Frankenstein By Mary Shelley: Character Analysis Of Victor Frankenstein

January 22, 2021 by Essay Writer

In Frankenstein, Victor visualizes science as a mystery to be an inquest, includes the secrets discovered. His entire deliberation with creating like is concealed in secrecy, and his obsession to destroy the creature is a secret until Walton hears his story. But Victor continues his secrecy in guilt. The creature is forced into desolation because of its different appearance. Whereas Walton serves as a final confessor for both, their mysterious relation became immortal in letters of Walton. It shows idealized romantic depictions of the natural world. Victor escapes the sultry secret that ruined his life and the creature took advantage of Walton’s presence to prove the human connection and he was hoping that at least now someone can understand his tragic existence.

It revolves around Victor’s inability to understand that his actions have replications. He looks like focuses on his own goals but fails to see how his experiments affect other individuals and denied taking responsibility of his actions affecting nature. There are different phases in the novel which depict this firstly when Victor engaged himself in studies at the University of Ingolstadt by going against his family and ignoring the decision of his fiancée. And another phase was when Victor hung up on his decision to make a monster and wanted success in discovering the creature. He never stopped thinking of his creation about the different experiences he was going to have after making the monster. His passion was not considering anything else. The incrementing action of his project to make a creature is running from the room. This shows that Victor didn’t care about moral values and responsibilities because he was responsible for creating creature and giving him

a life, but he was not satisfied with his creation and he simply rejects it without any thinking of humankind or his passion to create a monster.

After all the incidents the conflict increases when Victor puts a false prediction on Justine for murdering his brother which shows that Victor was not a responsible person. He knows about the creature but as always failed to take responsibility. When Victor ends up meeting to creature and creature tells him the story about his sufferings and loneliness. This is another incident of Victor’s life where he showed that he is irresponsible and selfish. However, Victor is too repulsed to destroy another creation before creating it. On the other hand, the creature wants the attention of his creator because he becomes so alone but Victor was behaving so selfish and his attitude is not normal towards the creature but to gain the attention of the creator (Victor) creature started killing his loved ones to make his life hell. After these incidents, Victor wants to destroy the creature and now the creature has the full attention of his maker.

When Victor started looking for creatures around the world, he meets Walton and then narrates the whole story to him, and after telling and listening the story to Walton Victor dies in ship due to exhaustion. But Victor never thinks that because of his creation several innocent people died. At the end creature kills himself explaining his alone life, he spends learning new and different things by living alone in forests. Victor creates the creature and he dies trying to destroy the creature it shows that his goal is to achieve greatness by creating something new different from everyone but it gets him into conflict with his life. On the other side creature made a connection with humans and tried to make relations with other humans, and he realizes that he never had a friend or companion then he thinks of taking revenge on his creator which results in killing everyone.

After meeting each other all the characters have changed their way of thinking due to circumstances and they are learning from the experiences of each other life happenings and learning lessons from the mistakes. Walton played the role of mediator in the life of Victor and Creature. Walton wrote a letter to his sister and said, “My life might have been passed in ease and luxury; but I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my path” which describes his motivation for his journey of exploring and becoming successful in his life. These lines show the similar experience of ambition of Victor’s experienced in his life. He decided to hard work in order to his passion for discovering so that he can receive benefits for himself not for someone else. While Victor’s obsession with his goal shows a lack of self awareness and moral responsibility and more of selfishness. He depicts ambition by comparing it to the river sweeping away in its path in a quote “from when I would account……… has swept away all my joys”.

As Victor’s life is going near to end, he is showing all his mistakes and regrets and tries to offer help to Walton not to repeat similar mistakes in his life. He was trying to encourage Walton towards his ambition without making the hard or wrong decisions about life. Because Victor was deeply loved by his parents because they understands their responsibility to care him but Victor’s behavior after thinking of making the creature shows that he failed so Victor was trying to tell Walton to complete his dreams but by making some good priorities in life. Which shows that lack of self-interest is harmful.

At the end we can say that this novel is mixture of compassion and curiosity. It suggests lack of companionship and sympathy can even turn a human into a creature.

References:

  1. Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Patrick Nobes. Frankenstein. Oxford University Press, 2008.
  2. Pak, Chris. “Science Fiction: New Death.”Science Fiction Studies, vol. 41, no. 2, 2014, p. 469.,
  3. doi:10.5621/sciefictstud.41.2.0469.
  4. Raw, Laurence. “The Gothic Imagination in American Sound Recordings of Frankenstein.” Adapting
  5. Frankenstein, 2018, doi:10.7765/9781526108920.00010. Spark books-FRANKENSTEIN ‘Mary Shelley’
  6. Griffin, Michael, and Nicole Lobdell. “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at 200.” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 45, no. 2, 2018, p. 225., doi:10.5621/sciefictstud.45.2.0225.

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