Mary Shelly wrote the Gothic tale "Frankenstein". In the novel, who is the true villain, the Monster or Victor Frankenstein? Which character do you have the most sympathy for?

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Mary Shelly wrote the Gothic tale "Frankenstein". In the novel, who is the true villain, the Monster or Victor Frankenstein? Which character do you have the most sympathy for?

Mary Shelly wrote the novel "Frankenstein" using gothic techniques. Nearly 200 years after the book was first published in 1818 the readers still debate about the real villain of the story.

Victor Frankenstein could be the hero of the story; the reader sympathises with him when he suffers the loss of his mother, his brother William, wife Elizabeth, his father and friend Clerval. This extreme suffering that Victor goes through is a characteristic of romantic heroes. Also as Victor is narrating it emphasises the suffering that he goes through. We also feel sorry for Victor when he "had worked hard for nearly two years," he deprived himself of rest and health and now that he had finished, "the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust," filled his heart. For two years Victor slaved to create the monster but at the end the outcome was disappointing, as creature was ugly. Victor could also be the hero because he is very admirable as he strives to learn. Also he tries to stop death which is also very commendable because it would benefit mankind. As well as that Victor pushes himself to the limit trying to stop the monster. This is very heroic as the monster could have easily killed him.

On the other hand the monster could also be the hero because he is abandoned and is like a child. He educates himself learning to use his limbs and senses, he also learns to talk and understand speech; however this makes him more miserable because he learns about love and family life but he realised that he doesn't have any of those. Mary Shelly created the metaphor comparing the monster to a child because it makes the reader feel sorry for him as it places emphasis on the fact that he was abandoned by Victor and has no parents. The fact he also has no parents is reflected on that he has no name; a child's name is normally given by their parents. This makes the reader feel sorry for the monster as it emphasises the fact that he has been abandoned by Victor and has no parents. The theme of alienation is carried on throughout the story and can be seen in the point of the De Lacey's who are thrown out of France. The monster is also alienated by the De Lacey's who reject him even though helps them out as he grows to love them. He is rejected as Felix, Agatha and Safie return and see him with the old man. This rejection and alienation makes the reader feel sorry for the monster as it is purely prejudice of his looks. The readers see the monster as very calm as he restrains his anger when he sees Victor and doesn't harm him. Also his language is very eloquent and persuasive he compares Frankenstein to God saying that Victor is his, "natural lord and king" and that he ought to be Victor's Adam. The monster flatters Victor and uses rhetorical questions to get Victor thinking so that he would listen to his story and this is all after he is threatened and insulted by him. Also the monster regrets what he did to Victor this shows that he has feelings and a conscience. The reader feels for the monster because of the use of embedded narration, which allows the readers to see the story from the monsters point of view.
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As well as being the hero Victor could also be the villain as he abandons the monster after creating him and he is also prejudice towards him for no reason. Also in creating the monster Victor is playing God. This is very unnatural and was just a quest for fame and recognition. Also during the time that the novel was written scientist were conducting similar experiments. Mary Shelly incorporated theses ideas in her novel as a warning to science asking about the consequences of the work they were doing. Also as it involves breaking barriers it adds to ...

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