Victor Frankenstein Fundamentally Rational

The question of whether we are fundamentally rational or irrational beings is a fundamental philosophical one. Authors have taken different positions throughout history, with some arguing that it is ideal to embrace our passions and others espousing reason over everything. Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, seems to argue that while we are capable of both extremes, reason is a far better ideal to follow. Her two main characters, Victor Frankenstein and the creature he creates, represent these opposite extremes. It is the creature who is more rational and, in the novel, seems to be more admirable. However, Dostoyevsky, the author of Notes from the Underground, argues to the contrary. Not only does he argue that humans are fundamentally

There is one common thread throughout Victor Frankenstein’s behavior in the novel: he is ruled by his passions. From the beginning of the novel, he is unrestrained and unbalanced, and his major action in the novel is an expression of the fundamentally selfish and presumptuous desire to create life. As he says, “A new species would bless me as its creator and source...” (Shelley 55). He wants to be lauded by the world as the first and only man who could create life. This desire to be special and noticed stops him from contemplating that there might be a reason that no one else has created life before. Once the creature has come to life, Victor is overpowered by fear and unable to provide care for him, an action of fundamental irresponsibility that is almost as reckless as his initial creation. He does not even begin to contemplate the ramifications of his act of godlike creation until it has already been done. It is only after he has lost everything that he seems to develop a somewhat more accurate and much more critical view of himself and his actions. In Victor Frankenstein, Shelley shows the folly of allowing your desires to rule over

Even as Victor’s mental state is deteriorating, his creature emerges on Mont Blanc to plead his case as a fully rational being. The creature has spent the interim between his creation and this meeting learning all he can through study with an unaware family. He then comes before Victor asking to be heard and have his requests considered, and proceeds to lay out a reasonable argument for why Victor should create a companion for him. The creature has been driven to murder because his kindness has been rejected by so many. “The feelings of kindness and gentleness, which I had entertained but a few moments before, gave place to hellish rage and gnashing of teeth. Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind” (Shelley 143). He has realized that there is no place in humankind, and so he tells Victor that either he will give him the companion he desires, or the creature will destroy everything Victor loves. Victor refuses his request, leading to the inevitable death of all of Victor’s family. Still, the creature seems to be the more rational and controlled character in the novel. He even recognizes what Victor cannot: that Victor is the seat and cause of any passion and irrationality in their lives. “This passion is detrimental to me; for you do not reflect that you are the cause of its excess” (Shelley 148). The creature is much more reasonable than his creator, and