In the novel Frankenstein, author Marry Shelley depicts character Victor Frankenstein as a scientist with a strong passion for forbidden knowledge and finding the answers to life through science. Though his intentions are good this leads him to the creation of a monster. Throughout the novel Frankenstein is constantly encountered by obstacles that test his passions for science and responsibility for his creation. For Victor it seems that the choice to abandon the monster is the easier path, rather than taking care of his creation. In the beginning of the book, right after the creation of the monster, Victor fled his home to get away from the creature, only to return and find that it had escaped.
Primarily it is not Frankenstein who has to suffer the consequences of his creating life, it is the Creature. But for this suffering he makes Frankenstein notice the pain he has caused the Creature by taking revenge and killing the people Frankenstein most cares about. In Frankenstein, the neglect of duty never leads to anything good. Having abandoned his duty of care towards the Creature, Frankenstein then has to learn from his mistakes by suffering the consequences of this
Even though Frankenstein feels that his “human nature [did] turn with loathing from [his] occupation” (55) as he is creating the being, he continues on with an “unnatural stimulus” (55). Frankenstein realizes that there must be some issues with his plan, but never takes the time to stop and think about the possible outcomes of his plan. Because Frankenstein chooses to ignore his own gut
He is rejected by the De Laceys and Frankenstein and ponders the question: ‘Am I not alone, miserably alone?’. The monster is represented as the dark side of Frankenstein. Shelley depicts Frankenstein as the real monster of the novel. Frankenstein appears to look like a nice person but Shelley creates him as a blasphemous person whose arrogance and obsessions with science end up costing him dearly. In contrast, the monster appears to be a nasty, unapproachable beast but actually appears to be well-educated and is knowledgeable about the world around him.
Often times, the monster would carry out a good and selfless deed, only to be shunned by the recipients. An example was when he tried to save a girl after she fell into a river, only to be shot in the shoulder by her companion. This was when the monster knew that no matter how benevolent he was, humans would never look beyond his appearance, for they rather let their prejudice rule over their decisions than to face an abomination. In a moment, the monster’s impression of humans changed and he desired revenge on Frankenstein for making him an abomination. If only Frankenstein had given his creation a chance, the unjust treatments would have never happened.
The Monster in the Lab Coat Many literary critics have long argued a question regarding Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: Who is the real monster? One can argue that, throughout the novel, it is Victor Frankenstein, the overly ambitious scientist, who is the true monster. Victor Frankenstein is depicted as a callous creator who shows no empathy to his own innocent creature. Frankenstein fails his responsibility as a creator and abandons his creation to a life full of abhorrence. The creature has infinite potential, but it is Frankenstein’s prideful nature and negligence that makes the creature become “monstrous”.
He then used electricity to give life to his creature. By making the monster, he was taking the place of God, or according to the myth, the god Prometheus, and became the creator instead of just the created. “Prometheus knows the good consequences that his acts and his pride will have to mankind, but Frankenstein acts without stopping to think what could happen after” (Pastelero). Although Frankenstein does become a creator by creating the monster, he does not care for his creation in the way Prometheus cared for his humans he created. Frankenstein was not a good creator, he was actually trying desperately to kill his monster he made.
Frankenstein wanted to recreate his mother, but instead he made a creature comprised of the socially repressed elements of Frankenstein (the monster) and his wish for his mother. Frankenstein's creature comprises all of the unacceptable traits of humans, those we usually suppress. These traits may actually be a representation of those traits that Frankenstein wishes he had. Mary Shelley tries to humanize the position of the impossible monster to imagine what it would be like for a monster to sustain personhood when everybody around him treats him as an utterly outcast to society. Shelley is trying to show that the creature is not inherently monstrous, but
Within this theme we see the reoccurring element of gothic villains where “the exaggeration of just one aspect of the beautiful can produce the hideous,” (Bayer 80) in this case it is literal and can be applied to the monster where this is achieved with “combinations of the normal or even beautiful through an unexpected fusion of different realms. “ (Bayer 80) When victor builds the monster, he wants to make the perfect creation. Driven by his goal of fame from the fellow scientists, whatever he is able to create will be judged by all. This is why he obsesses over finding the perfect ingredients and parts day and night neglecting his own health for that of his perfect monster. He finds only the best parts Senechal 2 of the best bodies and sews them together and the gothic element is added.
Shelly suggests science is dangerous because of the enticing discovery of creation, striving for the ability to interchange death to life. She shows this enticement by Dr. Frankenstein’s utter infatuation with his occupation, he finds himself “engaged, heart and soul, in the pursuit of some [new] discoveries.” Shelly displays the thought of science to be problematic when Dr. Frankenstein confesses that “I knew well, therefore, what would be my father’s feelings; but I could not tear my thoughts from my employment, loathsome in itself, but which had taken an irresistible hold of my imagination.” Shelly shows that Dr. Frankenstein is so enticed by the thought of restoring life upon the dead, that he