intentions even if it was difficult to be certain of those intentions. His lack of moral responsibility is only part of Victor but without the rest we wouldn’t have Doctor
Education is a tool to advance an individual and a society; however, education can become a means to gain power when knowledge is used to exercise control over another. In Frankenstein, knowledge becomes the downfall of both Victor Frankenstein and the Monster. The novel explores the consequent power struggle between Victor Frankenstein and his creation, the dichotomy of good and evil, and the contrast between intellectual and physical power. Finding themselves in mirroring journeys, Victor Frankenstein and the Monster are locked in a struggle for dominance. Through these two characters, Mary Shelley explores the consequences of an egotistical mindset and of using knowledge to exercise power over others.
Even the creation says, "I was benevolent and good; misery made me a friend. Make me happy and I shall again be virtuous" (Shelley 66). In the novel, Victor has two chances to provide this happiness for the creation. In both cases, all the creation desires is a companion, be it Victor or a new creation. And, in both cases, Victor is influenced by his initial reaction of disgust at the sight of his original creation.
A new species would bless [him] as its creator and source, many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to [him]” (Shelley 55). Life and death are natural things, but Victor thinks that he can “break through” them and create life. He alone would be the person to “pour a torrent of light into their dark world,” as if he was God, ruling over all of the world. This shows Victor’s lack of respect towards life and how he intends to overcome the boundaries set by nature.
"I felt as if I had committed some great crime, the consciousness of which haunted me. I was guiltless, but I had indeed drawn down a horrible curse upon my head, as mortal as that of crime" (Shelley 127). Victor knew that in his actions he had created wrong. He himself implies it that of a "mortal" sin, one in which completely cuts off the relationship that man has with God. The creation of man to the catholic faith is the essence of a mortal sin. God creates man and all that man does. It is God's job to create life and by Victor creating the monster, he completely disrespects that. This is what made the feat of creating man so appealing to Victor. "A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me" (Shelley 39). Creation by man had yet to be explored and he was the first to cross into that impossible ...
Monsters can come in various physical forms, but all monsters share the same evil mentality. A Monster is a being that harms and puts fear within people. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example of how appearance does not determine whether a creature is a monster or not. In the story, Victor Frankenstein tries to change nature by creating a super human being. The being appears to be a monster. Victor becomes so obsessed with his creation and then rejects it. Victor is the real monster because of his desire for power, lack of respect for nature, and his stubbornness.
Victor creates it for himself out of selfishness. His interest in science was sparked when he saw lightning that night, and he never looked back. He does not think twice about the consequences anyone would or could suffer. He creates this being exactly how he wants to create him. “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. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room…unable to compose my mind to sleep (Shelley