In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein and Justine Moritz shared similar home lives, but their integrity and dispositions were as different as chalk and cheese. Through her letters, Elizabeth reminds Victor of some of the better qualities Justine possesses. Unfortunately, Victor Frankenstein does not show any desire to display those traits. He chooses to focus on his studies and ignore those around him, missing his opportunity to share memories with his loving family. Both Justine and Victor have suffered in their families.
In order to protect the view he holds of himself, which stems from his god complex, Victor Frankenstein uses rationalization to shelter himself from the guilt derived from his indirect involvement with the murders of William and Justine. In allowing young Justine to confess to the murder of William, though she is innocent, Frankenstein experiences conflicted emotions. Victor writes that “such a declaration [of who the true criminal was] would have been considered as the ravings of a madman,” (Shelly 86). This rationalization of not telling the truth is because of his inability to take responsibility for his actions. In the same passage, Frankenstein describes the guilt and sadness he feels as “fangs of remorse” (86).
He grows angry at Victor for creating him, leaving him, and refusing to make him a female companion. Victor’s creation murders his friend Henry Clerval, his brother William, and even his wife Elizabeth. Once Victor’s creation comes to life, his life is ruined. If he would have accepted him from the beginning and taken on the rule of a father, his life may not have been so miserable. Victor and his creation ultimately needed each other’s love, because their separation ultimately destroyed them
The creature wants to take revenge on Victor for abandoning him and causes Victor grief by killing the people he cares about. When the creature kills, Victor feels responsible and guilty of the murders. He continually breaks down with each death by “his” hands, which makes him go mad. The task of creating a monster turned Victor into a monster
The reader knows that Justine is being condemned for a murder she did not commit and being put on death trial, but meanwhile all Victor can think of is what people will think of him if he confessed, and how detrimental it would be towards his reputation. The egocentric tone cleverly
Victor proclaims Justine’s innocence, but the evidence against her seems irrefutable, and Victor refuses to explain himself for fear that he will be labeled
Even though this was the truth, Justine is later hanged for her falsely accused crimes. Victor experienced her death only being able to contemplate if the creature had any involvement in the matter. He tracked down the creature and learned that his presumption was indeed true. Under the guise of fear of more death to be in his experience, Victor agrees to create a female companion for the creature. While working on the second creation, Victor changes his mind and destroys the body that would have been the second creature.
He’s more concerned with what will happen to him, someone who actually had something to do with William’s death, than to Justine, who is completely innocent. Lastly, the monster says he will leave Victor and his family alone if Victor makes him a female companion, but he can’t even do that. “I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like to him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged”(180). The creature threatens him and
Victor falsely accuses himself for Justine’s execution because he believes that he could
Power, the one thing everybody desires, plays a major role in the lives of the characters of Frankenstein. Throughout the story, Shelley frequently emphasizes the theme of power and the constant struggle that the characters face to gain power over themselves and others. The two main characters, Victor Frankenstein and The Creature, show the most struggle for power throughout the story, both internally and over each other. They look to gain power of knowledge, power of themselves and power over one another. This struggle for power creates a constantly shifting dynamic amongst characters.
An eye for an eye or the law of retaliation is the principle most people live their lives by. As Gandhi once stated, “an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind” (Gandhi). For the characters in Frankenstein, this concept is apparent as the main character, Victor, creates a monster and instantly abandons him which sets off the chain of events revolving around revenge. Throughout the novel, the creature and Victor engage in a recurring cycle of vengeance, but these acts of revenge are bittersweet as in the end it destroys both of them. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley reveals how revenge consumes and destroys those who surrender to it.
This unquestionably exhibits his egocentric conventions as he places himself above everyone else even in matters of life and death. Furthermore, if Victor himself is willing to take responsibility for her death then it becomes unambiguous as to whether he should be held accountable for the actions of his creation. Throughout the story, the monster struggles with the repercussions brought about by his creator which leave him in turmoil. He does eventually overcome these obstacles, although it is undoubtedly too late.
Victor selfishly creates the Creature to gain prestige, pretentiously claiming himself as a human god when he succeeds and saying it was for the sake of humanity. In reality, he creates a grotesque being and abandons it the moment his illusions shatter, making the creature a victim because he denies the responsibility of raising it causing hardships for it. Victor also believes the creature is a reprobative individual since it kills his brother and foists Justine’s execution, thus he acts inimical towards it throughout the whole novel as he invectively exclaims, “Abhorred monster! Fiend that thou art! The tortures of hell are too mild a vengeance for thy crimes” (93).
After the execution of Justine, Victor visits the Alps. He reflects
After Elizabeth’s death, this feeling of justice remains in Victor, as his willingness to die in order to kill the monster becomes his only sense of purpose. Throughout the novel, Victor repeatedly attempts to redeem himself after the consequences of his actions have already occurred. The creation of the monster, the deaths of William, Clerval, and Elizabeth, and Justine’s conviction are all events that trigger his strive to seek justice for to those who were subjects of the monster’s evildoing,—only after it is too late. All of the monster’s actions committed to giving it meaning in life are targeted at his creator, of whom does not consider the
