Ms. Straatsma
ENG4U0-A
Ryan Makhanlall
ISU Reading Analysis Questions/Notes – Frankenstein by: Mary Shelley
Character Analysis: Give your ideas about the main characters(s). Include what you like and dislike about the characters and why they deserve praise or criticism. Does the author intend for you to like/dislike them? How do you know?
Victor Frankenstein: Victor Frankenstein, is the protagonist who describes his life to Robert Walton. In my opinion, Victor shows his ambition, logic and intelligence. His ambition is displayed as he is determined and dedicated to his work that when he starts to work on a creation. Therefore, he moves away from his family as he segregates himself from the society. He continues to work on the creature
…show more content…
This leads to Justine being accused for the murder and is forced to death by the government. I believe Mary Shelley intends the reader to dislike Victor because of the wrongful actions he takes. Firstly, when Victor creates the monster, he becomes scared and terrified due to the monster’s physical appearance as result he abandoned it. I noticed that Victor essentially judged the monster by it’s looks rather than the monster’s personality. Alongside the other unfair and uneducated thoughts, the author convinced me that Victor Frankenstein is a hated character.
The Monster: The monster is another main character in the novel as he his creator and the society judge him based on his physical appearance. The monster shares similar personality traits that I like and dislike about Victor. I liked that the monster is helpful and friendly to others especially the De Lacy family. He used to steal their food however he realized that the family faces poverty and decides to condense their adversity. He beings the father wood during the night and leave it in front of the door. I also like the fact that he develops his knowledge based on human’s actions and words. For example, he learns the names of each member apart of De Lacy family; Felix and Agatha. He shows interest to improve his intelligence by reading books and through the conversations between the De Lacy family. I like his fortitude to confront his creator about his humanity since his creator ran away from him. Furthermore, I
However, the results of the creation of the Creature are egregious, as the creature begins to murder people, specifically Victor’s loved ones, including his brother William upon realizing that William is related to Victor. Victor here is partially at fault in his brother’s death, as he abandoned the Creature, leaving it to terrorize the people. Though he is overwhelmingly contrite for their deaths, he neglects to admit who the true culprit is in William’s murder and allows Justine Moritz to take the blame, an example of his morally ambiguous actions. His inconsiderate actions cost Justine her life, though he feels horrible for it. Even then, he argues that the action he regrets the most—the creation of the monster—was the work of destiny, which was “too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction.” (Shelley 23) Again, Victor places blame on fate to justify his obsession with ambition that led him to create the thing he regrets the most. His failure to recognize his role in William’s, Justine’s, etc. deaths while concurrently feeling remorseful for them solidifies his status as a morally
Frankenstein’s creation was lost in the world with no one who could have understood him . It felt sorrowful and unfulfilled emotions as seen in this quote. Betrayal by Victor leaves a large impact the monster carried, which, turned into a monster full of hate and dissatisfaction. Victor’s creation was not a monster , but new born baby in a grown horrific body that was not to be called his own . It becomes a monster both mentally and physically, who will be feared by all . Victor not giving him the love he needed gets the monster enraged, which leads the monster to cause series of events that affects Victor unforgivably. .
Victor Frankenstein created life, a monster that was born into this world with no purpose, and no one to love. He did not even have a name, he was called a monster from the start. Just like a normal human baby, he came to life not knowing anything, and had to learn from his surroundings. Just like a person, he watched and learned from others, and tried to understand the world and the people in it. From that, the monster understood that he just wants to find a life for himself, and not be viewed as an evil monster, but there are many things that are preventing that. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the author portrays Frankenstein’s monster as a friend through details in his character and his outlook on life.
Victor is also a villain in a Archetype sense. Victor was trying to play god, when he created the creature, and that is something he shouldn't have done, because humans can't become too powerful, even though they always try. Victor became so obsessed with creating life, that it clouded his judgment, and took up all of his time and energy. On page 66, just before Justine's trial, Victor thought to himself, "During the whole of this wretched mockery of justice I suffered living torture. It was to be whether the result of my curiosity and lawless devices would cause the death of two of my fellow beings." This line shows two things, first Victor knew that Justine, and William's death was his fault. Also, he knew that his experiments, shouldn't have been done, and were against the laws of nature and god. On page 39, Victor says, "Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source, many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me." This quote shows how Victor wanted to be like a god. He wanted to be admired, and praised as a species creator. And this want is another reason he was the real villain of Frankenstein.
Friends will determine the direction and quality of your life. Loneliness is a battle that all people will once face at a certain point in their life; it is how they handle it that determines the outcome of that battle. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein loneliness is the most significant and prevailing theme throughout the entire novel. Shelley takes her readers on a wild journey that shows how loneliness can end in tragedy.
There are many different themes expressed in Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. They vary with each reader but basically never change. These themes deal with the education that each character posses, the relationships formed or not formed in the novel, and the responsibility for ones own actions. This novel even with the age still has ideas that can be reasoned with even today.
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley combines three separate stories involving three different characters--Walton, Victor, and Frankenstein's monster. Though the reader is hearing the stories through Walton's perspective, Walton strives for accuracy in relating the details, as he says, "I have resolved every night,...to record, as nearly as possible in his [Victor's] own words, what he has related during the day" (Shelley 37). Shelley's shift in point of view allows for direct comparison and contrast between the characters, as the reader hears their stories through the use of first person. As the reader compares the monster's circumstances to those of Victor and Walton, the reader's
The monster- unattractive appearance; starts with really good intentions that turn bad because of how people react to him; lonely; sad that Frankenstein doesn’t want him; angry that he is the only one of his kind; vengeful (towards the end of the novel);
He envied these people most, because they were the perfect beings they did not have his horrific defects. "...from that moment he declared everlasting war against the species, and more than all, against Frankenstein who had had formed him and sent him forth to this insupportable misery" (Shelley 121). This shows that the monster fought against his label as an outcast. The monster killed William, for something William could not have affected. "...you belong then to my enemy-to him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim" (Shelley 150). The monster not only wished to kill Victor for his creation but to kill everyone associated with his eternal enemy. The monster has been pushed so far that he will not give any humans a chance, the same chance he once wanted. The monster is treating William just the way he was treated, with no remorse.
Critic Northrop Frye once commented that "Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscapes" (Frye 1). Few characters illustrate this characteristic of a tragic hero better than that of Victors Frankenstein, the protagonist of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. His story is one of a brilliant man whose revolutionary ideas brought suffering to himself, his family and friends, and his creation. Victor is an instrument as well as a victim to this suffering throughout his story.
Frankenstein is to be “sometimes considered one of the first science fiction novels” (Fox,stacy ”Romantic and Gothic Representation in Frankenstein”). Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley. In this novel the main characters where Victor Frankenstein, his creation the monster, Robert Walton, Elizabeth Lavenza, Alphonse Frankenstein, and Henry Clerval. Frankenstein starts out with a normal boy named Victor Frankenstein who discovers an early interest in science. Victor later goes off to college to study science and ends up creating a monster. Throughout the novel the monster is stereotyped by his looks and is traumatized and goes for revenge against his creator when Victor refuses to make him a
There was a time in history when people used science as an everyday issue; there was a time when it was almost legitimate to provide a practical explanation, and when people preferred to ignore the subliming side of nature; people called this time in history the Age of Enlightenment (otherwise known as, the Neoclassical Period). This generation was based on the growth of scientific scrutinizations overwhelming people minds and (in a way) erasing the traditional teachings. It was particularly well-educated individuals who relied upon logic to explain the world and its resources, enabling greater evidence and certitude, which, in return, allowed matters to be more convincing. To support this philosophical movement was the Industrial
Then his creation all suddenly turns on Victor killing everything he is dear too in the name of vengeance. The monster eventually murders three people in cold blood as well as one indirectly. First Williams’s brother who is accidently strangled to death. With the death of William the monster framed the servant Justine by placing a picture of William in her pocket. Justin was then executed for the unjust murder of William. Sadly Elizabeth, Frankenstein’s cousin and new wife on the wedding night. He also kills a good friend of Frankenstein’s Henry Clerval. The deaths of these innocent people were a result of the monsters revenge on Victor. The monster is seeking this revenge on the doctor because he did not want to be brought into this world especially looking like he did. Another key point that this book beings forth is why human beings should not try to play God and artificially create a being in a laboratory. When Victor creates a bride for the monster he decides to kill her before the monster can have a companion. Victor can’t give the monster what he wants not after what the monster did to his family.
When children trip and fall on the ground, they learn how to get up and avoid falling again. Similar to this, people adjust to their life situations and learn from their previous mistakes. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, exemplifies this attribute through Victor Frankenstein, who is an intelligent and hardworking scientist. His curiosity and passion drives him to create life out of death, but he becomes hubristic and winds up creating a monster. This creation results in Victor’s great suffering as it eliminates his family and friends. The monster makes its intentions clear and Victor is aware of its supernatural powers. Likewise, Victor realizes that his excessive pride caused all these miserable outcomes. Despite this, Frankenstein still maintains the same mentality, even after the monster’s warnings and the horrific events. Although Victor seems to have learned from the consequences of making the monster, he still fails to change from his arrogant mindset since his ego misleads him towards outcomes that are more dreadful.