“What is the point of being alive if you don’t at least try to do something remarkable?”-John Green, an American author of young adult fiction, such as The Fault in Our Stars, and the YouTube blogger of crash course history. The mythological character Prometheus and Victor from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, try to influence mankind in a positive way, but instead the result is detrimental to society. Victor and Prometheus both want to help mankind, regardless, both overstep their bounds, and are severely punished. Although their true characters are revealed through how they handle their suffering. Victor and Prometheus both have virtuous intentions to benefit mankind. Victor’s intentions are to contribute a new species to society, which will …show more content…
only have a positive impact. When officially deciding to commence the creation of the new species, Victor thinks, “if I could bestow animation upon lifeless matter, I might in process of time (although I found it impossible) renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption.” (55) The idea of creating a new species allows Victor’s imagination to run wild, while thinking of the endless possibilities. Victor’s purpose for creating a new species completes the purpose of discovering if life can be given to an animate person or object. In doing so Victor could help end the suffering of people whose loved ones have died. Part of why Victor yearns to create a new species because his mother died when he was young, and he does not wish this type of suffering upon anyone. As well as Victor, Prometheus also aspires to help mankind. After listening to Zeus’s response, “Prometheus made no answer; but he had set his heart on helping mankind, and he did not give up, and left Jupiter and his mighty company forever.” (2) Prometheus discovers that Zeus refuses to provide fire to the humans, and he understands he must put matters into his own hands. Prometheus comprehends the boldness of questioning Zeus, but goes to help the humans anyway. Prometheus completes the action out of the benevolence of his own heart, and his sympathy for the humans. Helping mankind represents the opposite of a selfish duty. In conclusion Victor and Prometheus have the same intentions, but Victor lacks the sole purpose of helping mankind. Before the creation of the species, Victor boasts, “A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me.”(55) His actions are partly completed for a selfish purpose, which might be the reason why he ends up unsucessful. Both Victor and Prometheus are risky in overstepping their bounds, while attempting deeds not meaning to be done. Victor oversteps the ideal bounds of life and death, which is risky because the action has never been done before. Before the creation of Frankenstein, and as Victor explains the purpose of his new species he thinks, “Life and death [appear] to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world!”(55) Victor comprehends the notion of him breaking unbreakable barriers, but continues the creation anyway. Breaking the barriers shows that Victor has dedication and will do anything, such as testing the bounds of life and death. Otherwise Prometheus has similar traits to Victor by overstepping bounds, but not of life and death, instead the bounds of authority. Prometheus questions the great Zeus’s authority by going against his strong views about the humans. After being taken aback by the words of Zeus, Prometheus exclaims to himself, “‘Mankind shall have fire in spite of the tyrant who sits on the mountain top,’”(2) In reality Prometheus does not have the right to make the decision of granting mankind with fire. Although he feels strongly about his action, he still goes behind Zeus’s back and disrespects Zeus’s beliefs as the higher being than himself. Both Victor and Prometheus perform daring actions, but acting as the only thing stopping Victor are the bounds of science, while Prometheus has Zeus to battle against. Therefore Prometheus’s actions are much more daring. Both Victor and Prometheus suffer greatly from their consequences, but one has mental, while the other has physical suffering.
Victor suffers at first, because he thinks his creation represents failure. At one of Victor's lowest points, his breaking point, he thinks, “I [am] alone; none [are] near me to dissipate the gloom, and relieve me from the sickening oppression of the most terrible reveries.”(171) Victor remains lost in his thoughts and sickened by what a creature he created could do to himself. Nothing excites his mind at this stage in life. Victor tries to mask his emotions to the people around him, but ends up being almost impossible with the guilt hanging on his neck, just like an albatross. Prometheus has a different kind of punishment. His consequence for disobeying Zeus is to be chained atop a mountain for eternity. As Prometheus hangs defenseless, he must endure many pains, “And there he [hangs], with the storm-winds whistling always around him, and the pitiless hail beating in his face, and fierce eagles shrieking in his ears and tearing body with their cruel claws.”(6) Everyday this eagle comes back to repeat destroying his body, just as a savage carnivore eats away at a dead decaying corpse. In …show more content…
these conditions Prometheus turns into a wretch, with no purpose of living.
Death would be a better option than this form of suffering. Although Victor and Prometheus have different ways of punishment, both show how each of them react to the pain and test their composure on many levels. Both Victor and Prometheus must cope with their troubles, the journey is arduous and only one has the strength to come out triumphant. Victor creates a species, and ends up addressing Frankenstein as a monster. Victor does not desire anything to do with this “wretch”. After seeing the creature he has created, he “[passes] the night wretchedly. Sometimes [his] pulse beat so quickly and hardly that [he] feels palpitation of every artery; at others, [he] nearly [sinks] to the ground through languor and extreme weakness.” (59) Victor acts a coward; he does not face his mistakes and try to fix them. Instead he feels weakened by the disappointment of himself. On the other hand, Prometheus reacts differently to his challenges. Prometheus acts strong minded, he thinks before he acts and trusts nobody. After Prometheus grants the villagers with fire, he “[…] [warns] his brother to beware of any gift that Jupiter might send, for he knew that the mighty tyrant [can] not be trusted.”(4) Prometheus expects consequences for his actions, just as an army general expects an attack from the enemy. Prometheus acts brave in questioning authority and waits ready for battle, if Zeus retaliates for disobeying
his orders. Although Victor does manage with his consequences, he acts cowardly when compared to Prometheus, the one who prevails in the end with perseverance, and immortality. When attempting to help mankind, benevolence, while testing bounds and questioning authority, can eventually lead to despair. Prometheus’s and Victor’s course of action while handling the consequences of their mistakes show certain characteristics necessary for success. Prometheus has more forethought than Victor, and his perseverance eventually leads him to prosperity, whereas Victor’s guilt and fear leads him to his death. In life, when faced with adversity and suffering the way someone handles their consequences can influence the final outcome of the situation.
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,
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
I believe Frankenstein is a villain in this book. I believe he promotes the idea of evil which is symbolised through creating the creature. He is described as “a creature causing havoc”. The creature is an unwanted person. He has no belonging in this world. He was created, and because of this, he is an outcast because of Victor Frankenstein. The creature is the victim. He is lonely and rejected. Frankenstein is the cause of this. I believe it is wrong to play god. No man should try and create human beings. He has created a being that is driven to the extremes of loneliness in life. This is destroying innocent lives.
...or was not thinking of others in his actions, but only of himself. He did not consider the tumult the abnormally large creature could cause in the world, nor what the feelings of the monster would be towards him if he abandoned him. Victor also did not contemplate the safety of his friends, as he had the chance to stop the creature’s misdoings but failed to do so, risking the life of his friends. Therefore, Victor was a selfish being, who only concerned himself with his wishes and never evaluated the situation of his loved ones, ultimately causing their demise. The misfortunate events that occurred through Victor’s life could have been prevented, and also discontinued when Victor had the chance. However, Victor’s irresponsibility overcame these opportunities and he in turn, caused misfortunes for himself as well as his loved ones.
In chapter five, Victor comes face to face with his creation. He becomes horrified and disgusted with the creature, and therefore he abandons him.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is ‘one of the pioneering works of modern science fiction’, and is also a frightening story that speaks to the ‘mysterious fears of our nature’. Mary Shelley mocks the idea of “playing God”, the idea that came from the Greek myth of Prometheus, of the Greek titan who stole Zeus’ gift of life. Both the story of Frankenstein and Prometheus reveal the dark side of human nature and the dangerous effects of creating artificial life. Frankenstein reveals the shocking reality of the consequences to prejudging someone. The creature’s first-person narration reveals to us his humanity, and his want to be accepted by others even though he is different. We are shown that this ‘monster’ is a ‘creature’ and more of a human than we think.
As a tragic hero, Victor’s tragedies begin with his overly obsessive thirst for knowledge. Throughout his life, Victor has always been looking for new things to learn in the areas of science and philosophy. He goes so far with his knowledge that he ends up creating a living creature. Victor has extremely high expectations for his creation but is highly disappointed with the outcome. He says, “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” (Shelley 35). Frankenstein neglects the creature because of his horrifying looks, which spark the beginning of numerous conflicts and tragedies. At this point, the creature becomes a monster because of Victor’s neglect and irresponsibility. The monster is forced to learn to survive on his own, without anyone or anything to guide him along the way. Plus, the monster’s ugly looks cause society to turn against him, ad...
In the novel Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley the motif of cruelty functions as a motive and mode of retaliation. Both Victor and the Creature portray the roles of the perpetrator and victim of cruelty as seen through the rejection the Creature receives from the humans, Victor’s betrayal to the Creature, and the revenge sought out by the Creature.
Victor Frankenstein from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the embodiment of the Greek titan, Prometheus. Victor is controlled by his desire for results but he ignores his path to getting those results. It’s helpful that he is able to ignore reality when doing so because then he is able to focus more on the developments. Being on the selfish side, Victor Frankenstein never bothers with the questions such as “Why” but focuses on the “Why not”. Victor Frankenstein is the modern Prometheus because of his realization when reality does not match what he imagined, brute strength to compensate for his ignorance and constant reluctant to take responsibility for his actions.
“Revenge alone endowed [him] with strength and composure; it modeled [his] feelings, and allowed [him] to be calculating and calm” (145). 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 myself 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. When visiting his family’s graves he cries that, “they were dead, and I lived; their murder also lived” (145). Previously in the novel he blamed himself for the deaths of Mathew, Justine, and Henry, claiming to be their murderer and lamenting on the evil he had set forth into the world. Victor now places the weight of these deaths solely on the monster’s shoulders and believes it is his god given burden to cleanse the world of this evil. He had been “assured that the shades of [his] murdered friends heard and approved [his] devotion… rage choked [him]”(146). The death of the monster would not even weigh on his conscience since it is god’s
Both Victor and the monster suffer tremendously both physically and emotionally throughout their life. Victor’s physical suffering was brought on by his inability to cope with his tremendous guilt and secret. The monsters physical suffering was due to the abuse inflicted upon him by society’s fear of him. Both also suffered emotionally; they were both alone, Victor due to his secret that caused isolation and his inability to admit and disclose what he had done. The monster suffered emotionally because of his creator’s rejection and society’s inability to get past his grotesque looks and accept him for who he was.
Victor Frankenstein serves as an instrument of suffering of others and contributes to the tragic vision as a whole in this novel. He hurts those surrounding him by his selfish character and his own creation plots against his master due to the lack of happiness and love. The audience should learn from Frankenstein’s tragic life and character to always remain humble. We should never try to take superiority that is not granted to us because like victor we shall suffer and perish. He had the opportunity to make a difference in his life and take responsibility as a creator but his selfishness caused him to die alone just like what he had feared.
After Victor destroys his work on the female monster meant to ease the monster's solitude, the monster is overcome with suffering and sadness. These feelings affected his state of mind and caused him to do wrong things. He did not deserve to see his one and only mate be destroyed.
At first, Victor believes himself superior to nature, and he builds a creature to prove his dominance. After gathering the information and materials needed to create life, Victor begins to fantasize about what he is about to do. He sees “life and death [as] ideal bounds, which [he] should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into [their] dark world. 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. Unlike the Romantic who revered and honored nature, Victor wants to use it for his own gain. He expects “happy” and “excellent natures” to obey him, and he doesn’t dwell upon the consequences of his actions. His outlook changes after the Creature comes to life. As Victor stares into the watery, lifeless eyes of his creature, he finally realizes his mistake in trying to disrupt the natural order of the world. Scared by the outcome of his actions, Victor attempts to run away and find comfort in nature. He travels to the Arve Ravine, where “the
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.