The Parallels of Tragedy Tragedies have been explored throughout the centuries. Some of the most popular are the passionate love story of Romeo and Juliet, and the monster of Mary Shellys, Frankenstein. Both works, other than both being well known tragedies, share many similarities. Especially the characters that are in it. Romeo and Victor parallel each other in many different ways. Mainly in terms of the tragic hero structure; their hamartia and hubris. In addition, how they bring about their peripeteia and their responses to their reversal of fortune (anagnorisis). Firstly, tragedies normally follow the tragic hero structure, and a major part of a tragic hero is his hubris and hamartia. For instance, Romeo’s fatal flaw is his impulsiveness, …show more content…
Although Victor’s impulsiveness wasn’t exactly what doomed him, it was rather his ambition that led to his downfall. If he wasn’t so quick to act, he wouldn’t have created the monster known as Frankenstein. Furthermore, both commit blasphemy, displaying their hubris. For instance, Victor goes against God and nature to create life, and refers to such pride, “but my imagination was too much exalted by my first success to permit me to doubt my ability to give life to an animal as complex and wonderful as man.” (Shelly 61). Victor’s pride almost makes him think of himself as God, his arrogance and pride lead him to believe he can create something as complex as a human, while his impulsiveness drives him to actually go through with his plan, going against nature. On a similar note, Romeo, raises his and Juliet's love above God, “O, speak again, bright angel, for thou art /As glorious to this night, being o’er my head, (Shakespeare 2.2.29-30). In this dialogue, Romeo compares Juliet to an angel, it displays his passionate love for her, but he also simultaneously commits …show more content…
Romeo and Victor just flew too close to the sun, due to their hubris and similar hamartia. Ultimately, Romeo and Victor parallel each other well, due to their similarities as tragic heroes, namely their arrogance and impulsive tendencies. In addition, Romeo and Victor’s stories follow the tragic structure, in which many more parallels between the two can be found. Especially in their reversal of fortune. In consequence of their decisions, both end up causing the misfortune of those around them. In Romeo’s case, he directly killed Tybalt, in rageful vengeance after he slaughtered Mercutio, which led to his banishment. In contrast, Victor gives life to a creature that subsequently kills his cousin, William. These deaths, as a consequence of their previous actions, also cause their partners to suffer in grief as well. Juliet has become torn in grief for her banished husband and her dead cousin. Elizabeth grieved for her cousin William and her innocent friend who was condemned in court for his murder. Nevertheless, those are not the only similarities found in their peripeteia, their anagnorisis, when they verbally realize their tragic
In “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, two very young people fall in love but cannot be with each other because of the feud in between their families. The feud ends when Romeo and Juliet both kill themselves because of heartbreak over the other. The minor characters Mercutio, Tybalt, and Friar Lawrence serve as foils to Romeo, to help support the theme of patience.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis convey the theme of revenge and destruction through the loss of a female companion.
As Halloween is coming around the corner, ghosts, monsters, and witches come to mind. Watching classic scary movies and reading books like, Frankenstein and Edward Scissorhands, is a great way to get into the spirit of the season. These two stories have different plots, but their themes and meanings parallel each other and have connections to modern society. Although, Frankenstein’s creature and Edward Scissorhands have vastly different lives, they both experience a struggle for acceptance that is also shared by contemporary homosexuals due to societal influences that attempt to apply a predetermined characterization towards these individuals. This is evidenced by how the characters and gay people are outcasts and want to be loved.
Victor and his monster share many similarities, which isn't very surprising. The apple never falls far from the tree. Both creature and creator tend to use nature as a place to vent anger or despair, or as a place to rest their minds. For example, Victor often goes out on lakes to calm himself, and comes back in a much better mood than before. “But the fresh air and bright sun seldom failed to restore me to some degree of composure, and on my return I met the salutations of my friends with a readier smile and a more cheerful heart.” (M. Shelley,pg. 154.) He also seems to enjoy yelling at Nature and asking why it's so cruel to him. Though Nature usually responds by sending him his monster or some horrible storm, he finds this a source of solace. As for the monster, after he was shunned by De Lacey and his family, he went into the woods and ripped up whole bunch of trees. When he was first made, he learned how to create fire and find food. Later, after being shot by a frightened passerby, the monster stayed hidden in the woods for a while, nursing his wound. Also, both Victor and the monster are scientifically connected to nature in some way. Victor used and twisted nature to try to recreate life. He studied anatomy and the cycle of life intensely. The monster is the result of the same sick scientific
Throughout the history of literature, instances will always occur where themes repeat themselves constantly. One of these instances appears in the classic novel Frankenstein, where two characters, whom one would originally classify as opposites, truly possess many similarities to one another. Victor and the Creature share and oddly large amount of similarities between them. One of which being their drive to obtain knowledge, no matter the topic. With Victor, he typically is driven to discover things no one else has. The Creature however, constantly tries to find out how the world works and to find his place in society. Another similarity found in the novel would be the two characters isolation throughout the novel, self-inflicted or forced. For Victor, he always kept to himself,
Victor and Manfred share an important similarity: the desire for radical autonomy. The paths the two characters embark on to follow this desire differ, causing Manfred to be seen a as an admirable protagonist, while Victor’s continuing attempts to attain a defiant autonomy prove to be self-defeating, and he is unable to attain a complete independence because of his responsibility for the monster, which grows and transforms into a dependency of the monster. Although the shared drive of being defiant in their independence is a key factor for the outcomes of both stories, Victor’s inability to be accountable for the responsibility he holds presents a critique of the Byronic hero in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein demonstrating that without the ability
Dr. Victor Frankenstein and the Creature seem different from each other throughout the whole story, however, they actually share many similarities when the story is looked at deeper. Both the Creature and Frankenstein share a connection with nature, a desire for more knowledge, a need for family, and experiences in isolation.
A tragedy imitates the emotional events of life by showing instead of telling. It does not have to be an exact replication of life, but instead have some realistic aspects to it. This type of play is special because an event in the plot is caused by a preceding choice or action performed by the character. Therefore, unlike a story where occurrences are caused by coincidences, a tragedy must have events that inescapably connect to one another as a result of the characters’ choices. Consequently, this idea of cause and effect must direct the plot of the play until the protagonists have an unfortunate end. Thus, the audience watching the tragedy will experience fear and pity for the characters since their actions will lead to their dramatic downfall. Similarily, William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet, conveys these fundamental ideas, but it mainly emphasizes on certain tragic concepts. These components, explained by Aristotle, certainly make this play a quintessence of tragedy. They support the chain of events in Romeo and Juliet by using character traits and majors events to connect the plot and illustrate how the characters create their own ending. For this reason, Romeo and Juliet is a genuine tragedy because of its use of significant, tragic elements; tragically-flawed protagonists; and inevitable fate.
James Whale's Frankenstein is a VERY loose adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel. The spirit of the film is preserved in its most basic sense, but the vast majority of the story has been entirely left out, which is unfortunate. The monster, for example, who possesses tremendous intellect in the novel and who goes on an epic quest seeking acceptance into the world in which he was created, has been reduced to little more than a lumbering klutz whose communication is limited to unearthly shrieks and grunts. Boris Karloff was understandably branded with the performance after the film was released, because it was undeniably a spectacular performance, but the monster's character was severely diminished from the novel.
He toils endlessly in alchemy, spending years alone, tinkering. However, once the Creature is brought to life, Frankenstein is no longer proud of his creation. In fact, he’s appalled by what he’s made and as a result, Frankenstein lives in a perpetual state of unease as the Creature kills those that he loves and terrorizes him. Victor has realized the consequences of playing god. There is irony in Frankenstein’s development, as realized in Victor’s desire to destroy his creation. Frankenstein had spent so much effort to be above human, but his efforts caused him immediate regret and a lifetime of suffering. Victor, if he had known the consequences of what he’s done, would have likely not been driven by his desire to become better than
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.
Free will is an inherited ability everyone obtains from birth. This ability allows humans or any living being the freedom to act on their own behalf without being influenced or forced by an external medium. However, this fragile, yet powerful capability is susceptible of being misused that may result in unsavory consequences to the one at fault. In Paradise Lost and Frankenstein, both texts feature powerful figures who bequeathed the characters in focus, the freedom to do whatever they desire in their lives. Satan and Adam and Eve from Paradise Lost, and the monster from Frankenstein are given their free will from their creators, all encounter unique scenarios and obstacles in their respective texts however, have distinctions in how they handle
In Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, the lovers meet their doom, in scene iii of Act V. With their fatal flaw of impulsivity, Romeo and Juliet are ultimately to blame for their death. Contrarily, if it was not for the unintentional influence of the pugnacious Tybalt, the star-crossed lovers may have remained together, perpetually. To the audience, the deaths of Romeo and Juliet are already understood, for it is a Shakespearean tragedy. However, the causes, predominantly Romeo’s and Juliet’s fatal flaws of impulsivity and rashness, are as simple as Shakespearean writing. Though Romeo and Juliet are wholly to blame for their tragic suicides, in Act V scene iii, Tybalt is, in turn, responsible, as his combative spirit forced Romeo to murder him and Juliet to marry Paris.
If someone were to ask people who Frankenstein is they would probably describe a tall, hideous monster with bolts sticking out of its neck. But long before movies reinvented their version of the monster, there was a novel by Mary Shelley entitled Frankenstein. In her novel, the monster is shown as child-like and uneducated. But what really makes someone a monster? Who is the true monster of Mary Shelley’s novel? Victor and the Creature present similarities and differences in their action and character throughout the novel.
Victor was so blinded by his ambition, and only saw what he wanted. He only saw one possible outcome and that was that if he did this it could revolutionize the world. Victor truly only had that best intentions in mind. To him this was the only way to turn his life on to the path he wanted. Another example of ambition taking control of someone's mind leading them to their own downfall would be Caesar in the play, Julius Caesar. Caesar was murdered by his own friends because of his ambition. He only saw the throne and land he ruled. That's why he was murdered by his own and it set them on their own destructive path themselves. This also just comes to show that one thing can lead to another and they are not all good things. Victor's ambition lead to the death of his family and himself, and Caesar's ambition lead to his death and the death of two others who were also blinded by their own wants and needs.