More handpicked essays just for you.
Literary analysis for frankenstein
Essay on victor frankenstein's character
Literary analysis for frankenstein
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The life of Victor Frankenstein is a painful and strenuous one, and it only becomes much worse with the introduction of his creation. As he recalls the highs and lows of his story to Captain Robert Walton, the description of both his character and the monsters changes as the story progresses, changing from a contrasting relationship to a near reflective finish. In the beginning, they share almost no similarities and act as the dramatic foil to one another. However, as the story advances, the characters gradually become more like the same entity. They develop motives and perspectives that closely resemble, until their actions being to truly reflect one another’s. This persists throughout the entire novel, including the ending, where they transform …show more content…
into beings that are one and the same. With both of them striving for the same final goal, they end up with an identical purpose for existing. In the beginning, Victor shows an eagerness for bettering his knowledge of the world and natural philosophy and applying it to his life.
He grows into quite the talented and intelligent young man. He envelops his life in his education and avoids his family, almost to the point of negligence. Contrastingly, the creature’s early life is spent completely ignorant to anything around him. He does his best to discover as he goes along, but generally fails to reach any solid conclusions. They each are vastly different in physical form as well. Victor is described as an average male human that easily blends in with society, not showing any signs of abnormality. The monster is heavily defined by his grotesque nature and stature. He is an eight foot tall behemoth of a man with hideously deformed features, including somewhat translucent skin and a mismatched body. He is also much more physically capable than his master, being much stronger and faster, albeit a bit clumsier due to his odd proportions. These features, as well as the differing intellect levels and different dispositions towards civilization set the characters far apart. That is, until the rest of the creature’s story is …show more content…
constructed. Through the monster's actions by himself and around humans, it is shown that he is actually capable of imaginative and complex thought processes, coupled with a new and avid desire to learn as much as he can.
He even strives to learn various languages by eavesdropping on a family and their daily affairs. He eventually succeeds well enough to explain, “Presently I found, by the frequent recurrence of some sound which the stranger repeated after them, that she was endeavouring to learn their language; and the idea instantly occurred to me that I should make use of the same instructions to the same end” (Shelley 105). This hunger for an education is one of the first qualities shown that both characters share. They also both experience the feeling of isolation and seclusion. The monster is constantly pushed away by the humans he encounters, who are too disgusted to reconcile their primordial fear and accept him. Victor deals with the same problem, even though he may be introverted enough to prefer the solitude. He shows various periods in his life where he simply chose to avoid his family and friends, including his friend Henry, “..., I entreat you: leave me to peace and solitude for a short time; and when I return, I hope it will be with a lighter heart…” (Shelley 145). Finally, the two contribute to a mutual hatred for themselves as well as the other. Frankenstein looks upon his creation with disgust and rage, blaming the monster for killing each of his family members.
However, as the creature continually took out his dearest companions one by one, Victor started to lash out at himself as he realized that their deaths were his own fault, rather than the monster’s. As the conflict between the two nears its end, they both blame the other for the constant hatred and pain they are forced to live with. Their personalities become less contradictory and much more similar to that of one person. In the end, Victor Frankenstein and his monster model each other in many ways. At the start, the two are not nearly the same being; yet as they continue to develop and influence each other, they become the same eternal creature. Their purposes for existing completely mirror the opposite, where even in death they are one and the same. When they both eventually meet their dual fates, they cannot help but go out together. Regardless of their original intentions and aspirations, the identity of both monster and maker becomes a fine line that intersects and gradually forms one solid destiny.
We are shown that this ‘monster’ is a ‘creature’ and more of a human than we think. It is in the complex structure of the novel that Mary Shelley creates sympathy. We shift from Robert Walton to Victor Frankenstein to the monster and finally back to Walton. With each shift of perspective, the reader gains new information about both the facts of the story and the reliability of the narrator. Each perspective adds pieces of information that only they knows: Walton explains the circumstances of Victor’s last days, Victor explains his creation of the monster, the monster explains his turn to evil.
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...
...e seeking help and strength to take care of problems in their lives. Victor Frankenstein is a man with a loving and caring family. Family and friends are an important part of his life. He has his whole life in front of him, when creates his monster. He creates the monster in the likeness of man with same need of love and affection as man. Although, this is his creation, he lets the monster down and does not care for him. The monster begins to feel neglected and lonely and wants desperately to have a human relationship. The monster turns angry and revengeful because he is so sad and abandoned. He wants Victor to feel the way that he does, all alone. The monster succeeds and Victor ends up losing all the important in his life and his own life. In the end, the monster dies and the need for human relationship becomes the destruction for both the monster and Victor.
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.
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.
The year of 2016 brought America many new kinds of terrors. From presidential debates to clown sightings, thousands of people were left trembling in their wake. However, in 1818, Mary Shelley unleashed a different kind of horror story on the world with the first publishing of her book Frankenstein. Since that first fateful story, Hollywood has created many different versions, with different amounts of accuracy. The portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in I, Frankenstein is similar to Shelley’s novel because of its backstory, gothic elements and themes.
The creator of the monster, Victor Frankenstein is a man full of knowledge and has a strong passion for science. He pushes the boundary of science and creates a monster. Knowledge can be a threat when used for evil purposes. Though Victor did not intend for the being to be evil, society’s judgement on the monster greatly affects him. As a result he develops hatred for his creator as well as all man-kind. Victor’s anguish for the loss of his family facilitates his plan for revenge to the monster whom is the murderer. While traveling on Robert Walton’s ship he and Victor continue their pursuit of the monster. As Victor’s death nears he says, “…or must I die, and he yet live? If I do, swear to me Walton, that he shall not escape, that you will seek him and satisfy my vengeance in his death…Yet, when I am dead if he should appear, if the ministers of vengeance should conduct him to you, swear that he shall not live-swear that he shall not triumph over my accumulated woes and survive to add to the list of his dark crimes” (pg.199). Victor grieves the death of William, Justine, Clerval, Elizabeth and his father. Throughout the novel he experiences the five stages of grief, denial/ isolation, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. Victor denies ...
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley combines three separate stories involving three different characters--Walton, Victor, and Frankenstein's monster. Though the reader is hearing the stories through Walton's perspective, Walton strives for accuracy in relating the details, as he says, "I have resolved every night,...to record, as nearly as possible in his [Victor's] own words, what he has related during the day" (Shelley 37). Shelley's shift in point of view allows for direct comparison and contrast between the characters, as the reader hears their stories through the use of first person. As the reader compares the monster's circumstances to those of Victor and Walton, the reader's sympathy for the monster greatly increases.
Although “Frankenstein” is the story of Victor and his monster, Walton is the most reliable narrator throughout the novel. However, like most narrator’s, even his retelling of Victor’s story is skewed by prejudice and favoritism of the scientist’s point of view. Yet this could be attributed to the only view points he ever gets to truly hear are from Victor himself and not the monster that he only gets to meet after he comes to mourn his fallen master.
The monster does not resemble Victor physically; instead, they share the same personalities. For example, Victor and the monster are both loving beings. Both of them want to help others and want what is best for others. Victor and the monster try to help the people that surround them. Victor tries to console his family at their losses, and the monster assists the people living in the cottage by performing helpful tasks. However, Victor and the monster do not reflect loving people. The evil that evolves in Victor’s heart is also present in the monster.
Throughout the novel, conflict constantly arises between Victor Frankenstein and the Creature because of their differing interests. Both view each other with great distaste, but, in reality, portray similar qualities. As the characterization of Victor and the Creature progress, the reader realizes the connections that develop between them as they both strive for knowledge, a woman companion, relationships with others, revenge against each other, and serenity in nature. Perhaps the author, Mary Shelley, incorporates the idea that sons resemble the behaviors of their fathers. Regardless of the dissimilar opinions about each other, all of their actions lead to a fate that ends in a lonely death.
Not wanting to look at his creation, Victor begins isolating himself from his creation; therefore, “the monster is clearly determined to visit the same injustice to which he has been condemned upon Victor and all those he loves” (Bloom 49). Victor Frankenstein is unable to end the monsters revengeful acts; therefore, things are getting out of control including the monsters upward growing feeling of abandonment, isolation, and loneliness. By linking William, Victor’s younger brother, as belonging to Frankenstein, he threatens to kill him in revenge. The monster made threat to his brother “Frankenstein! you belong then to my enemy--to him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim” (Shelley 100). This making it apparent that his revenge was growing, and though the first, this would not be the last victim; therefore, its terrifying acts are destroying his creators’ life as well as the lives of those around him. Especially the people he loves and those that love
In Frankenstein, Shelley creates two very complex characters. They embody the moral dilemmas that arise from the corruption and disturbance of the natural order of the world. When Victor Frankenstein is attending school, he becomes infatuated with creating a living being and starts stealing body parts from morgues around the university. After many months of hard work, he finishes one stormy night bringing his creation to life. However, “now that [Victor] had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled [his] heart” (Chambers). Right after Victor realizes what he has done, he falls into deep depression and must be nursed back to health by his friend. Victor spends the rest of the story facing consequences and moral problems from creating unnatural life. When he realizes that the ‘monster’ has killed his brother, even though no one believes him, he feels responsible for his brother’s murder because he was responsible for the existence of the ‘monster’. Also feeling responsible, Victor...
Victor Frankenstein’s creation is not the true monster of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein. This becomes evident when one compares Victor to his own creation. Similarly, both Victor and his creation are hideous beings, internally and externally. What sets them apart is how differently they are in respects to isolation, in terms of the reasons for it and the result of it. Victor's Frankenstein's picked isolation and his obliviousness for the individuals who loves and cares for him and his own particular creation including make him look like a real monster. Conversely, the creature wish to accomplish companions and social connections nearly make him to a greater extent a human, up until this point, than Victor Frankenstein.
Victor creates his creature from corpses, and he succeeds in his goal of creating new life. However, the creature terrifies him and he ends up abandoning his creation, this becomes the creature's first experience in abandonment. As a result a result of Frankenstein’s abandonment the monster now has to fend for himself. Upon creation the creature had to find a way to learn how to speak as well as learning basic concepts such as; hot and cold, light and dark, as well as hunger and thirst. On his journey of trying to find himself the creature comes across many different people, whom he doesn’t have the best experience with. Whenever people look at him they are both terrified and disgusted by his hideous features causing them to run away from him. The creature is chased off and he makes his way to a cottage where he comes across a family of peasants, he lives outside their home in secret. The family is totally unaware of his presence. The creature is able to observe the family and their mannerisms, through his observation he is able to learn how to read and write, as well as the differences between good and bad. He is also able to observe their relationship with one another, he sees the love and care which they have and he hopes to have the opportunity for the same