Essay On Duality Of Man In Frankenstein

The duality of man is often portrayed in stories, but in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, it is exemplified in the character traits of Victor and his Creation. The Creature is described as a grotesque and horrifying monster, but he is molded by how others react to him and force him into the shadows. The Creature is not the monster of the story because Victor refuses to take accountability for the actions and consequences of his creature. Victor is the true monster of “Frankenstein” with his twisted morals and ideologies, that push unfortunate circumstances onto his peers around him. At the beginning of the story, there is a series of letters from Walton to his sister that paint his adventures and dreams on the sea, in the fourth letter Victor is introduced and instantly portrayed as an

Victor is a radiant personality and misleads the reader with his words, “By one of those caprices of the mind which we are perhaps most subject to in early youth, I at once gave up my former occupations, set down natural history and all its progeny as a deformed and abortive creation, and entertained the greatest disdain for a would-be science which would never even step within the threshold of real knowledge,” (page 50). This quote points the reader toward the thoughts of Victor, but also shows his true nature of wanting to ascend to the same echelon of God. Victor believes with science he can reverse the natural processes of life, his morals are thrown out of the window at the promises of fame and fortune from his discoveries. He thinks of scientists as people who challenge mother nature and force it to do their bidding, “They ascend into the heavens; they have discovered how the blood circulates, and the nature of the air we breathe. They have acquired new and almost unlimited powers; they can command the thunders of heaven, mimic the earthquake, and even mock the invisible world with its own shadows,” (page