Frankenstein Identity Essay

Frankenstein’s monster, after reading several books, with Paradise Lost being the most significant to him, said “My person was hideous, and my stature gigantic: what did this mean? Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination? These questions continually reoccurred, but I was unable to solve them.” (Shelly 120) This helps to demonstrate how the monster began to struggle with his identity after being abandoned by his creator. Marry Shelley’s Frankenstein, first published in 1818, is an extraordinary, tragic Gothic tale of man, creation, and monstrosity. Both Victor Frankenstein and his monster identify themselves with one or more biblical figures at some point in the story, but who is who? It is immediately obvious from

After a few weeks, he and his crew stumble upon Victor Frankenstein, who is on the brink of death. In his letters to his sister, Walton recounts Frankenstein’s tale. Victor was brought up in Geneva, Switzerland, and was raised with Elizabeth, his orphaned cousin that his family adopted; she soon becomes Victor’s love interest. His mother and Elizabeth fall ill and his mother dies but Elizabeth recovers. Victor soon goes to study science at the University of Ingolstadt in Germany. After roughly two years of studying science, Victor decides he wants to make life from the non-living. “Life and death appeared to me in ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world.” (Shelley 42) It is at this point in the story that he brings the monster to life and can feel nothing but fear and disgust for his creation. He says, “now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (Shelley

Like Adam, he sought out ‘forbidden knowledge’, and it brought on his demise. After Adam eats from the tree of life, he is granted knowledge of the world around him, and soon becomes familiar with suffering. In a similar way, Victor, after bringing his creature to life becomes disgusted and horrified by his work, and finally realizes the gravity of what he has done. Several times in the story, he becomes sick or depressed, even scared he could be killed at any moment. In fact, it is this same consequence that brings on his death at the end of the