“The attributes of a Byronic Hero found in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, there are certain characteristics in her characters that express the traits of a Byronic hero. Such traits of a Byronic hero are: voluntary exile/Imprisonment, Aloof/Sullen, Restless Spirit, Disdain for rules and regulations of society, Rejection by society, isolation, mysterious, passionate, and Exotic, Intelligence, curiosity, and Fearlessness. These characteristics came from the second-generation Romantic poet named Lord Byron. Lord Byron himself were these characteristics. He was the leader or the romantic revolution and was celebrity in his time. His poem that made him well know was Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. …show more content…
He isolated himself from his family and society to work on his monster, even when it almost killed him. "I threw myself into the chaise that was to convey me away and indulged in the most melancholy reflections. I, who had ever been surrounded by amiable companions, continually engaged in endeavoring to bestow mutual pleasure-I was now alone. In the university whither I was going I must form my own friends and be my own protector." (Shelley 44) Victor had no regards for the regulations of society and rebelled against it by wanting to create life. “So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein – more, for more, ill I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfurl to the world the deepest mysteries of Creation”. (Shelley …show more content…
“Everywhere I see bliss, From which I alone am Irrevocably Excluded.” (Shelley 87) All the Creature wanted was to experience in the joy that others in society were able to experience, but his appearance scared everyone he tried to help or talk too. So, he voluntarily exiled himself from society to not get hurt by others. "And what was I? Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant, but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man." (Shelley 115) The Creature was tired of being alone and wanted to have a partner of his own, tricked Victor into agreeing to make him a mate. But Victor changed his mind while making the Creature’s mate and decided to destroy it, because he didn’t want another creature on the planet. When the Creature found out the Victor destroyed his mate and went back on his promise, he made a threat to Victor. “Beware; for I am fearless and therefore powerful.” (Shelley
He turns away the peace given to him by nature just to satisfy his desire for revenge, and becomes a broken being. Mary Shelley demonstrates in Frankenstein what happens if someone strays too far from nature. Shelley purposely shows the destructive nature of science in her novel, highlighting the strife that her society is going through. Her society, disillusioned by war and the devastation that new technologies caused, wanted to go back to their roots in nature, and her novel pushes at that idea. Shelley’s example of Victor’s and the Creature’s downfall warns us of the dangers and temptations of science.
Victor Frankenstein may be the leading character in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but a hero he is not. He is self-centered and loveless, and there is nothing heroic about him. There is a scene in Chapter twenty-four where Captain Walton is confronted by his crew to turn southwards and return home should the ice break apart and allow them the way. Frankenstein rouses himself and finds the strength to argue to the Captain that they should continue northwards, or suffer returning home "with the stigma of disgrace marked on your brows." He quite obviously has alterior motives and if he were not the eloquent, manipulative creature he so egotistically accuses his creature of being, he might not have moved the Captain and the men so much that they are blind to the true source of his passion. Unfortunately for Frankenstein, the crew, (however "moved") stand firm in their position. Yet the things he says in his motivational speech are prime examples of the extent to which Frankenstein is blind to his own faults and yet will jump at the chance to harangue others. He is so self-centered that his lack of interaction and love for others after his experiment has been completed, would barely qualify him as a person, if the difference between being human and being a person lies in the ability to have relationships with others.
The Byronic hero in literature is named after Lord Byron and his main protagonist in his poem Childe Harold. The Byronic hero was established during the Romantic period in art and literature as an anti-hero; he is supposed to represent the antithesis of the ideal, chivalrous hero of the time. This hero is dark, mysterious, and brooding. He often harbors the torturing memory of an enormous, nameless guilt that drives him toward an inevitable doom. He holds himself detached and sees himself as superior in his passions and powers compared to society and humanity, whom he regards with disdain. He stubbornly pursues his own ends according to his self-generated moral code, against all opposition. He also gains an attraction from the other characters because it involves their confusion at his obliviousness to ordinary human concerns. Byronic heroes in literature often have the following characteristics: passionate, unrepentant, wandering, isolated, attractive, and self-reliant.
The idea for the novel of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein came to her one night when she was staying in the company of what has been called ‘her male coterie’, including Lord Byron and her husband, Percy Shelley. Mary Shelley’s whole life seems to have been heavily influenced by men. She idolised her father, William Godwyn, and appears to have spent a good part of her life trying very hard to impress both him and her husband. There seems to have been a distinct lack of female influence, her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, having died weeks after her birth, being replaced by a neglectful step-mother. These aspects of her life are perhaps evident in her novel. The characters and plot of Frankenstein were perhaps influenced by Shelley’s conflicting feelings about the predominately masculine circle which surrounded her, and perhaps the many masculine traits that we see in novel were based upon those of the male figures in Shelley’s own life. In this essay I will attempt to show some of these traits.
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...
He created a life, and then spontaneously he quickly decided to run away from his creation. Victor’s actions after creating what he created were really irresponsible, and did not correctly took care of the circumstance’s he put himself in. The creation was never actually evil, but he felt abandoned by what could had been called his father. Frankenstein, the monster, was only a seeker for companionship. He strongly desired to feel loved, rather than abandoned. Society’s evil behavior toward the monster is what altered the monster’s conduct and followed to how he acted.
Shelley addresses Victor’s nature, first. He writes being born “a Genevese” with a family that is “one of the most distinguished of that republic” (Shelly) Victor describes his family with very powerful words including, honor and integrity. Shelly writes more about their place in society and the ability to lead. The Frankenstein family had a very rich history background. Victor could not help but become of his nature. Being in a family such as his, he must uphold a certain standard. Victor had much envy for power. However, the power that he received was too much for him to handle. “I had worked…for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body… I had desired it with ardor that far exceeded moderation,”(Shelly) Victor states. Shelley portrays the idea that Victor is overwhelmed by his newly gained power. The creature woke up something in him that was from is influenc...
Upon first discovering how to make life, Victor is overwhelmed with excitement and pride, feeling as though he has unlocked the greatest power on earth. His imagination is “too much exalted” by this newfound ability, and thus determines there is no “animal as complex and wonderful as man” for him to attempt as his first creation (Shelley 43). Frankenstein does not contemplate how he will react to or interact with the human he gives life to, or that he has created an extremely twisted parent-child relationship by creating a human from dead bodies. His general lack of concern regarding the consequences of his remarkable yet dangerous power is the root of the rest of the conflict between him and his monster throughout the rest of the novel, and it exemplifies Shelley’s underlying theme that science should not be pushed past morally and psychologically safe boundaries.
It is when Frankenstein realizes how different he is to other people that he realizes his uniqueness and individualism. “I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man. I was more agile than they and could subsist upon a coarser diet; I bore the extremes of heat and cold with less injury to my frame; my stature far exceeded theirs. When I looked around I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, then, a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled and whom all men disowned?” (Frankenstein, 150). While Frankenstein is by no means a human, he is made up of human parts and still craves love and affection. His rejection from everyone he sees, including his creator makes him feel like an outcast. It was because of Victor that Frankenstein couldn’t bear to be who he was made to be and felt a need to run into isolation. Victor not only created a monster physically, but also mentally turned him into someone he didn’t have to be. Both Frankenstein and Victor struggle with balancing their personal wants and needs with societies expectations and the people around them. That is one of the true struggles of being one person living in a world of many, you have to do what makes you happy while making sure it doesn’t effect other peoples happiness negatively. Victor doesn’t do a good job of
All the events and misfortunes encountered in Frankenstein have been linked to one another as a chain of actions and reactions. Of course, the first action and link in the chain is started by Victor Frankenstein. Victor’s life starts with great potential. He comes from a decently wealthy family whose lack of love towards each other never existed. He is given everything he needs for a great future, and his academics seem to be convalescing.
Throughout the novel there was a constant battle between science and nature. Victor, of course, lost the battle between nature and science, Mary Shelley emphasizes this by the monster killing his entire family. This shows that Victor ignores all the warning signs from the law of nature and he paid the ultimate price. Mary Shelley presents nature as being very powerful which is reflected when Victor used lightning to create the monster. The Byronic hero is a dark, often broken individual with a troubled past or a loner. I felt the Byronic Hero for this novel was the monster because he embodies all these characteristics, especially when he was rejected from society.
After Frankenstein discovered the source of human life, he became wholly absorbed in his experimental creation of a human being. Victor's unlimited ambition, his desire to succeed in his efforts to create life, led him to find devastation and misery. "...now that I have finished, the beauty of the dream had vanished..." (Shelley 51). Victor's ambition blinded him to see the real dangers of his project. This is because ambition is like a madness, which blinds one self to see the dangers of his actions. The monster after realizing what a horror he was demanded that victor create him a partner. "I now also began to collect the materials necessary for my new creation, and this was like torture..." (Shelley 169). Victor's raw ambition, his search for glory, has left him. His eyes have been opened to see his horrible actions, and what have and could become of his creations. As a result, Victor has realized that he is creating a monster, which could lead to the downfall of mankind. His choice is simple, save his own life or save man.
Victor Frankenstein's upbringing in a perfect society ultimately led to the destruction of his life which coincided with the lives of those emotionally close to him. Victor was raised in an atmosphere where beauty and physical appearance define one's quality of life. This superficial way of life results in a lost sense of morals and selfishness, which in turn produces a lost sense of personal identity. This can cause a feeling of failure and resentment in the later stages of life which, in Victor's case, can be externalized into a form of hatred directed toward himself.
In Frankenstein, Shelley creates two very complex characters. They embody the moral dilemmas that arise from the corruption and disturbance of the natural order of the world. When Victor Frankenstein is attending school, he becomes infatuated with creating a living being and starts stealing body parts from morgues around the university. After many months of hard work, he finishes one stormy night bringing his creation to life. However, “now that [Victor] had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled [his] heart” (Chambers). Right after Victor realizes what he has done, he falls into deep depression and must be nursed back to health by his friend. Victor spends the rest of the story facing consequences and moral problems from creating unnatural life. When he realizes that the ‘monster’ has killed his brother, even though no one believes him, he feels responsible for his brother’s murder because he was responsible for the existence of the ‘monster’. Also feeling responsible, Victor...
Thorslev, Peter L., Jr. The Byronic Hero: Types and Prototypes. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 1962. Print.