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Frankenstein character analysis essays
Essay on victor frankenstein's character
Analysis of victor frankenstein chapter 5
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“I, not in deed, but in effect, was the true murder.” words spoken by Victor Frankenstein himself (Shelley 88). Frankenstein was an extremely brilliant man that was constantly amazed by the world of science. His curiosity in turn lead him to the creation of the appalling monster introduced in the tale of Frankenstein. At first glance, Victor is both disgusted and horrified at his work. Later in the story Victor falls ill and is forever haunted by the monster he has brought to life. Victor’s creation led to the mass destruction of his loved ones but as the story plays out, it seems that Victor and his monster are not all that different after all. Victor Frankenstein and his creation are comparable in terms of their loving yet temperamental personalities, …show more content…
He grew up in an intellectual household, as he had a doctor to look up to all of his life. This inspired Victor to push the boundaries of nature and knowledge and become the brilliantly successful scientist he grew to be. Victor took nature to a new level when he incorporated forces like lightning and electric eels to create a new form of life. Victor was presented with new opportunities to expand in the world of known science due to nature. The monster’s life was not nearly as positively affected by nature as Victor’s was. The monster continued to battle with nature throughout his lifetime, as his own existence defines what was previously known. Victor created a “freak of nature” that not only frightened himself, but everyone else that came in contact with it. Frankenstein was so appalled by his own creation that he fled and fell ill at the sight of it. “He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped, and rushed down stairs. I took refuge in the courtyard… where I remained during the rest of the night.” (Shelley 61). Victor was only the first of many to react in this manner at the sight of his creation that defied all previously known laws of nature and science. Nature and its laws were the reason behind the creation’s suffering and hatred, but was also the source of Victor’s …show more content…
The monster struggled to obtain love or acceptance from anyone throughout his lifetime, though it is what he craved the most. In response to this disappointment, the monster reverted to threats and brutal behavior. He named Victor as the source of his pain, as he was the creator that brought him into this world only to leave him alone to suffer. In search of his creator for revenge, the monster came across Victor’s younger brother William. After making the connection between the two, the monster first killed William then planted the evidence on Victor’s family friend, Justine; leading to the murder of two of Victor’s close ones. Even after being responsible of two murders, the monster was still suffering and resulted in threatening both the lives of Victor and his soon-to-be wife, Elizabeth. This resulted in the eventual death of Victor’s wife as well. The monster took extreme actions in response to his own difficult upbringing, while Victor took a much less destructive yet cowardly approach. After Victor’s creation of the monster he made a break for the door, running away from his fears and leaving the monster behind. Shelly illustrates this of Victor as she writes “Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bedchamber, unable to
The monster tells Frankenstein of the wretchedness of the world and how it was not meant for a being such as himself. At the end of his insightful tale the creature demands a companion of the same hideous features but of the opposite gender to become his. Victor only has the choice to make the monster or suffer a lifetime of horror his creation would bring upon him. Which the creator ultimately agrees to make the female monster to save the lives of his family but gains a conscious that fills with guilt of all the destruction he has created and creating. When the monster comes to collect the female he tears her apart and the monster vows to destroy all Victor holds dear. The monster’s emotional sense is consumed with rage against Victor, murdering Frankenstein’s best friend. Though when the monster’s framing ways do not work to lead to Victor being executed, he then murders Frankenstein’s wife on their wedding night. This tragedy is the last for Victor’s father who becomes ill with grief and quickly passes within a few days, leaving Victor with nothing but his own regret. Shelley doesn’t give the audience the monsters side of the story but hints that the remainder of his journey consisted of being a shadow to that of his creator. It is at the graves of the Frankenstein family when the creature makes an appearance in the solemn and
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor and the monster go through a journey filled with love, betrayal, and ambition. However, there are key differences between the two of them. Victor leads a good life, but has an inner spark within him that leads him to rebel against the normal world and seek glory. The monster starts off with derelict beginnings and simply wishes for the basic needs that every human gets to experience such as love, affection, and friendship. Eventually, they both face problems, and as a result, devise evil plans, and yet their motivations and rationale cause the reader to have more sympathy for the monster than Frankenstein.
Victor’s lack of compassion and sympathy towards the monster causes him to become angry instead of guilty. His cruelness to his creation made the monster kill and hurt the people he did but “when [he] reflected on [the monster’s] crimes and malice, [Victor’s] hatred and revenge burst all bounds of moderation,”(Shelley 325). Without compassion Victor thinks that the only way to stop the monster is to get revenge on him, instead of just giving him the empathy and kindness that monster craved. Victor realizes that "if he were vanquished, [he] should be a free man...balanced by those horrors of remorse and guilt which would pursue [him] until death. ”(Shelley 731).
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...
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
After Frankenstein discovered the source of human life, he became wholly absorbed in his experimental creation of a human being. Victor's unlimited ambition, his desire to succeed in his efforts to create life, led him to find devastation and misery. "...now that I have finished, the beauty of the dream had vanished..." (Shelley 51). Victor's ambition blinded him to see the real dangers of his project. This is because ambition is like a madness, which blinds one self to see the dangers of his actions. The monster after realizing what a horror he was demanded that victor create him a partner. "I now also began to collect the materials necessary for my new creation, and this was like torture..." (Shelley 169). Victor's raw ambition, his search for glory, has left him. His eyes have been opened to see his horrible actions, and what have and could become of his creations. As a result, Victor has realized that he is creating a monster, which could lead to the downfall of mankind. His choice is simple, save his own life or save man.
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
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.
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.
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.
When Victor abandons the monster he runs away and tries to forget about his failed creation. It was extremely dangerous for Victor to flee his experiment because the monster soon becomes aggressive with hate and is curious to know why Victor left him; furthermore, the monster becomes obsessed with self-learning and knowledge.
The obvious clash is introduced all through Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Clash, anticipation and a raising peak are three noteworthy parts to an elegantly composed novel. The parts of conflict in a novel consistently propel the plot and must dependably influence the primary character in a manner that depicts through alternate characters in the novel too.
He created a life, and then spontaneously he quickly decided to run away from his creation. Victor’s actions after creating what he created were really irresponsible, and did not correctly took care of the circumstance’s he put himself in. The creation was never actually evil, but he felt abandoned by what could had been called his father. Frankenstein, the monster, was only a seeker for companionship. He strongly desired to feel loved, rather than abandoned. Society’s evil behavior toward the monster is what altered the monster’s conduct and followed to how he acted.
Victor is very obsessive in nature, just as the monster is, a prime example being his attitude towards his sister, Elizabeth. He treats Elizabeth as a treasure, saying, “I… looked upon Elizabeth as mine–mine to protect, love, and cherish.” (Shelley, 21). Showcasing his obsession with his sister, even at a young age, Victor eventually marries Elizabeth–this illustrates the true form of his obsession. Victor also spends two years creating the monster, purely to prove those who did not believe him wrong. Calling himself, “...engaged, heart and soul…” (Shelley, 36) in his work . This obsession affects his relations with his family, as he does not pay any visit to them during this time. “The monster’s obsessiveness is exhibited when he retaliates against Victor for destroying the companion he agreed to make, saying, “I will be with you on your wedding night,” (Shelley 156) and killing Victor’s friend, Henry Clerval (Shelley, 164). This reveals the monster’s obsession with making Victor’s life a living
Victor goes on in school and becomes interested in bringing a person to life from scratch. He does this and creates the monster in which immediately abandons. The monster's contribution to the main theme in the novel, are brought to light in the woodshed scene. In this scene, the monster, as he tells Victor he was spying on the De Lacey family where he got so much educated about the way of life. Also from this narration, the monster reveals the fear he had for humans and the loneliness he felt because of the rejection by the humans and also by his own creator who had abandoned