Iconic Characters In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Over the past century, Frankenstein has been analyzed and interpreted in seemingly infinite different forms of literature, film, and television shows. Once solely recognized as the story about a brilliant scientist who creates a creature in whom he regrets making after the creature turns out ugly, Frankenstein now represents an internationally recognized and commercialized pop culture symbol for Halloween decorations and costumes. When analyzing and appreciating the true literary essence behind Mary Shelley’s original Frankenstein, one of the most important comparisons to consider remains the underlying influences behind the Creature’s immoral actions and whether or not the blame for these actions belong to Victor or the Creature.

Despite the fact that Victor is isolated in the end and isn’t happy about the outcome, “Winter, spring and summer passed...so deeply was I engrossed in my occupation"(Monster of Mary Shelley), conveys the tragedy of Victor’s creation. By spending most of his time deprived in his experiment, never going out in reality, but focusing on what is making him successful, made him crazier than he’s ever been. In spite of the fact that Victor was the creator of his monster, he had responsibilities which he ignored. “After the fact that he made ambitious mistakes, he could've acknowledged his authorities and save himself from desolation. Out of pride and ambition, his mistakes brought him to the point of unhappiness and devastation to himself and to his loved ones, most importantly his creation.

When people hear the word “monster”, most people imagine a massive, horrid, and grotesque figure that haunts people. While pondering what a monster is, mankind thinks of the outward appearance. Seldom do people think of man’s internal qualities as being barbaric or gruesome. Authors allow readers to create their own images of these terrifying beings. Frankenstein is a thought-provoking novel that empowers readers to have their own opinions about who the actual monster is and what it looks like. Readers can conclude that Victor Frankenstein is the actual monster in Frankenstein because of how he views himself, how he creates destruction, and how he destroys himself.

Victor Frankenstein the main character in Frankenstein was going through depression, bipolar, and anxiety throughout the story because things in his life were going terrible for him. Victor never had a happy moment in his life after the creation of his monster. Once the monster became angry he tried controlling Victor into creating a love for him. Victor didn’t want to because he was afraid that he would create a violent species and they would take over. After the monster found out he wasn’t doing it, the monster wanted to kill Victors loved ones and not Victor. Frankenstein was feeling lost towards the end of the book until Victor finally got his wish and died. Victor Frankenstein was the main character in Frankenstein. He was important because he was the one who made the story a story because he created a creature and the creature did things to put points in the story.

One is when he at the house right after Justine has been sentenced to death for killing his little brother. He is uneasy and unsettled with the current events and the impending danger of the monster. These are clear signs of anxiety. Frankenstein also shows signs of anxiety from being always worried about where the monster is. The threat of who he could attack next makes him have anxiety. The threat that the monster made of his family when they were in the cave gave him anxiety. The signs are super clear here. He finally drives home the point when he is making the monster. After his creation, Frankenstein was always looking over his shoulder for the monster. This is clear signs of anxiety, he is always nervous and worried about the monster. There is no way he doesn't have

Such passion is seen in Victor’s ‘noble intent’ to design a being that could contribute to society, but he had overextended himself, falling under the spell of playing ‘God,’ further digging his grave as he is blinded by glory. His creation – aptly called monstrous being due to its stature, appearance, and strength – proved to be more of a pure and intellectually disposed ‘child’ that moves throughout the novel as a mere oddity, given the short end of the stick in relation to a lack of familial figures within his life, especially that of parents. Clearly, Victor Frankenstein had sealed his fate: by playing God he was losing his humanity, ultimately becoming the manifestation of Mary Shelley’s hidden desires, deteriorating into The Lucifer Principle by which the author Howard Bloom notes social groups, not individuals, as the primary “unit of selection” in human psychological

As the book progresses, Frankenstein becomes more engrossed in the different aspects of science, and Shelley no longer uses natural scenes to describe what is happening around him, because of his disconnection with ‘appreciation of the unknown’. This aspect of his life is shown in this quote, “days and nights of incredible labor and fatigue... my cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement... my limbs now tremble, and my eyes swim with the remembrance... I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit.” (Shelly 42, 43) Here, the effects of his continued pursuit of knowledge and neglect of well-being is shown evidently. Once Frankenstein creates the monster, his unquenchable thirst for knowledge is frightened into silence. He then presently returns to the outside world,

In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, ambition evolves into a form of obsession with revenge. But the result of vengeance is a curse to human life and its longevity. Both main characters in the novel, Victor and the monster become obsessed and let vengeance be their downfall.

Victor’s parental figures in Frankenstein poison him by surrounding him with countless indulgences. From childhood, Victor was given all of his desires without question and this led to him becoming self-centered and dependent on the service of others. Victor describes his childhood with

This passage taken from Mary Shelley’s horror novel, Frankenstein, on page 66-67 describes the atmosphere and ponderings of Victor Frankenstein as he solitarily ascends to the summit of Montanvert. After feeling grievance and despair as he blames himself for the death of both his brother, William and his servant, Justine, Victor attempts to find solace in the majesty of nature to repair his emotional state. However, his descriptions of the environment are somewhat grim and bleak, contrasting the pleasant and peaceful mood that being in the natural world typically evokes. This scene causes him to question man’s desire for superiority against nature as it reflects upon himself. In this passage,

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.

Victor Frankenstein turns away from his responsibilities by ignoring the existence of his creation. Throughout the novel, Victor is constantly running away from the monster and not giving him attention, which resulted in the monsters change of personalities. For example, in page 71 the creation said, “All men hate the wretched; how must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us.” This quote suggests that because of the ignorance of Victor the monster began to become evil and have the urge to seek

Victor Frankenstein worked for two long years to create life from a lifeless form, which, before obtaining life, he believed to be beautiful. However, once he saw the monster's eyes open, he began to see the hideousness of the monster. After this, he fled his operating room and paced wildly in his bedroom, trying to think of what to do. “For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. 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”(Chapter 5 pg 42). In this excerpt, Victor Frankenstein explains how he had yearned for this moment for two years, but when his dream came true, he was filled with horror and disgust. When this happened, he eventually came to the conclusion that it would be better to abandon the monster all together. However, in doing so, he filled the monster with hate, which led to many deaths committed by the monster. Due to this, it is easy to trace the monster's actions back to Victor Frankenstein, classifying him as a

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a conflict as old as life itself emerges as the story progresses; parent versus posterity in a struggle for reconciliation.Victor Frankenstein and his creation become tied up in a constant battle as the creation seeks his origins, finding a horrifying truth; the creator had abandoned the creation. This central conflict derives from the creation of the creature, inability of Frankenstein to appreciate his creation, and the creation’s need for a parental figure. The conflict addresses themes of the book such as human desires for prestige, acceptance, and the intimacy of a relationship with one’s creator. Not only does Shelley capture the resentful conflict between a father and his “son”, but she derives this conflict from her own rebellious battle against her father.

Frankenstein’s mother, a character who’s non-existent for most of the novel, plays a big part of Victor’s ultimate demise. Soon after her death, Victor felt as though he could 've done more as if he could 've saved her. The absence of his mother drove Victor to invest into his interests and go to Ingolstadt. While at Ingolstadt, Victor became interested in the studies of science. “But this state of mind had place only in the first steps towards knowledge: the more fully I entered into the science, the more exclusively I pursued it for its own sake.” (30). Victor becomes enamored with science and ideas that come with the subject. Victor wants to unlock all of the knowledge that science brings for the sake of his own enrichment. This leads Victor to become obsessed with the idea of creating life and soon finds a way to do so. “ It was with these feelings that I began the creation of a human being.”(33). His drive to create a human being circulates around the idea that he wants to preserve life and keep loved ones alive. On the night of the creatures creation, Victor was at a loss for words. “How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?” (35). Catastrophe? This is everything that Victor Frankenstein wanted and more. He created life, he beat death, but was that worth the monstrosity that he created? Victor did nothing but question his belief and sacrifices he made. “I had