Examples Of Archetypal Characters In Frankenstein

A writer named Nikita Gill once said “When you see a monster next, always remember this. Do not fear the thing before you. Fear the thing that created it instead.” This quote can be related to the novel Frankenstein where instead of the actual creature being perceived as the monster, the person who created it deserves to be called one. Using the archetypal lens, Victor can be seen as the real monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein from his cruel characteristics, continuous patterns of monstrosity, as well as symbols and themes involving nature.

Firstly, The Creature embodies all of Frankenstein’s rash thinking because in all of his months toiling over its every detail, he never considered what society’s perception of The Creature would be and how this would affect The Creature in return. Irving Malin, author of New American Gothic, describes the quintessential gothic character as one who loves others in an attempt to strengthen his own self-concept, and who consequentially demands those he loves to mirror his passions and musings. In all-consuming narcissism, this character uses love as a crutch for success and an opportunity to “create order out of chaos [and] strength out of weakness,” unwilling or unable to see the actual consequences of his actions (Malin, 5). So Frankenstein does with the creation of The Creature, as he describes the physical experience of awakening his being with all of the candor of a young God. In an emotional frenzy, he curses the weakness of decomposing men and attempts to create a stronger version that can withstand the undeniable compulsion of nature’s hourglass.

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein’s creation is at the heart of the plot being the cause of every event and proves to be the most morally ambiguous character in the novel. The creature’s moral ambiguity, especially in regards to social interaction, works towards revealing the meaning of the work as a whole that without proper guidance, we are prone to imperfection. The creature’s behavior throughout the novel is erratic and unpredictable. With absolutely no instruction or education from his creator, he runs into the wild blind to what he may encounter and how to go about those things. Therefore, his morals are purely instinctual and misguided.

The theme of Frankenstein is revenge and how it influences one, when affected, in doing stuff that affects one's family and loved one. At first, when the creature is brought to life, he is confused and feels abandoned after his creator leaves in disgust after seeing him. The creature is first mistreated by Victor and then by the De Lacey family, leaving the creature to feel pain and anger, turning to revenge. The creature compares himself to the devil saying, “I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed,” (Shelley 42). The creature turns to revenge in a want to hurt those who have hurt him.

The creature was known as a monster and was doomed due to his appearance. The crimes were done by the creature due to the revenge he sought out for towards Victor. The creature cannot be to blame for his behavior, Victor Frankenstein is the only one at fault for the murderers and wrong doings of his creature.

(Shelley 87) Just like Adam, the creature was created in his masters image. Adam from God and the Creature from the dark and ugly nature of man. The creature thus symbolises the horrid nature of man when brought to closer examination. Reiterating this the creature later exclaims to Frankenstein in a blind rage“accursed creator![...]God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance" (Shelley 118).

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a gothic novel that tells the story of scientist, Victor Frankenstein, and his obsession with creating human life. This leads him to creating a gruesome monster made of body-parts stolen from grave yards, whom upon discovering his hideousness, the monster seeks revenge against his creator, causing Victor to regret the creation of his monster for the rest of his life. Shelley uses the literary elements of personification, imagery, and similes to give a vivid sense and visualization of Victor Frankenstein’s thoughts and feelings as well as to allow us to delve deeper into the monster’s actions and emotions. Throughout the novel, Shelley uses personification of various forces and objects to reflect the effect in Victor’s actions.

Frankenstein’s Monster as a Tragic Hero Aristotle once said that "A man doesn 't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall" (Carlson). In Frankenstein, many argue that Victor Frankenstein himself is indeed the tragic hero of the novel. I believe that the creation of Victor Frankenstein (the monster) is the actual tragic hero. There are several components to being a tragic hero, two of the most important are their tragic flaw, and the component of a tragedy or a tragic ending to the story. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is without a doubt tragic through many characters in different ways, but in my eyes, the creature is the character that sticks out with the most characteristics of a tragic hero.

The monster that Victor Frankenstein created was a Byronic hero. A Byronic Hero is a charismatic, broken, dark individual often in exile with a troubled past. The hero has flaws that make him more human like and attainable to the audience. He is a vulnerable and imperfect being and in these traits we find Victor Frankenstein’s monster. Lord Byron penned the first Byronic hero in 1812 and when Mary Shelly wrote, “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus,”(1823) she was arguably influenced from his epic poem, “Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.” (1812-1818) Additionally, Shelly was greatly influenced by John Milton’s, “Paradise Lost,” (1667) as evidenced by the correlations between Satan and Frankenstein’s monster. Both characters exhibit traits of having an alluring and attractive nature while simultaneously being frightening and a danger to society. Victor Frankenstein longed to reanimate a living being and in his efforts to do so, he created a monster that will prove Doctor Frankenstein is just as monstrous. In the corpse turned monster, we find the Byronic hero.

Throughout the novel Frankenstein Mary Shelley defines monstrosity by the person’s actions, it is very clear that Victor Frankenstein is the true monster in the novel. The novel Frankenstein displays the conflicts between the creature and its creator. The creature is very venge full of Victor since he is very lonely. Victor Frankenstein is the true monster in the novel, throughout the novel he has showed his obessiveness with science and his detachment from society. Victor is also very socially disconnected and constantly reverts to isolation.

Have you ever judged a person by how they look? Or Ran away from your problem but they seem to come back and haunt you? Well in the book Gris Grimly 's Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein had created a creature so horrible looking that he ran away from it. Everyone believed that he wasn’t a human being, but I believe that everything he 's done was the most humane thing he could have done. The creature was a kind and "benevolent soul" that cared for everyone until he would be turned away from humanity all because he looked different.

How does Mary Shelley’s construction of the secondary characters reflect upon the protagonist? Throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, character parallels and analogies between Victor Frankenstein and the creature are strongly emphasized. More evidently, the character doubles between the creator, Victor, and his creature are presented through their demeanor, their desires, and their demands. Shelley emphasizes parallelisms of nature, alienation and vengeance to underscore their similarities, leading some readers to interpret Victor and his creature being so similar that indeed, they are the same person. Both lonely and outcasts in the world, Victor and his creation live forlorn and dreary lives, hungry for the love of another, desperate for

Frankenstein created a Creature that later resented him for his creation. The unnamed Creature believes that Frankenstein should have to pay for the damage he has done. The Creature and Frankenstein develop a contrasting relationship throughout the novel and end in somewhat compassionate relationship. Frankenstein created a Creature out of recycled parts which resulted in the creature not being highly appealing. This created the Creature and Frankenstein to have an intense hostile relationship from the

The monster comes to realize that, “[he] applied much personally to [his] own feelings and conditions… [his] person was hideous and [his] stature gigantic” (109). The monster ultimately displays a longing interest in expanding his knowledge, but each time he tries to apply it, he gets turned away because of his appearance. The use of the words “hideous” and “gigantic” ultimately reveals the monster’s self-doubt as his appearance undermines his capability. Mary Shelley’s stance on the idea of feminism results from her desire to prove that reproduction cannot take place without a woman. In the time period Frankenstein was written, the idea of separate spheres created a gap between

When reading through the novel some might question who's the real monster? Throughout Frankenstein Mary Shelley uses the concepts of Science and knowledge, social rejection and true evil. Victor is a lonely guy who takes on a “God like” role for his personal satisfaction. Victor creates the monster out of his greed and ambitions which led to many of the horrible events throughout the story. He was portrayed as the victim at the beginning of the story because of how secluded he was and his mother died.