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The Byronic Hero In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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The monster that Victor Frankenstein created was a Byronic hero. A Byronic Hero is a charismatic, broken, dark individual often in exile with a troubled past. The hero has flaws that make him more human like and attainable to the audience. He is a vulnerable and imperfect being and in these traits we find Victor Frankenstein’s monster. Lord Byron penned the first Byronic hero in 1812 and when Mary Shelly wrote, “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus,”(1823) she was arguably influenced from his epic poem, “Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.” (1812-1818) Additionally, Shelly was greatly influenced by John Milton’s, “Paradise Lost,” (1667) as evidenced by the correlations between Satan and Frankenstein’s monster. Both characters exhibit traits of having an alluring and attractive nature while simultaneously being frightening and a danger to society. Victor Frankenstein longed to reanimate a living being and in his efforts to do so, he created a monster that will prove Doctor Frankenstein is just as monstrous. In the corpse turned monster, we find the Byronic hero.
The monster has an unavoidable fate. That is, he is going to die by either his hand or the hand of his creator. The monster comes to understand he is an experiment that Victor detests and after Victor refuses to make …show more content…

He does, however, show remorse for his actions when he is telling his story to Frankenstein at the top of the mountain by his fire. He explains how he is haunted by his sins and the lives he has taken as evidenced by the quote, “It is true that I am a wretch. I have murdered the lovely and the helpless; I have strangled the innocent as they slept and grasped to death his throat who never injured me or any other living thing.”[Frankenstein 319] Many times throughout the monster’s story and on the ship with Captain Walton, he is brought to tears over when remembering his

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In Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, The creature may be known for his monstrous and unforgiveable acts, but it is his creator, Victor, who is the true monster. Mary Shelley was an English novelist, best known for her gothic novel “Frankenstein”. In “Frankenstein” the question of who is the true monster, Victor or the creature, is a prominent theme throughout the story. While the creature's actions are certainly gruesome and horrific, it is the Monster who ultimately holds the title of the true monster. Through his neglect and mistreatment of the creature, Victor demonstrates a complete disregard for the life he has created.

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Monster Frankenstein's monster is described in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein. The creature is referred to as "Monster”. Victor Frankenstein, but in the story the creature has no name. Shelley described Frankenstein's monster as an 8-foot-tall, extremely ugly, with translucent, yellowish skin pulled over the body.

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A dynamic character is somebody that changes his or her personality or attitude. Victor’s creature from Mary Shelley’s novel fits the definition of a dynamic character because he changes his attitude during the novel. The creature in the beginning of the novel starts being a good “person.” He did a lot of kind things for human beings like helping Felix’s family.

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In Mary Shelley’s 1817 novel, Frankenstein, we are introduced to iconic characters that will last throughout literary history. The story takes us through the thought process of Dr. Victor Frankenstein as he seeks the the secret to life and creates an intelligent, but rather horrifying monster. The story gives the reader an insight to the monster’s experience as he thrusts into human kind with no help from Victor, who is absolutely horrified by what he has invented. The doctor felt hopeless and abandoned the monster to fend for himself in the world. Throughout the novel, the reader may notice that Dr. Frankenstein has many similarities with the monster: such as signs of schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety.

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Frankenstein’s Monster as a Character Victor’s creation, widely known as “Frankenstein’s Monster,” appeared in many depictive and satirical performances. The idea of bringing a one dead human to life interested and inspired many writers and directors. The creature’s

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shield, nor console him, Victor is responsible for the abuse in which the monster felt, which attributed to his violent and murderous nature. When they meet again, the monster confesses out of anger to William’s murder, telling Victor that he is malicious because he is miserable and asks him “am I not shunned and hated by all mankind?” (Shelley 174). We see the toll of the psychological trauma in the monster’s speech. Though he is young still in terms of years on earth, he knows that he is hated and will never accepted by man.

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Frankenstein’s Monster as a Tragic Hero Aristotle once said that "A man doesn 't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall" (Carlson). In Frankenstein, many argue that Victor Frankenstein himself is indeed the tragic hero of the novel. I believe that the creation of Victor Frankenstein (the monster) is the actual tragic hero. There are several components to being a tragic hero, two of the most important are their tragic flaw, and the component of a tragedy or a tragic ending to the story. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is without a doubt tragic through many characters in different ways, but in my eyes, the creature is the character that sticks out with the most characteristics of a tragic hero.

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Frankenstein, Mary Shelly, 1818 (Gothic Romanticism) Characters: Victor Frankenstein, Monster, Robert Walton, Elizabeth Lavenza, Henry Clerval, William Frankenstein, De Lacey, Justin Moritz, Caroline Beaufort, M. Krempe, M. Waldman Places: Geneva, University of Ingolstadt, Chamounix, Montavert, Italy, Germany, London, Orkney Islands, Ireland, Villa Lavenza Major Events, Scenes, Conversations/Speeches: Victor rescued by Walton’s crew (19), Victor’s budding attraction of science (30), death of Victor’s mother, Caroline Beaufort (35), Victor creates the Monster (47), Monster is abandoned by Victor (49), Monster encounters the impoverished German family (De Lacey) (88), the Monster becomes informed on society and becomes vengeful (115), the Monster kills William Frankenstein and frames Justine Moritz (60), Victor destroys his second creation (145) , the Monster kills Elizabeth (166), Victor v. the Monster (169) •

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In the novel Frankenstein, the monster created by Frankenstein shows some human qualities. Some qualities that make people human are reason, pain, anger, sadness, growth, and ultimately being made by God; the monster expresses the human qualities of pain, anger, sadness, and reason, but he does not have the quality of being made by God, and growth. One of the first qualities that the monster exhibits is reason. When the monster is sharing his story with Frankenstein, he explains how he discovered the rules of fire by saying, “ I quickly collected some branches; but they were wet, and would not burn.

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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.

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When writing any piece of fiction, an author 's choice of narrative voice has a huge impact on how readers experience the story. From the slightly less personal yet versatile third-person to the narrow, limited view of first-person, the narrative voice literally provides the voice of literature. It affects which characters the reader really connects with, the opinions that influence them, the knowledge they have, and numerous other aspects. While most authors stick with only one tense, Mary Shelley challenged that standard in Frankenstein. In Frankenstein, Shelley changes her narrative voice numerous times in order to fully develop all aspects of the story through Walton 's letters, Frankenstein 's story, the Monster 's story, and also the

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(Shelley, 193) After all the vengeful events and tragic deaths, the monster faces his creator and asks forgiveness. This demonstrates, once again, his ability to love and his innate goodness, knowing that forgiveness is his only hope. However, since Victor is dead, his pleas are met with silence. Essentially, all hope for the monster’s ability to survive is now dead. Without hope, he turns back to evilness and blames Victor for his own

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When reading through the novel some might question who's the real monster? Throughout Frankenstein Mary Shelley uses the concepts of Science and knowledge, social rejection and true evil. Victor is a lonely guy who takes on a “God like” role for his personal satisfaction. Victor creates the monster out of his greed and ambitions which led to many of the horrible events throughout the story. He was portrayed as the victim at the beginning of the story because of how secluded he was and his mother died.

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Discouraged and discontent, the monster gives up his quest to become acknowledged by humans. Finally, arguably the most important confrontation in the entire novel, Victor Frankenstein and his monster meet face to face and explain the causes of each other's suffering. The monster explains that it is simply his mere knowledge of his own existence that causes him great grief, "I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind?

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If a critique of the Byronic hero is made in Frankenstein, certain adjustments would need to be made to deviate from a standard Byronic hero such as Manfred. The changes made need to be key in the shifting the audience's perspective of the protagonist. Using Frankenstein as an example, it is much harder to hold the same admiration towards Victor as one may to Manfred. To notice these marked differences in Frankenstein, a closer look at the Byronic hero in manfred is needed.

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