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Victor's Maturity In Frankenstein By Mary Shelley

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In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein does not mature, as illustrated when he lets Justine die for her accused killing of William, when he destroys the female creature in front of his first creature, and finally when he tells Walton’s crew to endeavour upon a dangerous trip, with no regard for their safety. Through analysis of Victor’s actions throughout the novel, his immaturity is proven during many encounters, especially by his inaction during vital situations. When Victor discovers that Justine has been accused of killing William, he chooses to remain complicit in her cruel persecution, and not speak of his creation, thereby exposing his immaturity and lack of responsibility. Although Victor “believed in her innocence” …show more content…

Perhaps the most spine-chilling threat the monster makes is when he says to Victor that he will “work at [Victor’s] destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart, so that you shall curse the hour of your birth.” (Pg. 125). Victor has acknowledged his creation’s threats to his family, but despite the imminent danger they are in, he decides to act against the creature’s wishes. If Victor were acting honorably and responsibly, he would have listened to the monster’s demands for a female companion and, considering the creature’s threats against his family, complied with the demands. Victor, characteristically, chooses to act impulsively and recklessly, by destroying the female creature. When he, “trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged.”, Victor, while being watched by his creation, has not only put himself in danger, but also the lives of his family (Pg. 145). His disregard for the creature’s ability to inflict pain to him and his family illustrates an evident lack of responsibility and maturity. Victor is seemingly unphased by the creature’s threats, and even proclaims that “Your threats cannot move me to do an act of wickedness” (Pg. 146). In ignoring the creature’s threats, Victor has illuminated that he cannot take responsibility for his action, creating the creature, and the consequences associated with

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After all of the terror his ambition causes the life of Victor begins to reach the end. On his death bed Victor begins to reflect on his entire life and remarks that “In a fit of enthusiastic madness [he] created a rational creature, and was bound towards him, to assure, as far as was in [his] power, his happiness and well-being” (165). The reason that the ambition of Victor is so dangerous is because he chose the most unethical path to gain glory and fame. Victor in essence is an incredibly cruel “father” who abandoned his child as soon as it was born and allows it to go out into the cold hard world with absolutely no

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In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, there are two monsters within the book. The creature kills off many people and causes ruin to both Victor and innocent bystanders, but Victor holds the responsibility for causing this rampage, as he created the creature. Both Victor and the creature are monsters in their own respects and share similarities while holding key differences, but Victor is clearly the bigger monster. Victor and the creature are alike in many ways, and go through similar experiences that help to shape their future personas.

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(Shelly 69) What Victor endured in the past still fuelled his hate and anger towards the creature. This hate consumed his whole being leading him to parade such savagery to the creature. Through the cruelty he shows buth his own body and the creature we can see Victor's selfishness.

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In chapter seventeen, the monster is feeling very lonely. He is trying to explain to Victor how he would like to have a female friend and that it is his right to be able to have that kind of companionship in his life. The monster promises that he will take his companion to hide in the jungle of South America and stay away from human contact. He also promises Victor that he will not be compelled to kill anymore with a female companion. Those arguments convince Victor to create a female companion for the monster.

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The fact that Victor sees the creature as such a vile thing shows us that Victor doesn’t have any respect whatsoever for it. The creature states that he was ‘dependent on none and related to none’ which also

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Victor denied the monster it’s power by not allowing it to have what it asked for. This refusal caused the monster declare it’s dominance through threatening Victor to do as it says or he will be punished. After Victor refuses to allow his creation to take control, it goes mayhem and reacts with hatred. The creature tried to gain it’s power by deteriorating Victor’s life killing many of the friends and loved ones close to Victor. This pulls the final straw for Victor, he attempted to hunt the monster down and destroy it before it could hurt anyone else.

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Nobody denies that Victor has been harboring an obvious hatred toward the creation since the very beginning of its’ short life. He curses and abandons this new being that has absolutely no moral compass whatsoever; he should have expected that the creation would do something without fully understanding the moral wrongness of his actions. When Victor becomes face to face with his monster again he states: “Begone! I will not hear you.

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Frankenstein, a novel written by Mary Shelley, contains various themes throughout the story. One of themes is feminism and the power of women. In the novel, all of the female characters have passive attitudes, despite Shelby’s strong beliefs in feminism. Victor’s destruction of the female monster can be viewed as anti-feminism and another example of female passivity in the novel. Victor has fears of creating a race of monsters or risking the separation of the two monsters.

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People have a tendency to rationalize every part of their lives, can you remember any time you tried to justify a regretful action. Kids are the most common case, they throw fits if they are not able to get their way. Adults also use this to avoid admitting disappointment, like if you do not get a job and say you didn't want it in the first place. This also takes place in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Mary Shelley lived in London during the romantic era in the early nineteenth century.

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The creature is the opposing side to Victor because he makes many impulsive decisions. Even though Victor has also been impulsive, his decisions are supposed to help for the greater good, while the creature’s actions are based purely on selfishness and self pity. Likewise, even after the creature starts terrorizing Victor, he still drudges on and made decisions to protect his community. “ “I do refuse it,” I replied; “ and no torture shall ever extort a consent from me… I have answered you; you may torture me, but I will never consent” (Shelley 104).

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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.

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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).

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In the novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the two main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his creature, both display a sense of moral ambiguity. Each character has committed both good and evil alike, and neither knew the consequences of what they had done. However, Victor Frankenstein is generally the morally ambiguous character by his treatment of his creation and his own imperious personality. He wanted to be able to help science by recreating life or bringing it back, but at the same time, he did not want to consider the consequences of doing so. Victor tries to prove himself as a good moral character in the relationship between his creation and himself.

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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein examines how the presence of a mother, negatively or positively, affects the development of a child. Victor’s mother, Caroline Frankenstein, dies while Victor is still a young man (he is about 17 years old), breaking their relationship between mother and son. Because Victor loses his bond with his mother, he is unable to act as a mother would when he creates his creature. Caroline Frankenstein’s absence in Victor’s life creates a disunion between the mother and child bond, which is evident in Victor’s creation and his fragmented relationship with the creature. Caroline Frankenstein, Victor’s mother, portrayed a traditional mother in the Frankenstein household, until her death.

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”(Millhauser). This violent rejection is a repetition of Victor’s lack of acceptance for the monster and attention to his family. Victor knows that the monster will never be able to live within society and that his ability to create life is the only hope the monster has of achieving companionship. Victor's own aversion to companionship surfaces as he, “ fails to give him the human companionship, the Eve, the female creature, that he needs to achieve some sort of a normal life.” (Mellor).

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