Victor Frankenstein frequently vacations and hikes through various natural environments where he finds peace in nature. He sees nature as a place where he can recover and finds pleasure by traveling to the same forests he used to play in as a child. Victor enjoys the fresh air and the marvelous views of the mountains. Victor Frankenstein claims, “I was capable of a more intense application, and was more deeply smitten with the thirst for knowledge… The world to me was a secret that I had desired to divine. Curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they were unfolded to me, are among the earliest sensations I can remember” (Shelley, Chapter 2).
Nature frees Victor's mind from his inhuman memories which constantly haunt him. The natural environment reminds Victor of cheerful memories and continually revives him throughout the novel. Shelley believed that nature had a positive effect on individuals who took the time to enjoy the outdoors and explore the natural environment. After Victor read the letter that stated William’s death, his brother, during the time Victor is returning to Geneva to talk to his father he claims, “I contemplated the lake: the waters were placid; all around was calm, and snowy mountains the palaces of nature were not changed. By degrees the calm and heavenly scene restored me” (Shelley Chapter 7). Victor Frankenstein seems to find alleviation in the presence of the different sides of nature.
How can the creator make a creation that is more human than he is himself? If you are to make an animal out of clay, it seems impossible to make it more alive or have more human characteristics than yourself. Frankenstein creates his monster, which later is seen as more human than himself, as well as more realistic. Frankenstein does not mirror his own human beauty in his creation but makes him hideous to the human eye. For this reason, he is able to reject his own creation, along with everyone else. Comparing the creator to the creation, Frankenstein is less human than his monster, due to his choices and actions.
Frankenstein is strongly discouraged from reading into a certain type of philosophy by his father, but his decisions lead him to disregard his father's views and read all that he can. He states in his readings that “natural Philosophy is the Genius that had regulated by fate…” (Shelley, 34), which produces ideas about creating a replica of a human being. For this reason, Frankenstein does not choose to create his form of life to mirror a monster, but through his actions toward the monster, it becomes inhumane. Although many outsiders perceive a monster when they see Frankenstein’s ugly creation, they only perceive it by its outward appearance. No human being took time to give it a chance including his creator, Frankenstein.
Frankenstein’s thoughts which occupied his mind, continued to sway him away from any ideas of his creation. He could only think about what his monster was doing, and that it always seemed to be watching him. Following this, he developed a deeper appreciation of nature which was brought into Frankenstein's life where he expressed, “I spent the following day roaming… and bade me be at peace” (Shelley, 86). Frankenstein did in fact have human characteristics since he was more human than the monster he created, but his actions expressed otherwise. The monster contemplated his existence and wanted everything that any other human wants.
When the monster first ran into the town and the people saw his hideous face, he was distraught at their reactions. No one wants to be rejected or have others running away screaming from you. As a result, the monster finds a place to hide and observe life, becoming enlightened as to how human beings live and thrive similarly to the way a parent observes their child growing up. The monster seems to go through the same stages a child would when growing up, but Frankenstein, on the other hand, seems to become unenlightened to the world around him. He rejects the thoughts of others such as his father's: which were that reading philosophy was not worth his time.
Frankenstein was born into love and greatness until it was corrupted. Just like Mary. Mary was born in 1797, which was the beginning of the Romantic Period in English literature. Yet, she chose more to focus on something different, the gothic component. This was the heart of her most famous novel, Frankenstein. Mary was fulfilled with ideas from her era in which she was born, along with her influences on her parents. The Enlightenment period also had an influence on Mary Shelley’s writing. These are some of the main ideas within her novel. Mary Shelley took in the ideas of the Enlightenment and transformed them into the impact she wanted her novel to have.
The major events in Frankenstein created an overview of Mary Shelley herself.
Victor Frankenstein was a young Swiss boy, who grew up in Geneva reading the works of the ancient alchemists. Mary Shelley grew up reading her mother and father's pieces. Victor learned about modern science. He became fascinated with the “secret of life.” Mary Shelley’s secret of life was to learn from each experience and change it into something useful (Powers). Mary had some similarities with Victor which is why she was so involved within her novel. Her connection with her characters in her writings allowed them to come to life. Frankenstein proceeds to kill Victor’s “youngest brother, best friend, and wife; he also indirectly causes the deaths of two other innocents, including Victor’s father” (Frankenstein). Mary Shelley had some common ground with Victor. Although Shelley did not directly kill anyone, she experienced the same amount of grief as Victor did. Shelley may believe she “killed” her father by upsetting him so much when she eloped and got pregnant. These events pertain to most of what happened in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Mary was heavily influenced by her home life growing up, her love life, and the world around her. She faced a lot of challenges in life, but she never failed to stay positive and continue writing. Her writing is what saved her in the end when she only had her child Percy left. Mary was a determined, courageous woman who went through a lot of hardships while creating the famous novel Frankenstein. She incorporated many of her own events and ideas into her novel, which allowed her to have a strong connection with it. All of Mary Shelley’s other novels expressed many of her other ideas, influences and allowed the world to know about her deep feelings.
Frankenstein was brought into the world as a being that was as innocent as a newborn infant. The monster had not been introduced to the harsh side of the world. Frankenstein was widely rejected in society because he was extremely different from everyone else he was surrounded by. Frankenstein was very interested in human society and interaction. Frankenstein watched a wealthy family live their lives in a hiding spot he found near the family’s cottage. Frankenstein learned to speak and even read by observing the family’s day-to-day interactions. He felt like he was a part of the family because of the long period of time he spied on the family. He was caught talking to a blind family member one day. He was immediately threatened and shunned from the home.
Frankenstein had not only been looked down upon by society and his creator, but he was also feared by a family that he thought of as his own. The constant rejections drove Frankenstein over the edge. Frankenstein was thirsty for revenge so he began to murder people that were very close to Victor.
The monster was trying to torment and get revenge on the victor. The monster murdered Elizabeth, William, and Victor’s younger brother. The murders of his loved ones filled Victor with rage and guilt. He felt that he was responsible for their deaths because he created this evil monster. Victor wanted to avenge these deaths and set things right. His main goal was to track down and remove the monster from the earth. He continuously trailed and tried to track the monster down but he was never successful. The monster even left clues for Victor. This shows how the monster and Victor dedicate their lives to one another. Whether it was good or bad, there is no denying that Victor and the monster shared a very strong bond.
One could argue that Victor is the protagonist of the novel and that Frankenstein is the antagonist, but i would personally disagree. Victor is just as responsible as the monster for all of the havoc and murder that has been caused. Victor brought the monster into the world and it was his job to care for Frankenstein. However, there is no excuse for murdering innocent people. The antagonists and protagonists in this novel are very hard to determine. The personalities of the characters change rapidly throughout the novel.
Throughout the novel, the relationship between Victor and the creature became stronger. The relationship does not get stronger in a better way, but a way that involves pure hatred. Both Victor and the monster want to get revenge on one another. Their unavoidable connection ruins both of their lives.
The monster has a desire for a family in the novel. Frankenstein asks Victor to build him a female companion so he is not lonely. Victor worked tirelessly to build the monster but he suddenly realized how dangerous it was to build the creature. He was afraid that the female monster would act just like Frankenstein and become a threat to society. Victor did not want to cause any more destruction than he had already caused.
The gothic novel was invented almost single-handedly by Horace Walpole, whose The Castle of Otranto (1764) contains essentially all the elements that constitute the genre. Walpole’s novel was imitated not only in the eighteenth century and not only in the novel form, but it has …
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I. Author and Author Background 1. ) Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born on August 30, 1797, and died February 1, 1851, at the age of fifty-four. She was born into a family of literary celebrities. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, and her father, William Godwin, were …
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Through time, the theme of the monstrosity has been a prominent subject in many novels and plays. In the play “Macbeth,” Macbeth illustrates monstrous traits though his ambition as he strives to become the king of Scotland. Victor in Shelley’s Frankenstein also displays monstrous behaviors …
1818
Frankenstein 's monster, Victor Frankenstein , Captain Walton, Dr. Henry Clerval
Gothic novel, horror fiction, science fiction
Mary Shelley
280
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