Victor frankenstein. Frankenstein Characters: Descriptions, Analysis 2022-10-24
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Victor Frankenstein is the main character in Mary Shelley's novel, "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus." He is a young scientist who becomes obsessed with the idea of creating life and succeeds in creating a humanoid creature out of various body parts. However, his creation is grotesque and Frankenstein abandons it in disgust, leading to a series of tragic events.
Frankenstein's story is one of hubris and the consequences of overreaching in scientific pursuits. He is driven by a desire to be recognized as a great scientist and to make a name for himself in the world. He becomes so consumed by this goal that he ignores the warnings of his professors and the moral implications of his actions.
Frankenstein's creation is a reflection of his own inner turmoil and the dangers of unchecked ambition. The creature is strong and intelligent, but it is also abandoned and alone, seeking revenge on its creator for the suffering it has endured. Frankenstein is eventually held accountable for his actions and the harm he has caused, and he is forced to confront the consequences of his choices.
The character of Victor Frankenstein serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked ambition and the importance of considering the ethical implications of scientific advancements. It is a reminder to always be mindful of the potential consequences of our actions and to strive for a balance between ambition and humility.
Victor Frankenstein (2015)
I replied, that I could not answer with any degree of certainty; for the ice had not broken until near midnight, and the traveller might have arrived at a place of safety before that time; but of this I could not judge. Entreating him, therefore, to remain a few minutes at the bottom of the stairs, I darted up towards my own room. Remember, I am not recording the vision of a madman. I became acquainted with the science of anatomy: but this was not sufficient; I must also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body. As far as I can recollect, it was entirely written by him. No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success.
I then paused; and a cold shivering came over me. The opinions which naturally spring from the character and situation of the hero are by no means to be conceived as existing always in my own conviction; nor is any inference justly to be drawn from the following pages as prejudicing any philosophical doctrine of whatever kind. We were brought up together; there was not quite a year difference in our ages. His manners in private were even more mild and attractive than in public; for there was a certain dignity in his mien during his lecture, which in his own house was replaced by the greatest affability and kindness. But now, as soon as the horses arrived, I hurried into a cabriolet, and bade farewell to my friend. I have no one near me, gentle yet courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as of a capacious mind, whose tastes are like my own, to approve or amend my plans.
Victor quickly realizes that the experiment has failed: Prometheus has no consciousness and cannot talk. You will find a happy, cheerful home, and friends who love you dearly. Every night I was oppressed by a slow fever, and I became nervous to a most painful degree; the fall of a leaf startled me, and I shunned my fellow-creatures as if I had been guilty of a crime. Last Monday July 31st , we were nearly surrounded by ice, which closed in the ship on all sides, scarcely leaving her the sea-room in which she floated. The dissecting room and the slaughter-house furnished many of my materials; and often did my human nature turn with loathing from my occupation, whilst, still urged on by an eagerness which perpetually increased, I brought my work near to a conclusion. Sometimes I have endeavoured to discover what quality it is which he possesses, that elevates him so immeasurably above any other person I ever knew. In this house I chanced to find a volume of the works of Cornelius Agrippa.
I have prevented his encountering the inconveniences and perhaps dangers of so long a journey; yet how often have I regretted not being able to perform it myself! She looked steadily on life, and assumed its duties with courage and zeal. Nor were these my only visions. Sometimes I grew alarmed at the wreck I perceived that I had become; the energy of my purpose alone sustained me: my labours would soon end, and I believed that exercise and amusement would then drive away incipient disease; and I promised myself both of these when my creation should be complete. Strange and harrowing must be his story; frightful the storm which embraced the gallant vessel on its course, and wrecked it—thus! It is a subject also of additional interest to the author, that this story was begun in the majestic region where the scene is principally laid, and in society which cannot cease to be regretted. . Absence cannot have rendered you callous to our joys and griefs; and how shall I inflict pain on my long absent son? At first I wished to hurry on, for I longed to console and sympathise with my loved and sorrowing friends; but when I drew near my native town, I slackened my progress. But the old man decidedly refused, thinking himself bound in honour to my friend; who, when he found the father inexorable, quitted his country, nor returned until he heard that his former mistress was married according to her inclinations.
The weather, however, suddenly became serene; and my two friends left me on a journey among the Alps, and lost, in the magnificent scenes which they present, all memory of their ghostly visions. Clerval spent the last evening with us. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth. When I was about five years old, while making an excursion beyond the frontiers of Italy, they passed a week on the shores of the Lake of Como. Here I paused, I knew not why; but I remained some minutes with my eyes fixed on a coach that was coming towards me from the other end of the street. Darwin, I speak not of what the Doctor really did, or said that he did, but, as more to my purpose, of what was then spoken of as having been done by him, who preserved a piece of vermicelli in a glass case, till by some extraordinary means it began to move with voluntary motion.
I regret that I am taken from you; and, happy and beloved as I have been, is it not hard to quit you all? I thought of pursuing the devil; but it would have been in vain, for another flash discovered him to me hanging among the rocks of the nearly perpendicular ascent of Mont Salêve, a hill that bounds Plainpalais on the south. What is the cause of all this? Beaufort had saved but a very small sum of money from the wreck of his fortunes; but it was sufficient to provide him with sustenance for some months, and in the mean time he hoped to procure some respectable employment in a merchant's house. Poor Polidori had some terrible idea about a skull-headed lady, who was so punished for peeping through a key-hole—what to see I forget—something very shocking and wrong of course; but when she was reduced to a worse condition than the renowned Tom of Coventry, he did not know what to do with her, and was obliged to despatch her to the tomb of the Capulets, the only place for which she was fitted. Walton tells the remainder of the story in another series of letters to his sister. The monster begs Victor to create a mate for him, a monster equally grotesque to serve as his sole companion. It is impossible to communicate to you a conception of the trembling sensation, half pleasurable and half fearful, with which I am preparing to depart. On her death-bed the fortitude and benignity of this best of women did not desert her.
If I should be engaged, I will at least make notes. For my own part, I begin to love him as a brother; and his constant and deep grief fills me with sympathy and compassion. One secret which I alone possessed was the hope to which I had dedicated myself; and the moon gazed on my midnight labours, while, with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued nature to her hiding-places. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. As soon as he showed signs of life we wrapped him up in blankets, and placed him near the chimney of the kitchen stove.
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus, by Mary W. Shelley.
When I had arrived at this point, and had become as well acquainted with the theory and practice of natural philosophy as depended on the lessons of any of the professors at Ingolstadt, my residence there being no longer conducive to my improvements, I thought of returning to my friends and my native town, when an incident happened that protracted my stay. Darwin, and some of the physiological writers of Germany, as not of impossible occurrence. In my education my father had taken the greatest precautions that my mind should be impressed with no supernatural horrors. He still remained to me. Favret, « The Letters of Frankenstein», Genre, 20, n o1, 1987, p.
