homosocial relationship in Hamlet and Frankenstein

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An idea that can connect Hamlet and Frankenstein is the homosocial relationship between the main character and his best friend. Victor and Hamlet have plenty complications, Henry and Horatio help them go back to reality, they are the strongest relationship for each main character, they are foil characters in the novel and they are presented as opposites attracting to each other.
In Frankenstein, Victor wants to prove people that he can use the science he learned and that leads to creating the monster; after so many months of being isolated, seeing Henry brings him back to reality and remembers his family. Victor also gets sick and Henry takes care of him. In Hamlet, Horatio is the one that tells Hamlet about the ghost, which leads him to become “crazy” and he can only act normal around Horatio. The main characters can only be themselves when they are around their best friend; and they trust each other with their lives.
Their best friend is the strongest relationship they have: Victor describes Henry as “perfectly humane, so thoughtful in his generosity, so full of kindness and tenderness” (Ch. 2). Henry has been around Victor’s life since he was a child so he is akin to a brother, the deaths of his other relatives affected him greatly but Henry’s death is the one that brings him closer to insanity, in the room when he saw Henry dead, he “gasped for breath, throwing myself on the body,” and then he was “carried out of the room in strong convulsions” (Ch. 19), Victor’s reactions show how much pain it caused and later on he falls ill, he takes a long time to recover, which also shows how affected he is since Henry is not there to take care of him like always. Hamlet has other relationships with his relatives but his feeling for Ho...

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...ith his plans like watching King Claudius’ reactions during the play, Horatio is the well-educated person who looks completely normal while Hamlet goes crazy and thirsty for revenge, and even though Horatio thinks about the situations, when Hamlet is dying he decides to take away his life too because he doesn’t want to live without his beloved friend.
The homosocial relationship between the main character and their best friend connects these two novels by showing how the main character has the same purpose of taking revenge against the one who killed their loved ones, and the best friend who is always there to help and take care of the main character so he can complete his goal. The differences between them make the relationship closer and stronger, and it is proven by the authors through out the novels that no other person can take the place of their best friend.

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