Character Development In Frankenstein

Throughout Chapters 17–20 of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor and his creation experience character development. Victor’s character develops a sense of responsibility while trying to fulfill the creature’s enjoined request. Chapters 6–10 also showed slight development in Victor’s character, but nothing as significant as this. The creature's request is for Victor to create a female creation in order to vanquish the creature’s solitude. Victor acts selfishly in this situation and ultimately decides to protect his family, agreeing to satisfy the creature. “I consent to your demand, on your solemn oath to quit Europe for ever, and every other place in the neighbourhood of man, as soon as I shall deliver into your hands a female who will accompany you in your exile”

“Had I right, for my own benefit, to inflict this curse upon everlasting generations?” (Chapter 20). Victor’s selfishness had become of such magnitude that he did not even understand that he was putting mankind under threat of destruction. Over the last four chapters, Victor has grown as a character in a positive direction. He stopped his selfishness and did what was right for future generations, no matter what punishments he would have to face from the creature. If readers thought that Victor was the monster after hearing the creature’s story then they would now think of him being a naive human who tried to do good for his family. On the other hand, the creature has lost his patience and reason. In Chapter 17, the creature acted with reason and gave purpose to his request: “I intended to reason. This passion is detrimental to me, for you do not reflect that you are the cause of its excess.” The creature responds to Victor’s initial refusal of the request with calmness and explains why Victor should do such a thing for him. This greatly differs after Victor destroys his progress in creating a female