Often times in literature, characters that are enemies somehow end up having similar personalities. In this book, two characters are portrayed, but despite their very different exteriors, they happen to be very similar in numerous aspects. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein and his creature are united in that both feel a deep sense of self-loathing, suffer from extreme loneliness, and begin with good intentions.
Despite loathing themselves for different reasons, Frankenstein and the creature both face many internal conflicts. Frankenstein despises himself for creating a creature that is threatening all of mankind. “I shuddered to think that future ages might curse me as their pest, whose selfishness had not hesitated to buy its own peace at the price perhaps of the existence of the whole human race.” (315) Victor destroys the half-finished creation of a female monster and feels disgusted with himself that he ever thought to create another creature. “I shall be with you on your wedding night.” (149) When the female monster
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Since the monster’s creation, the monster has been neglected and left to fend for himself. “You, my creator, abhor me” (173). The creature discovers that he truly has no one on this earth that cares for him; he has no friends or family. “What did this mean? Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination?” (233) While working on his creature Victor completely removes himself from society and has no social interactions. After the monster is brought to life Victor becomes exceedingly ill and is unable to interact with many people including his family. Victor is removed from society every time he becomes ill (usually after something tragic happens). Victor is left completely alone in the end because the monster destroys all his loved
Throughout the history of literature, instances will always occur where themes repeat themselves constantly. One of these instances appears in the classic novel Frankenstein, where two characters, whom one would originally classify as opposites, truly possess many similarities to one another. Victor and the Creature share and oddly large amount of similarities between them. One of which being their drive to obtain knowledge, no matter the topic. With Victor, he typically is driven to discover things no one else has. The Creature however, constantly tries to find out how the world works and to find his place in society. Another similarity found in the novel would be the two characters isolation throughout the novel, self-inflicted or forced. For Victor, he always kept to himself,
As he goes off to college, interested in the science behind life and death, he ends up going his own way and attempts to create a living being. Victor “had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body” (Shelley 43). The being Victor has created does not by any means sit well with him. As victor is away from his family and for six years, he is neglectful to them, which only adds to his sorrow and misery. Victor’s isolation is brought upon him because of himself, however his creation, or “the monster”, is isolated from any connections with humans against his will. To start out, the monster would have had Victor there with him, but Victor is ashamed of what he has created, and abandons the monster. The monster is a very hideous being, which sadly is a contributing factor to his isolation. With nobody to talk to at any time, naturally this will be condescending and frustrating. Although the monster is able to
Shelley presents two completely different beings, one brought up with a family in a happy setting, the other in solitude, hated by everyone. Both humans in nature are completely different. Frankenstein and the Monster show traits of both good and evil, however, they are both born good. Victor Frankenstein was born into a “distinguished” family (16). His mother and father travel together with Victor in a carefree lifestyle trekking across the land (17).
The gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley highlights the idea that the real monsters of the world are humans and society, and that most traits that most humans despise are actually within all of us. Frankenstein shows that any human can be so corrupt as to be a “monster”, and that beings society considers repulsive and evil can be human at heart. Shelley exposes human faults such as hubris and irresponsibility through the main character of the novel Victor Frankenstein, who creates a living being and refuses to care for it, sending it into the unwelcoming hands of society. Victors irresponsible actions lead to many deaths and events. As the novel progresses, Dr. Victor Frankenstein and the Monster he creates become more and more similar
Dr. Victor Frankenstein and the Creature seem different from each other throughout the whole story, however, they actually share many similarities when the story is looked at deeper. Both the Creature and Frankenstein share a connection with nature, a desire for more knowledge, a need for family, and experiences in isolation.
James Whale's Frankenstein is a VERY loose adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel. The spirit of the film is preserved in its most basic sense, but the vast majority of the story has been entirely left out, which is unfortunate. The monster, for example, who possesses tremendous intellect in the novel and who goes on an epic quest seeking acceptance into the world in which he was created, has been reduced to little more than a lumbering klutz whose communication is limited to unearthly shrieks and grunts. Boris Karloff was understandably branded with the performance after the film was released, because it was undeniably a spectacular performance, but the monster's character was severely diminished from the novel.
Victor isolates himself from the rest of society because of his obsession to create life. During the time he was isolated, Victor became very ill. For Victor, isolation has a very negative effect. The Monster is isolated for two reasons. First, Victor abandons him, which creates an isolation from the Monster's "father". Second, because of the way the monster looks, he is naturally isolated from society.
The novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley involves the complex issues with the creation of life through an inanimate life. Shelley uses these character archetypes to develop a deeper meaning of the characters intentions. Shelley does an excellent job at allowing the reader to have a peak at the characters inner thoughts and feelings. The archetypes presented in Frankenstein allow readers to identify with the character's role and purpose.
As a tragic hero, Victor’s tragedies begin with his overly obsessive thirst for knowledge. Throughout his life, Victor has always been looking for new things to learn in the areas of science and philosophy. He goes so far with his knowledge that he ends up creating a living creature. Victor has extremely high expectations for his creation but is highly disappointed with the outcome. He says, “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” (Shelley 35). Frankenstein neglects the creature because of his horrifying looks, which spark the beginning of numerous conflicts and tragedies. At this point, the creature becomes a monster because of Victor’s neglect and irresponsibility. The monster is forced to learn to survive on his own, without anyone or anything to guide him along the way. Plus, the monster’s ugly looks cause society to turn against him, ad...
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein and the monster that he creates are very similar. For example, Victor creates the monster to be like himself. Another similarity is that the anger of both Victor and the monster is brought about by society. One more parallel between Victor and the monster is that they both became recluses. These traits that Victor and the monster possess show that they are very similar.
Frankenstein’s creation questions “Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?”(Shelly 155). The creation is blaming his creator for making him into the monster that he is and turning away from him when he needed help, yet Victor did not create the monster for the express reason to commit sins, the monster was created with free will, just like every other human, yet the monster chose his path of murder and revenge. The creation’s reason for these sins is a societal rejection due to his horrific looks. The creation believes that if he is loved by a female so “The Monster’s proposed solution is for Frankenstein to create a bride for him who would reciprocate his love and thus render him benign”(Britton 7). The monster holds on to the idea that he is not inherently evil, but that he has just not received affection or care from someone. Frankenstein believes this to be untrue and that creating another monster would just release more chaos into the world. The monster continues to blame his evil deeds on his sadness saying “I am malicious because I am miserable”(Shelley 174). The monster
Locked in a perpetual struggle for dominance, both struggle to gain internal peace. Victor Frankenstein feels obligated to destroy his creation for the good of society, and the Monster wishes to come to terms with his abandonment – both are unable to find happiness. Here there is a contrast of power: Frankenstein’s intellectual power contrary to the Monster’s physical power (this is however, not to say the Monster lacked intellectual power, only that Frankenstein possesses greater fear of the physical aspects of the Monster). The first instance of this battle for power can be seen when the Monster demands of Frankenstein to “create a female…with whom [he] can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for [his] being.” (p174) – here Frankenstein is in control. He is the only one that has the knowledge to create another being like the Monster, and thus, when the Monster asks this favour of Frankenstein he places his happiness in the hands of another. The Monster is dependent on the actions of another. However, there is a power reversal when Frankenstein denies the monster his ‘female’ (p174). Frankenstein dashes the Monster’s last hope at happiness, so the Monster threatens the life of his loved ones. Here, Frankenstein is at the mercy of his creation. For though “[Frankenstein is the] creator… [the Monster is his master” (p205) – here the Monster establishes his dominance over Frankenstein by outwardly stating his power over his creator. This power struggle is most effectively culminated in the chase around the globe. Yet it must be seen that neither Frankenstein and his Monster are in control. The Monster leaves clues for Frankenstein, demonstrating his need for Frankenstein to follow him, for without Frankenstein the Monster has no purpose in life. On the other hand, Frankenstein is following his creation all over the world, through desert, sea, and cold. Thus, it is clear that as a
There are 7 billion people in this world. That is a copious amount, which means there is a wide variety of personalities and types of people. With all of these people, there are lots of differences between them, there are even slight differences between some of the commonalities. In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, two of the main characters are examples of two very different and unique people who have differences even between their similarities. Victor Frankenstein and the Creature have a few similarities that include they are both curious, determined, and guilty; but even within those similarities they are slightly different.
The unexplainable creatures with human like features in the stories Frankenstein and Dracula are sadistic beings who cause devastation and distress for the main characters until the time of their downfall. These two classic horror monsters have similar character types which dissimilarity in many ways. Each story includes a hero and villain that draw the reader in to wanting to understand the monster and Dracula more. In Frankenstein, the monster was never given a name by Victor Frankenstein who was his creator. Victor created him for selfish reasoning without thinking of the consequences. When Victor achieved the creation of the monster he took one great look at him; he was disappointed and horrified of what was before him.
While the monster gains a feeling of hatred and a desire for revenge after he is abandoned and treated pitifully, Frankenstein continuing reinforces the suffering of his creation, and likewise the suffering of himself. Frankenstein is completely to blame for the misery that he endures. Victor creates a being only for his own fulfillment, and afterwards abandons the great responsibility that he bears for it. To make it worse, Frankenstein intentionally ruins the monster 's happiness and gives him the same horrendous treatment that the rest of mankind gives the monster. Victor 's selfish actions cost him his family, bring him to the brink of insanity, and make a terrible creature out of a loving and compassionate being. Victor Frankenstein is a true