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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein As A Tragic Hero

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There is a hero in almost every story. A hero doesn’t always necessarily involve physical strength, it can be defined many other ways. A hero is someone who is idealized for their noble qualities, courage and outstanding achievements. In Mary Shelley’s book, Frankenstein, the hero in the story is Victor Frankenstein. Victor sacrifices his family, his life, and other peoples lives for his pursuit of creating life, and attempting to cure diseases. Although Victor fits a few traits of being a hero, he is more of a tragic hero with a fatal flaw. Therefore, Victor’s quest for creating life leads to his downfall. A tragic hero with a fatal flaw is a character with a defective trait. Victor fits this description because of his personal flaws such …show more content…

However, heroism can take place in our everyday lives by simple brave actions. A hero has many noble qualities such as courage, humility, patience, being selfless and caring. They will put other people before themselves and make sure others are content. Heros are also intelligent and like to think ahead to plan on a good result. Although Victor very well fits the role of a tragic hero with a fatal flaw, he also fits the role of a hero. He sacrifices years of his life to work towards a goal that would forever change the world. Victor creates this creature not knowing what it will turn out as, risking his own life for the science world. It is also very heroic of Victor to go through the process of bringing something to life because it was something no one had attempted before. Therefore, Victor is the most capable and best epitome of an epic hero. In the end, a hero is more than just physical traits like strength and supernatural powers. Being a hero means being selfless, brave and putting other people before yourself. Victor best fit this description because he sacrificed years of his life, and even his own life knowing it would benefit the rest of the world. The determination, braveness, courage and devotion Victor had for a single experiment that could go wrong is true heroism. Even though Victor didn’t always contribute to the traits of being a hero, his intentions were always good; to help the

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In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, there is evidence of a Hero’s Journey. This is shown through the ordinary world, refusal of the call, and meeting the mentor. In Frankenstein, the ordinary world is shown through Geneva and contrasted with the university in Ingolstadt. In Geneva everything sounds safe and comfortable, and when he gets to Ingolstadt everything suddenly seems to be told in a darker mood. For example, in chapter 3 it mentions how Frankenstein had always been “surrounded by amiable companions, continually engaged in endeavouring to bestow mutual pleasure” while living in Geneva.

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Consequently, Victor creates a monster that later ruins his life and the lives of those around him in the story mostly due to his poor variety of decisions. These facts proves that Victor’s downfall is most likely caused by his failure of balancing his ego by allowing his Id and superego get to him. In the novel

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