Guilt In Frankenstein
There are very few people that would question the dark and horrific nature of Mary Shelley’s writing in her novel Frankenstein. However, Mary also manages to connect the reader to the characters through the use of an emotion that is not commonly found in the horror genre. Guilt is one of the major over-arching themes of Frankenstein and can entirely change how a reader may view a given character, and Shelley uses this to show how each character changes over the course of the story. In the novel, nearly every character goes through their own stage of guilt of varying intensities. Elizabeth, Victor, and even the monster feel guilt for their actions or lack thereof. Victor is arguably the character that experiences the most powerful and frequent …show more content…
Victor claims that, despite all of his hard work, even at the time, he “always came from [his] studies discontented and unsatisfied,” but he continued to study simply because he thought this was the only way for him to quench …show more content…
Elizabeth only shows guilt a small number of times, with the most notable of these instances being over the death of William and the condemnation of Justine for William’s murder. It is rather obvious that Elizabeth blames herself for the murder of William, as she states, “O God! I have murdered my darling child” (Shelley 137). While it is understandable for her to believe that she played a role in the murder since she thinks the fact that she allowed William to wear the valuable locket is what resulted in his death, she would be entirely without blame even if this was the case. The next prominent occurrence of Elizabeth’s self-reproach is once Justine tells her and Victor that she had not committed the murder she confessed to. Once Justine had informed Elizabeth that the confession was untruthful, Elizabeth immediately goes into a stage of regret for ever even questioning Justine’s innocence and begs her for forgiveness by saying, “forgive me for having for on moment distrusted you,” although she had no way of knowing otherwise (Shelley 172). However, Elizabeth is not the only character in the novel that felt guilt over an issue they had no control
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How Does Elizabeth Proctor Show Sacrifice In The Crucible
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Essay About Lies In The Crucible
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Examples Of Moral Ambiguity In Frankenstein
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Self Deception In Frankenstein
798 Words | 4 PagesFighting a Mirror In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, self deception eclipses Victor Frankenstein and clouds his judgment. Victor’s passion in breaking the bounds of nature guides him in making the creation, but when Victor regrets giving life to the hideous creature, he deserts it. The abandonment is just the first step Victor takes to introduce the creation to malevolence followed with Victor’s assumptions of evil and lost responsibility in the results of his own zeal. Victor Frankenstein’s self deception not only forges evil into the creation, but also incriminates him for the consequences of Victor’s ambitions.
Why Does Mary Shelley Use Of Personification In Frankenstein
656 Words | 3 PagesFrankenstein 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.
Lack Of Empathy In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
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Lack Of Knowledge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein '
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Empathy In Frankenstein
929 Words | 4 PagesThe gothic fiction novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley centralizes on humanity and the qualifications that make someone human. The content of the novel Frankenstein depicts a monster displaying human traits that his creator Victor does not possess: empathy, a need for companionship, and a will to learn and fit in. Throughout the novel Shelley emphasizes empathy as a critical humanistic trait. The monster displays his ability to empathize with people even though they are strangers. On the other hand Victor, fails to show empathy throughout the novel even when it relates to his own family and friends.
Examples Of Moral Conscience In Frankenstein
800 Words | 4 PagesIn the novel "Frankenstein" the moral conscience of the main character Victor Frankenstein can be questioned several times. In several instances Victor Frankenstein puts his loved one's lives in danger throughout the entire novel. Also Victor Frankenstein sometimes feels little or no remorse from his actions that harm the people close to him. Victor Frankenstein never fully realizes that all of the horrendous events that happen to him and his loved ones stem from his creation of the monster he made at Ingolstadt. It is Victor Frankenstein's lack of a balanced moral conscience that leads to much of the tragedy in Mary Shelley's novel, "Frankenstein".
Light And Dark In Frankenstein Analysis
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Victor's Guilt Quotes In Frankenstein
1260 Words | 6 PagesGuilt can either be an emotion that makes a person feel remorse for his or her’s actions toward another, or can be the conduct involving the executions of such crimes and wrongs. In the novel, “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, both definitions of guilt were the common theme. However, the main problem was whether the creature or the creator, Victor Frankenstein, were guiltier for their actions. The one presumed to be more guilty was Victor Frankenstein who created the monster in the first place causing his family pain and failed to take responsibility for the monster’s actions. Although he didn’t directly kill his family, the monster is guilty too.
Examples Of Rationalization In Frankenstein
503 Words | 3 PagesIn order to protect the view he holds of himself, which stems from his god complex, Victor Frankenstein uses rationalization to shelter himself from the guilt derived from his indirect involvement with the murders of William and Justine. In allowing young Justine to confess to the murder of William, though she is innocent, Frankenstein experiences conflicted emotions. Victor writes that “such a declaration [of who the true criminal was] would have been considered as the ravings of a madman,” (Shelly 86). This rationalization of not telling the truth is because of his inability to take responsibility for his actions. In the same passage, Frankenstein describes the guilt and sadness he feels as “fangs of remorse” (86).
Theme Of Responsibility In Frankenstein
904 Words | 4 PagesResponsibility is the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the reader finds many examples of the importance, need, and especially lack of responsibility with characters like Victor and the monster. A reader of Frankenstein sees multifarious examples of Shelley’s theme of the dangers in not taking responsibility even today in the real world. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Shelley’s portrayal of Victor as selfish suggests that not taking responsibility can lead to pain, death, and the suffering of others as we see in the novel which relates to today's society of powerful countries not taking responsibility for the weapons that they create, and the damage that is revealed as a result. Characters in Frankenstein not taking responsibility show the reader the potential dangers of pain and death in numerous situations in the novel.
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