Examples Of Hubris In Frankenstein

In Mary Shelly’s 1816 novel Frankenstein, we are introduced to the brilliant and troubled mind of the pseudoscientist Victor Frankenstein. As the thrilling science fiction narrative unfolds, we are shown both the pride and the fall of the madman, the broken people caught in the crossfire, and the monster that wishes him dead. The glimpses into the tortured existence of both creator and creation form the foundation for the plot of the entire novel. Victor Frankenstein can be classified as a tragic character, and his fatal flaw is hubris (pride), which is shown in his desire to create life, his inability to take responsibility for his actions, and his monologues and inner dialogue concerning other people. Victor Frankenstein’s hubris is on

Although at some points he does feel remorse for his actions, he doesn’t take the final steps in taking the full consequences of his actions. Will Adams said this beautifully in his essay: ”In evading life’s challenges, Victor Frankenstein makes daemons of four great existential mysteries: death, love, nature, and spirit.” (Adams 57). Frankenstein through the novel avoids the consequences of his actions, and he dies at the end of the novel repentant, but still without taking any responsibility for his actions. At first, this comes from his inability to take responsibility for the creature he made. After the “successful” infusion of life into the corpse that he stitched together, Frankenstein was horrified by his creation and ran instead of taking care of a creature that had no idea how to live. He later tells Walton that he was “Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room…” (Shelly 35). He could not bear to look at his failure. It sickened him to his core that he made this, this creature that was supposed to be beautiful and perfect but instead reanimated a corpse. “Upon awakening, Frankenstein 'beheld the wretch--the miserable monster whom I had created'. The narcissism of these passages is apparent: the combined reflection and the desire to flee, the simultaneous idealization and debasement of the Other, the longing followed by rejection, the

In his early life, he noted that his parents treated him as “their plaything and their idol…” (Shelly 16), already highlighting a sort of distant, strange relationship between them. This kind of upbringing could have contributed to the development of the ego, narcissism, and hubris that manifested itself later in his life. ”Even in the not so significant decisions, when motivated by an overstretched self opinion of greatness, we harm others around us, through our imagination.” (Nardo 95.) Nardo is describing how certain narcissists (such as Frankenstien) see themselves as superior to others, and how, in their “greatness” may hurt others, but continue to justify their behavior further by their pride and narcissism. Another example of a strained or strange relationship is explored further with the adoption of the orphan girl Elizebeth into the family. Frankenstein says: “No word, no expression could body forth the kind of relation in which she stood to me - my more than sister, since till death she was to be mine only.” (Shelly 18). He views his “cousin” and future wife as his, a belonging of his, a possession of his. This kind of unhealthy relationship would prevail throughout his life and throughout the novel. This includes his interactions with his own creation, to which he says: “Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy monster, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble