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Frankenstein the Victim of Vice or the Perpetrator of His Own Vice
~ Literary Analysis

By Anna Mills

03/28/09

Frankenstein the Victim of Vice or the Perpetrator of His Own Vice

Volume 1

Chapter 4

Page 56: ‘Quote of Frankenstein’

“A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind, and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquility.’ ‘I do not think that the pursuit of knowledge is an exception to this rule.’ ’If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections, and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind.”

I would like to begin my essay with this statement of Frankenstein’s while in a moment of despair, he relates his inner convictions to his new confidant Captain Walter. It sounds like he is sending out a warning of an impending danger to his listener, admonishing him not to follow his path in pursuit of greater  knowledge. Coming towards the end of Frankenstein’s life he reflects on his past and questions his deeds whether they were right or wrong. He begins to show his true feelings to Walter as he arrogantly remarks “ When I reflected on the work that I had completed, no less a one than the creation of a sensitive and rational animal,…’ ‘..this thought,  which supported me in the commencement of my career, now serves only to plunge me lower in the dust.’ …‘ and, like the archangel who aspired to omnipotence, I am chained in an eternal hell.’ ‘My imagination was vivid…’ … ‘I trod heaven in my thoughts, now exalting in my powers, now burning with the idea of their effects.’ ‘From my infancy I was imbued with high hopes and a lofty ambition; but how am I sunk!…”1 Even at the ending of his life while wasting away as one in despair, he still refuses to take responsibility for any wrong that had been done, instead he saw his creature as the villain solely responsible ‘for his eternal hell’ and not himself.

As Victor talked about his childhood I took note of two things in his narration. First I saw a child who rejected the love and companionship of friends, and family to embrace what he thought was superior‘Pursuing to be a great scientist’. Secondly, I saw a boy lost, searching for something greater than himself by saturating his mind and heart into the works of the ancient scientist. He not only rejected his family members since childhood but went so far as to practice the same dark rituals as the men he had admired. Frankenstein states “The raising of ghost or devils was a promise liberally accorded by my favorite authors, the fulfillment of which I most eagerly sought; and if my incantations were always unsuccessful, I attributed the failure rather to my own inexperience and mistake….,”2 He sought the companionship of the dead and requested their guidance. His greatest aspiration was to become greater than the scientist he adored, by daring to act out what they had only theorized. It was in this line of thought that he began to calculate and plan the task of creating a human.

Frankenstein spent two years on his fiendish undertakings and yet was so engulfed in his own thoughts of grandeur that he could not discern the horror that was before his very eyes. Dr Hogle from the University of Arizona questions “Is Victor’s aspiration a valuable one, even within the long-standing middle-class ideology of men whereby the self-made individual achieves his potential in products of his ingenuity that can change the world?”3 My answer is no. Victor didn’t seek to create his monster out of humanitarian purposes instead he sought to elevate himself to be the “Super Scientist” he had long been in pursuit of. As Frankenstein said “ For this I had deprived myself of rest and health, I had desired it with an ardor that far exceeds moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart…’ ‘Mingled with this horror, I felt the bitterness of disappointment: dreams, that had been my food and pleasant rest for so long a space, were now become a hell to me; and the change was so rapid, the overthrow so complete!”4 As he is brought back to reality he is horrified to discover, what he could not and would not see before, the truth.

Rejecting his creation, he selfishly and need fully clung to the companionship of his childhood friend Clerval, eventually returning home with his dearest friend where he is met with another horror, the death of his younger brother. After going through one death after another he thinks about his fate and condition, never considering the possible danger that his loved ones may be in. Dr. Julia Kristeva a psychotherapist and cultural theorist comments in her book ‘Powers of Horror’ concludes “The mix of supposed opposites in the creature is the mix in Victor that the young scientist, again and again, tries to deny but can only “abject” onto an other who is pointedly not him and very much him… at the same time.”5  I felt that her conclusion was on the mark and why Frankenstein rejected his creature, because what his monster looked like exteriorly was what he had been hiding interiorly.

I felt sorry for the creature that Frankenstein created. He had a heart that longed for life and desired human acceptance and love, but only received the sting of hatred and rejection in its place. In deep resentment and fury for his creator he sought revenge and brought death to his master’s loved ones and friends. I eventually saw Victor as the greater perpetrator of evil, not only to his loved ones, but most especially to the monster he had formed. I shall quote to you from the monster as he said “ And do you dream…’ ‘do you think that I was then dead to agony and remorse?…’ ‘  ‘My heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy; and when wrenched by misery to vice and hatred, it did not endure the violence of the change, without torture such as you could not even imagine.”6 I saw that the creature had more human sentiment and legitimate warmth than his master. On hearing that Frankenstein had died the monster looks to destroy himself by fire thus putting and end to the pain of his existence and forever covering the insanity of his master’s gruesome deed.

Not at any time did Victor try to relieve his monsters plight, instead Frankenstein pursues the destruction of this creature and this was only after the death of his wife and father. To the end of his days Frankenstein never wavers from his self absorbed life, leaving behind a trail of death wrought by his own hands the creation of his ego. Frankenstein brought every drop of misery on himself and all that were around him, being the greater perpetrator of evil than his monster could have ever been. Who was the monster? I believe his name is Frankenstein. ~

Footnotes

1.	“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, Volume 3, Chapter 7, Page 214, Paragraph 1 “Frankenstein’s Reflections”.

2.	“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, Volume 1#, Chapter 2, Page 42, “quote of Frankenstein.”

3.	 “Frankenstein’s Dream” By Hogle, Jerrold E., University of Arizona, Section 1, Page 1, Paragraph 3, “Comment by Professor Hogle”.

4.	“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, Volume 1, Chapter 5, Pages 58, 59-60, “Victor’s horror at the sight”.

5.	“Frankenstein’s Dream” by Hogle, Jerrold E., University of Arizona, Section 8, Page 6, “Comment from Julia Kristeva”, from “Power of Horror” pub. 1980 trans. 1982.

6.	“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, Volume 3, Chapter 7, Page 222, Paragraph 1, “ The Monsters Confession”.

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