The Antagonist in Frankenstein is The creature. The Creature is the antagonist because, he is against the main character, Victor, along with the fact that he is killing people to prove a point. I feel as though the antagonist is the creature because, he said, “I soon came to declare war against the human species and against he who had created me (Shelly, 10).” The creature clearly is upset about being created, but alternately, he could have honorably said how he feels he decides that he is going to hurt the entire human species as well as his creator. The creature also says, “Yes! Yes, I killed him, so that his death would bring despair to you, and a thousand miseries would torment and destroy you (Shelly, 10)!” The creature has just killed Victor´s, the creature’s creator, little brother William so it would hurt Victor for creating him. I refuse to see why the creature thought it was right to kill those people was to make a point across that he is alone included that he even feels horrible for being created. Also the character is the antagonist because, he says, “Prepare, Father, for your toils have only just begun! Wrap yourself in fur and gather food, for we shall soon enter upon a journey where your suffering will satisfy my hatred (Shelly, 13).” The creature wants to punish Victor more for letting him suffer for so long.
The creature obviously has plentiful problems in his life, but he does not realize he could have it worse and that some people just aren’t going to
In Frankenstein the creature wanted to be loved by Victor, but his master betrays him and pushed the monster down the path of revenge until he has nothing left. The creature came into the world happy and innocent, but as time went on he realized that humankind and his master had betrayed him. He wanted help people like De Lacy by cutting wood for them and getting food,u but he introduces himself to them, they made it so “[his] heart sunk within me as the with bitter sickness, and I refrained”(97). Human kind and not only his master betrayed him, but this anger manifested as anger towards the Frankenstein family. The creature felt everyone was trying to betray him and go against him so he turned him evil and made the creature want to seek
In the novel frankenstein, the theme was mostly revenge because the creature was frustrated on how his the only creature like that and very ugly that no one understands. He wanted revenge because he thinks he shouldn't be alive so compares himself to satan. “When I reflected on his crimes and malice, my hatred and revenge burst all bounds of moderation. I would have made a pilgrimage to the highest peak of the Andes, could I when there have precipitated him to their base (shelley 42). Revenge plays in a role where the creature wants revenge by victor making him a creature where he didn't feel like he should've been created. As he wants revenge the creature kills a person to prove victor that he was a mistake. By doing that, victor feels guilty and thinks that
Victor Frankenstein’s treatment of the monster is the main reason of its hatred toward human kind due to the hate he is seeing from his creator. “you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us” (68), this is said by the creature to shame Frankenstein and reveal to him what had first taken away the pure innocence he felt before discovering of the abandonment by his creator. Even though the creature acted in the wrong way to express his feelings of loneliness and neglect, it had the ability to be purely good and due to the mistreatment of the humans he had crossed paths with, he could not see his true potential for being truly
The reader can immediately see this because the Monster says, “I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind?” (Shelley 124). He begins to murder members of Victor’s close friends and family. His first victim is William Frankenstein. The Monster has no intentions to kill William, but he says, “Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed” (Shelley 116). The Monster shows his frustration with Victor creating him in this way and for making him into an outcast. After Victor breaks his promise of creating a female monster, the Monster murders Henry Clerval. The Monster’s anger continues to build up over time and he believes the only way to face it is by taking the lives of those who have a close relationship with Victor. The Monster kills Elizabeth Lavenza on her wedding night. He takes the lives of the people who are in a close relationship with Victor due to the anger he feels toward him. The violence the Monster uses is his way to try and seek revenge on Victor because he feels that he set him up to fail, to be an outcast, and to be unacceptable to
This fear and rejection of the Creature is seen not only in the different people the Monster encounters throughout his travels, but also in his creator. Frankenstein is unable to stand the sight of the creature stating, “its unearthly ugliness rendered it almost too horrible for human eyes” (Shelley 95). Frankenstein’s rejection causes the Creature to accuse Frankenstein of abandonment: “you had endowed me with perceptions and passions, and then cast me abroad an object for the scorn and horror of mankind” (Shelley 141). The Creature says that he is Frankenstein’s obligation and it is Frankenstein’s responsibility to be his essential caretaker. Although Victor originally cowered in fear of the Creature, the Creature claims he was initially “good” and it his Victor’s rejection which drives him to violence. The monster repeatedly lectures Frankenstein on his responsibility, “I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the
Throughout Victor Frankenstein’s and the creature’s sides of the story neither thought they were in the wrong, Frankenstein justified his decisions as good for society and the creature justified his decisions as good for rightful revenge. What Frankenstein and the creature were expressing through their actions and reactions was for their own individual selfish perspectives that they labelled as good. The creatures a little more self-serving by trying to give Frankenstein the pain that he had caused the creature, however, the creature was trying to find out what was considered to be good and be that, but it seemed that both the creature and Victor Frankenstein were selfish beings. They were trying to achieve something good but went about it the wrong way, the good that the creature was trying to achieve was revenge but was ultimately for his own clarity. The creation of the creature was seen as good by Frankenstein as it would improve modern science but then suddenly becomes bad because the creature wasn’t what Frankenstein wanted and he hadn’t prepared for after the creature was
Frankenstein Argument Essay: Who is the Real Monster in Frankenstein? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein tells the story of a young scientist named Victor Frankenstein, whose ambitious goal was to re-animate life. However, once he succeeded in creating a monstrous creature, he soon regretted his actions. The novel initially presents Victor as the victim of his own creation, but as the story unfolds, the perspective shifts to the creature’s journey and the mistreatment he endures from both Victor and society. Through this lens, it becomes clear that the real monsters in Frankenstein are not the creature, but Victor and society for their rejection, mistreatment, and abandonment of the creature.
At first glance, the monster in Frankenstein is a symbol of evil, whose only desire is to ruin lives. He has been called "A creature that wreaks havoc by destroying innocent lives often without remorse. He can be viewed as the antagonist, the element Victor must overcome to restore balance and tranquility to the world." But after the novel is looked at on different levels, one becomes aware that the creature wasn't responsible for his actions, and was just a victim of circumstance. The real villain of Frankenstein isn't the creature, but rather his creator, Victor.
There is a seemingly endless cycle of revenge throughout the novel, which connects Frankenstein to his creation. When Frankenstein finds out his creation is the reason for William and Justine’s death, it drives his deep emotions for the beast. “My abhorrence of this fiend cannot be conceived. When I thought of him I gnashed my teeth, my eyes became inflame, and I ardently wished to extinguish that life which I had so thoughtlessly bestowed”(Shelley74). He is reflecting on the creatures actions which have pushed him to wish the creature was never born. In a sense, he is
you belong to my enemy - to him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim.” (Shelley 62) Here The Creature is not just an innocent childish creature anymore, here we find The Creature having hold of a random person at first but when he finds out this is Frankenstein blood; he instantly becomes a murderer. After the incident, The Creature becomes demanding to Victor he later asks for one last wish from his dreadful maker. Shelley writes, “You must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being” (Shelley 63). Instantly, Frankenstein denies and while The Creature is able to persuade the mad scientist for some time; Frankenstein goes to and fro from being an advocate to outright denying The Creatures request. After much arguing and dealing around, Victor gives in. However after heading back to Geneva Victor is unable to get himself to work and create this new being, and he is scared out of his mind since Victor understands the severity of what The Creature can do to him. Ultimately, as the course of events in Shelley’s “Frankenstein” it is clear to see that the creature lives a life that is cruel and a life that no one can truly understand. As well as living a life and having his pure and unknowing innocence stripped away by the hardships of
Every story has its hero and villain. Some authors’ works easily clarify the debate between which character is the ultimate protagonist or the antagonist, but sometimes the author tries to toy with readers’ minds. Similarly, Frankenstein’s author, Marry Shelley is one of the authors who is not straightforward about who is the villain in her novel. In Frankenstein, both the Monster and Victor Frankenstein could be considered the villains in the book. Doctor Victor Frankenstein is an alchemist who is obsessed with creating life from the dead. He creates the green creature, also given the name Frankenstein, who is portrayed as the Monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Dr. Frankenstein’s complete disregard for mortal beings, obsession with becoming a God, and his self-centeredness throughout the novel are all good evidence to why he – Dr. Victor Frankenstein plays the role of the villain in the story.
The monster that Frankenstein created was only considered a monster because he did not look like a human. If he had not looked scary he would have been accepted as a member of society. Though had I myself seen him in real life I would most likely have been afraid of him, getting to know him from his point of view, by reading the book, helped me to understand how human-like he was. He was not evil, but kind and just wanted to be loved and accepted. The monster was kind, intelligent, he understood the value of love, and had his own thoughts and values, and for these reasons I believe the monster did not deserve to be destroyed.
In the gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the monster is usually thought of as the villain. But what if that is wrong? This popular novel was written in the early 1800’s, which is around the same time period that scientists really started to experiment with electricity, which might be a reason behind why Shelley wrote this novel. In the book, Victor Frankenstein wants to reanimate a corpse and become famous for his work. But, the end product of his experiment is terrifying, so he runs away. At the beginning of the novel, Victor Frankenstein is controlled by his fear, which leads him to later abandon his monster and essentially kill Justine by not standing up for her. But at the end, Victor learned from his mistakes, and made one last
Monsters are not born, but created. In order to become a monster one must have been previously victimized or have a predisposition to violence. The monster is created because he is exposed to violence and rejection, he then breakdowns and becomes malicious. In the lines “Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? (Frankenstein, 124)”. Shelley is showing that by turning against the creature, Victor is deserting him in a strange and uncomfortable world. The creature is miserable and all alone. In corollary, the creature hurts others, because he has been neglected and in turn a monster is created. The creature states that “I will revenge my injuries; if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear, and chiefly towards you my archenemy, because my creator, do I swear inextinguishable hatred (Frankenstein, 138)”. I believe that the novel would have turned out differently if Victor had welcomed the creature with
Mary Shelley’s ability to create such multidimensional characters in Frankenstein proves that writing is a powerful tool that has the ability to provoke vastly different opinions amongst readers. Even though each individual reading the story is reading the exact same words, their interpretation of those words often leads to opposing views in regards to the fate of the characters. The creature, in particular, has been a popular topic of discussion when conducting a close read of the novel due to his arguable versatility as a victim and villain. The concept of the villain has evolved over the years, however its basis still rests upon the simple fact that as a character in the story, their actions are a result of malicious intentions