Two Major Characters of Frankenstein

In Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein there are two major characters who can be viewed as expressing the plight of the Other; both the Monster and his creator Victor Frankenstein are outsiders at odds with the larger community. The Monster is the obvious outsider not only because of his grotesque physical appearance, but because he is not a member of human society. The character of Frankenstein, however, is a much more interesting and complex Other. This paper will discuss why Frankenstein is an outsider and why he rejects the larger community in which he lives, and to which he rightfully belongs.

Because of Victor Frankenstein's obsessive pursuit of knowledge and "the secrets of heaven and earth," he must necessarily keep his work a secret. This in itself must keep him apart from the larger community; his monomania, coupled with his self-importance and selfishness puts him outside his society. He changes from a healthy, kind person to a sickly, self-centered person who rejects all notions of love, family and community when he turns from poetry to science. He cannot even give his Monster creation the kindness and understanding it needs to function in humanity. In addition, when he eventually rejects his Monster, and engages in a quest to destroy it before it destroys him, his new destructive obsession takes over his life completely furthering alienating him from society at large.

Shelley's novel is subtitled The Modern Prometheus and Frankenstein can be compar

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cting the source of his own existence, the one to which he owes his being, and this is the essential cause of his eventual failure as he puts himself outside the human family, assuming god-like powers by seeking forbidden powers. His experiment in creating life fails because although he conceives of the "happy and excellent natures" of the beings he would create, he is incapable of giving his Monster/Creation the human kindness and consideration it needs to be happy or excellent. The Monster therefore knows nothing of humanity, and is terrified by his uniqueness and isolation as he finds himself outside the human community. The same holds true for Frankenstein once he embarks on his scientific quest to create life. In both similar and different ways, the result of Frankenstein's scientific experiment is to place both himself and his creation outside normal human society, making himself as well as his creation the Other. The novel begins in the North Pole with an image of the distraught, tormented Frankenstein chasing his Monster/tormenter across the ice and snow in his futile attempt to destroy it. The Monster has murdered the people Frankenstein loved, motivated by the same sense of isolation Frankenstein now feels. The Nor

Category: Literature - T