WHO WAS THE REAL MONSTER - VICTOR OR THE CRATURE?
Mary Shelley created `Frankenstein' during her stay with Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord George Byron and John William Poldori in Switzerland. The base for the story about a young scientist and his creature stems from the idea to invent ghost stories for entertainment on a rainy day. Mary Shelley proved to produce the most horrifying story. Many critics share the opinion that the creature from the book is a monster. Yet, who was the real monster the creature itself or its creator? I will try to answer the question in my work.
Before we start looking for the answer whether Victor or its creature is the real monster, what I have to do first is to present the definition of monstrosity. According to an online dictionary monstrosity has double meaning. Firstly, it means something that is large, extremely ugly and evil. Second definition tells us that monstrosity means quality or character of being monstrous (horrible and hideous). Being exposed to the above-mentioned definition, we can look for the answer.
Victor Frankenstein was a scientist who wanted to create life. He was preoccupied with this idea and it caused him to become a monster. Victor's over-ambition to be famous misted up his vision of determining the possible consequences of his goal to create life. His only consideration was how to generate life, not what the consequences would be?-`I had worked hard for nearly two years for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body?'. Victor simply wished to 'infuse a spark of being' into the lifeless corpse of the creature. However, after seeing the outcome of his actions, he left the room. The young scientist was terrified when he saw the first signs of life in his creation. The corpse frightened him, so he rushed out of the room. That moment Victor rejected his creation and said that ` the beauty of the dream vanished'. He proved to be a monster because he left the being he created. The creature after it came to existence looked for its parent, wanted acceptance and love, but it did not receive any. Egoism and ignorance combined with selfishness caused him to be a monster. When the creature turned out to look ugly and horrifying, Victor refused to take responsibility over it. That moment he expressed selfishness. This was because he was not pleased with the outcome of the monster and deserted it. Another event of selfishness that led to Victor being a monster took place after the death of his younger brother William. Although Victor knew who was the real murderer he did not reveal it and allowed to accuse Justine. By keeping the real murderer to himself, an innocent girl was hung and her life was lost. Moreover, when the creature revealed that it was going to kill Elizabeth during Victor's wedding-night, Victor still married his fiancé. Despite the fact that the young scientist could save Elizabeth's life, he did not do that.
All the above-mentioned examples prove that Victor is a true monster. He is a monster due to his actions and qualities of character, not of being big and ugly.
Taking the creature into consideration, it is also a monster. However, it is a monster because if its size and appearance. The creature is described as ugly and horrifying. Victor is shocked by the ugliness of the creature and leaves immediately, because he is judging the creature by appearance:
Frankenstein has formed a fixed judgment about his creation already, has in fact classified him as a monster, purely on the grounds of his physical appearance. Instead of feeling a Quasi-paternal affection for him, he rejects him out of hand.
Like Victor most people make assumptions about the creature's character on the basis of its look. The creature becomes an outcast from society. However the creature falls only under the first meaning of monstrosity, the second one did not describe the Frankenstein's creation. To start with, Mary Shelley did not use the word `monster' even once in her novel. She referred to the creature, not the monster. Moreover, when the creature left the laboratory, he discover its feelings. The creature looked for love and acceptance. Victor was the one that it needed, its parent. The creature display humanity in its actions. When the creature observed DeLacey family, it discovered that they are poor. For this reason, it decided to help them in their labours. Unfortunately, when DeLaceys realized who helped them, they are terrified and escape hurting the creature. The Frankenstein's creation is rejected despite its good acts. The transformation that comes after rejection is an act of revenge on its creator. Victor deprived its creation of love and acceptance despite being a creator. After reading `Paradise Lost' -the piece of writing which showed how God (a creator) treated first man (his creations), the creature knew what he lost. The revenge on the creator awaken bad side in the creature. The recognition of being treated monstrously is a reason for hate. Only after rejection the monster appears and kills all the people Victor loves.
All things considered, it is Victor Frankenstein who is a real monster. He did not show the creature he made any feelings, but deserted it and let the creature became an evil being. Without Victor's rejection and the treatment from society the creature could become similar to humans. The creature itself is a monster only when we take into account the meaning of monstrosity as being deformed and ugly. All the acts of violence happen due to revenge, not the sole anger inside it. All in all Victor is the worst monster in the book.
Bibliography
1. Allingham P., Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" (1818) — A Summary of Modern Criticism, retrieved on 31st May 2011[http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/mshelley/pva229.html]
2. Jansson, S. (1999): Publisher's Introduction; In: Shelley, Mary: Frankenstein or The Modern. Prometheus, p.15
3. Punter D., The Literature of Terror, vol. I, p.108
4. Shelley M. , Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus, University of California Press, 1994,p.42
Jansson, S. (1999): Publisher's Introduction; In: Shelley, Mary: Frankenstein or The Modern. Prometheus, p.15
Shelley M. , Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus, University of California Press, 1994,p.42
Punter D., The Literature of Terror, vol. I, p.108
Allingham P., Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" (1818) — A Summary of Modern Criticism, retrieved on 31st May 2011 [http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/mshelley/pva229.html]
Allingham P., Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" (1818) — A Summary of Modern Criticism, retrieved on 31st May 2011 [http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/mshelley/pva229.html]