What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination? These questions continually recurred but I was unable to solve them.” Readers may also find it easy to sympathise with The Monster as Shelley is very critical of Frankenstein. For example, in Chapter 15 when the Monster is talking about Frankenstein’s journal that documented his creation, the Monster says ““Everything is related in them which bares reference to my accursed origin; the whole detail of that series of disgusting circumstances which produced it is set in view; the minutest description of my odious and loathsome person is given, in language which painted your own horrors and rendered mine indelible.
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.
The creature is born 8ft tall and ugly to look at, but with the mind of a new born child. All he is looking for is acceptance and love but is instead rejected throughout the novel because of his outrageous physical appearance, turning him into an aggressive and villainous murderer. The monster’s violent actions play on Victor’s mind and manifest in the form of guilt. The novel is set mostly in Geneva, which was an influence of the travels of Mary Shelley. Most critics have received the novel as an amalgamation of the gothic novel with elements of the Romantic Movement.
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”.
Victor and the creature at points seem to complement the opposite qualities of one another, meaning that one has what the other lacks. “Frankenstein and his creation may even represent one being -- two sides of a single entity forming a doppelganger relationship. However, it is difficult to decipher which represent good and which represents evil -- the man or the monster” (Storment). At the beginning, Victor, the creator, held all power and knowledge between the two, until the monster begins learning and developing, it is then that Victor seems to begin losing reason and control: “…I shudder to reflect, that I have been the miserable origin and author? Cursed by the day, abhorred devil, in which you first saw light!
The monster starts to recount the story of his life once they are inside. In this chapter, it is shown that Frankenstein still feels guilty about the murder of his brother, and the execution of Justine. It is shown that he is deeply flawed, and feels isolated. The monster is shown to be more human in this chapter, as he engages in conversation with Victor, and portrays some form of emotion. He states that he was a virtuous and worthy creature until the disdain and ignorance of humans made
So Victor does just that, but after it awakes, he is filled with disgust and hates his creation because in his eyes it is ugly. “But now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (Page 56) A true mother doesn’t care what their child looks like, they love it anyways. Next, the major theme of this novel is the women’s role in families. During Victor’s dream, he sees Elizabeth turn into the corps of his mother. This reinforces the idea that women are frail and weak.
To the reader, it seems that Shelly consistently reminds us of the lack of responsibility on the part of Frankenstein, and the monster’s inherent innocence, who is only made evil by his circumstances. But like the reader, Shelley too, is unclear about whose behaviour is most unjustifiable and unpardonable. With reference to David Punter’s essay “Gothic and Romanticism”, Victor Frankenstein can be compared to the ‘Wanderer’, the Wanderer’s essential characteristics being that he is hero and victim both, who defies God by crossing the laws of mortality and dares to touch the untouchable. The Wanderer is never satisfied with the restrictions placed on him by an ordered society, and he ultimately suffers for his disobedience. Victor clearly fits the description of the Wanderer, as his obsessive need to create life and be its sole creator has a hint of an unnatural desperation to satisfy his ego and attain gratitude.
This book is an illustration of the destruction she experienced in her life, and her inability to control any of it, just as how Frankenstein and The Creature did not have any control over their tragedies. One way in which Mary Shelly has displayed her life through Frankenstein is that her inability to give life has been shown through Victor's curiosity with life and death. Frankenstein's obsession with giving life has been clearly displayed in this quote, "Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world" (38). Victor's obsession with discovering the secrets of life have completely consumed him as a person. In conclusion, many people and events throughout the course of Mary Shelley’s life influenced her novel Frankenstein.
Domestic affection is the sense of belonging and love one feels when people are accepted by family and friends. Shelly believes that when people loses this affection they begin to make immoral decisions and lose their sense of humanity, and this is when they become truly monstrous. When Frankenstein is read from this perspective, the creature isn’t the only monster in the story. Robert Walton, captain of the ship, also has the potential to be monstrous, and so too do victor, the general population, and the social institutions within the world of Frankenstien. Through the actions committed in the play, Victor Frankenstein becomes one of the most monstrous characters in the story.